class: center, middle # An introduction to <br>Forest Gardening 🌳 ### _Old ways, new paradigm_  by Jake Rayson [@ForestGdnWales](https://twitter.com/ForestGdnWales)<br>[www.forestgarden.wales/talks/ldgc](https://www.forestgarden.wales/talks/ldgc/) ##### Press `P` to see notes and credits ###### This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), embedded work may have other licenses. --- class: center, middle # Forest Gardening 🌳 ### _Working with nature<br>to create edible crops_  ??? * Web designer 20 years. Forest gardener 3 years. * 2 x 1 acre forest gardens * 8 acre site, woodland, coppice, rough pasture --- # My path into gardening  [Creating a Forest Garden](https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/product/creating-a-forest-garden-2/) by Martin Crawford Devoured in 2012 ??? * Bought book 2012 * Working with nature. * Read it cover to cover in a terraced house with a paved yard for 3 years. --- ## From terraced house with backyard…  --- ## …to farmhouse with 8 acres  --- class: center, middle ## A talk of 3 halves  ### 1. Why ### 2. What ### 3. How ??? * Apple blossom from 'Annie Elizabeth' --- class: center, top ## Part 1  # Why a forest garden? --- ### Wildfires, California 2018  ??? * [California Wildfires 2018 on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_California_wildfires) * Deadliest & most destructive fire season * 104+ people died --- ### Cyclone Idai, Mozambique 2019  ??? * [Cyclone Idai on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclone_Idai) * 1,000+ fatalities * Second deadliest tropical cyclone recorded in South-West Indian Ocean basin --- ### Fruit bats, Australia 2018  ??? * Photo by David White * One-third of species Spectacle Fruit Bats killed by heatwave * 23,000 bats died * [BBC story](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-46859000) --- ### Habitat destruction, Scotland [#peatfree](https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=%23peatfree)  ??? * Letham Moss commercial peat extraction, Scotland * Image via BBC? --- class: center, middle # Humans “threaten 1 million species with extinction”  ??? * United Nations [Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services](https://www.ipbes.net/) (IPBES) * [Media Release of Global Assessment](https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment) * BBC [Nature crisis: Humans 'threaten 1m species with extinction'](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48169783) 6 May 2019 * BBC [Nature loss: Report to show scale of 'silent crisis'](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48160456) 6 May 2019 --- class: middle, center ## “Gardening is the most therapeutic<br>and defiant act you can do.<br>Plus you get strawberries.”  ~ [Ron Finley](http://ronfinley.com/meet-ron-finley/) --- ## A forest garden<br>is a wildlife garden  ??? * An **ecosystem** * Biodiversity of species * Relies on wild predators & pollinators * Self-fertilising with plants * Good habitat * Sequesters carbon; mature tree 20kg per year * Small footprint * [Why a forest garden is good for climate change])(https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/forest-garden-good-for-climate-change/) --- class: center, top ## Part 2  # What is a forest garden? --- # What is it? > Forest gardening is a productive, sustainable and low-maintenance way of gardening, combining trees, edible shrubs and perennial vegetables.  **Working with nature** ??? 1. Productive * Food, wood, etc * Multi-layered, in [4 dimensions](/blog/seven-layers-forest-garden/) 2. Sustainable * Mineral accumulators & nitrogen fixing plants * Wild predators & pollinators * Permanent “living mulch” * Trees, plants & soil sequester carbon. * Biodiverse 3. Low maintenance - see next slide * Resilient! * No watering * Minimal weeding * No dig * No fertilisers * No compost --- ## Low maintenance <div style="float:left"> * No watering * No digging * No composting * No fertilising * No spraying * Minimal mowing * Minimal weeding **A resilient garden** </div> <img style="float:right;" src="img/7layers.jpg" width="50%"> --- class: middle, center  --- ## Productive <div style="float:left"> * Fruits, nuts & seeds * Vegetables & salad * Herbs & spices * Mushrooms * Firewood * Poles, canes & twine * A beautiful space Multiple harvests </div> <img style="float:right;" src="img/harvest.jpg" width="50%"> ??? ## Credits * Nashi pear CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1053284 * Sweet chestnuts by Fir0002 - Own work, GFDL 1.2, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=194812 * Pine nuts by National Institute of Korean Language - http://krdict.korean.go.kr/eng/dicSearch/viewImageConfirm?nation=eng&searchKindValue=image&ParaWordNo=73584&ParaSenseSeq=1&multiMediaSeq=1, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54784498 * Lime flowers & bumblebee by Ivar Leidus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49911060 * Szechuan pepper by Didier Descouens - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7801853 * Phormium tenax by Dan Kirtiansen https://www.flickr.com/photos/dankristiansen/ * Shiitake mushroom by frankenstoen from Portland, Oregon - Shiitake Mushrooms, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7304024 * Firewood by Toyohara https://www.flickr.com/photos/toyohara/ * Bamboo by Bruce Fingerwood https://www.flickr.com/photos/springfieldhomer/ * Apple mint by Broly0 - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40553620 --- class: center, top # What does your garden <br>want to be?  ??? * [Climax vegetation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climax_community) * [Ecological succession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_succession) * Pioneering plants --- class: center, top # What do we want our<br>gardens to be?  ??? * What a lot of bother * Also, not really productive * "Gardening is control of nature but we don’t want to be control freaks" ~ Tom Coward, Head Gardener, Gravetye Manor 2015 ## Credits * Photo of Hanbury Hall formal garden by muffinn on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/mwf2005/ --- class: left, middle # Climax vegetation  * Energy * Fragility * Uniformity * Maintenance * Greenhouse gas emissions ??? * The further right you go, the more you need. * Frederic Clements coined the term in 1916. * [Climax vegetation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climax_community) ## Credits * Illustration copyright © Marion Smylie-Wild, used with permission pp19 [Creating a Forest Garden](https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/product/creating-a-forest-garden-2/) by [Martin Crawford](https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/about_us/) --- # Scientifically efficient 👩‍🔬 Efficiency is the ratio of the _input_ to the output. ```html Animal 1 : 0.8 Arable 1 : 4.0 Forest Garden¹ 1 : 40.0 ``` **Sustainable produce, sustainable gardening** ??? 1. [Gerald Leach: Energy and food production](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Energy-Food-Production-Gerald-Leach/dp/0902852558) (IPC, 1976). * Agroforestry eg [Broadlears Field project](https://www.dartington.org/about/our-land/agroforestry/) at Dartington * See sustainable agriculture eg [Tolhurst Organic](http://www.tolhurstorganic.co.uk/about-us/why-choose-us/) * Proviso: once established * Perennial plants are less work * No compost bins, compost in situ Forest gardening also flexible, any size or part of garden. --- class: center, top ## Part 3  # How do I forest garden? --- ### Before: field  --- ### After: garden  --- ### Ornamental Forest Garden<br>& Forest Garden One  --- # The Order of Things <div style="float:left;"> 1. Plan 2. Windbreaks 3. Canopy trees 4. Propagate 5. Sheet mulch 6. Shrubs 7. Ground cover _Process_ </div> <img src="img/tree-spacing.png" alt="Illustration of optimal tree spacing" width="50%" style="float: right"> ??? * Image from Forest Garden Wales, North Face windbreak --- # 1. Plan  ??? * Survey first! * Purpose * List plants * [Tree spacing](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/tree-spacing-forest-garden/) * Calculate area * Windbreaks * [QCAD software](http://www.qcad.org/en/) with satellite photo from Apple Maps * Scale paper drawing, graph paper, cut-out circles * Don’t forget to plan your nutrients – pp57 Creating a Forest Garden * Get a soil sample from CCF * OS map from [The Map Centre](https://www.themapcentre.com/), about £40 --- ### Ornamental Forest Garden  --- ### Small forest garden, Llandeilo  ??? * Drawing made in [QCAD](http://www.qcad.org/en/) --- # 2. Windbreaks * [Elaeagnus umbellata](https://pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Elaeagnus+umbellata) (autumn olive) * [Hippophae rhamnoides](https://www.pfaf.org/USER/plant.aspx?LatinName=Hippophae+rhamnoides) (sea buckthorn) * [Viburnum opulus](https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Viburnum+opulus) (guelder rose) * [Amelanchier canadensis](https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Amelanchier+canadensis) (juneberry) * [Cornus sericea](https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cornus+sericea) (red osier dogwood)  ??? * Also, nurse trees eg [Scotch Broom](https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Cytisus+scoparius) * Examples that have worked well for us * All available as cheap bare-root hedging plants * Don’t forget [Rosa rugosa](https://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Rosa+rugosa) (Japanese Rose) ## Credits * Amelanchier canadensis by yamatsu on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/29310050@N04/ * Elaeagnus umbellata berries by Wendell Smith on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/wendellsmith/ * Viburnum opulus berries by Nickolas Titkov on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/titkov/ --- ## Cornus windbreak  ??? * Easy to manage, coppice * Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea' windbreak on north west side of Forest Garden Wales * Bought from [www.treesandhedging.co.uk](http://www.treesandhedging.co.uk/) 85p each + VAT --- ## If I had my time again,<br>I’d build more dead hedges  --- ## Mulch strip for windbreak  --- # 3. Canopy trees  Shelter, shelter, shelter… ??? * Quince blossom, Cydonia oblonga 'Serbian Gold', Quince A * [Rootstock!](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/rootstock-reference/) * Pollinating partners * Fruit trees [www.orangepippin.com](https://www.orangepippin.com/apples) * Nut trees - squirrels & [Castanea sativa](https://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Castanea+sativa) * Nitrogen fixing - [Alnus cordata](https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Alnus+cordata) * Small trees under eg Alnus cordata, can raise canopy * Don’t forget rabbit guards, super cheap [on Amazon](https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-SPIRAL-TREE-GUARDS-60cm/dp/B0041Z90TM/) 22p each --- ## Alnus cordata  --- # 4. Propagate ground cover * [Rubus nepalensis](https://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=rubus+nepalensis) (Nepalese Raspberry) * [Vinca minor](https://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Vinca+minor) (Lesser Periwinkle) * [Symphytum ibericum](https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/75444/Symphytum-ibericum/Details) (Dwarf Comfrey) * [Fragaria viridis](https://www.pfaf.org/User/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Fragaria+viridis) (Green Strawberry) * [Mentha longifolia](https://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=mentha+longifolia) (Horse Mint)  ??? * Again, examples that have worked well for us * 'Mother' bed * _Supposed_ to put them in pots ## Credits * Rubus nepalensis berry by Jas on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/21442314@N07/ * Vinca minor by Magrit on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/27126314@N03/ * Mentha longifolia by Andreas Rockstein on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/74738817@N07 --- ## Fragari viridis  ??? * Raised bed at Forest Garden Wales --- ## Glechoma hederacea  --- # 5. Sheet mulch * Quality plastic woven sheet mulch, 3-4m wide * Re-usable metal pegs * **Weigh it down!** * 6 months grass, 12 months dandelions * Consider using less more efficiently!  ??? * Use meadow as ground cover until ready to sheet mulch * Decent make Mypex, Phormisol * Martin Crawford uses Phormisol 100g weight --- ## Chalk circles  ??? * Use [magic bamboo marker](https://www.flickr.com/photos/forestgardenwales/28391494269/in/photolist-KfRQ6T) with string, tied with knots every 0.5m * Bucket of powdered lime --- # 6. Plant shrubs * Bamboo * Chaenomeles spp. * Mahonia spp. * Phormium spp. * Rosa rugosa  ??? * List inspired by showy ornamental shrubs pp21 Creating a Forest Garden ## Credits * Quince flower on bush by Martin LaBar on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlabar/ * Mahonia aquifolium by Nacho on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/gonmi/ * Rosa rugosa hips by Bruno Parmentier on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/bpmm/ --- ## Amelanchier x grandiflora 'Ballerina'  --- ## Elaeagnus umbellata 'Newgate'  --- # 7. Establish ground cover 1. Spread bark or wood chip* mulch 2. Plant ground cover 3. Sow temporary cover  ??? * *See [Myths, Miracles or Marketing? Wood Chip Mulch](https://puyallup.wsu.edu/lcs/) on [Horticultural Myths](https://puyallup.wsu.edu/lcs/) by Professor Linda Chalker-Scott * Mark out shrubs with bamboo, write name, height x diameter * Bark approx 1.5 tonne per 100m². [Newbridge Sawmills](http://www.jamesdaviessawmills.co.uk/) near Cenarth sells it for £38.50 +VAT per tonne, on industrial trailer only, weekdays. * For large areas (ie acres), consider wood chipper for mulch & flail mower to keep grass down. * I have used [Sinapis alba](https://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?LatinName=Sinapis+alba) (white mustard) with great success, partially overwinters. * I bulk bought 27kg Sinapis alba from [Cotswold Seeds](https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/product/mustard-sinapis-alba) for £50. --- ## Raspberry & Fragaria chiloensis  ??? * Example of ground cover * Glechoma hederacea * Fragaria chiloensis * Fragaria viridis --- ## Symphytum ibericum  ??? * Note more clump forming * Not as quick to form ground cover as G. hederacea * cf Vinca minor --- ## Symphytum ibericum flower  ??? * Plants from Moorland Cottage Plants! --- class: center, middle # _The end of the beginning_  ### _People, plants and wildlife first!_ ??? Plenty more to talk about! * Perennial veg * Coppice leaf crop * Mushrooms etc… --- # Appendix * [What is a Forest Garden?](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/what-is-a-forest-garden/) * [The seven layers of a forest garden](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/seven-layers-forest-garden/) * [Why a forest garden is good for climate change](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/forest-garden-good-for-climate-change/) * [Rootstock reference](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/rootstock-reference/) * [Tree spacing in the forest garden](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/tree-spacing-forest-garden/) * [Dead hedging in the forest garden](https://www.forestgarden.wales/blog/dead-hedging-forest-garden/) * [Martin Crawford](https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/): books, courses, plants * [Plants for a Future](http://www.pfaf.org/): massive database of useful plants * [RHS Plants](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/): good database for more ornamental plants * [Orange Pippin](https://www.orangepippin.com/apples): super fruit tree reference * [Joy of Plants](https://joyofplants.com/): excellent plant app database for iOS * [Sun Surveyor](https://www.sunsurveyor.com) mobile app, calculating sunlight