How to create your own food forest

Growing a diverse range of plants in different layers reduces weeds, minimises pests and drastically reduces maintenance, whilst providing a variety of edible harvests throughout the year. Food forests can be grown on different scales depending on the size of your property, from the smallest backyard to rural acreage.

The fruit trees are the centre-pieces of the system, grown as a canopy layer to shade and protect those plantings underneath. The idea is to stack the plantings in seven layers, from the canopy right down to the roots, making use of every available space allowing total coverage of the soil.

How to plan your food forest

Where you create your forest will depend on the size of the space you have available. It might be a small corner of a suburban backyard or part of a larger acreage. A north-facing sunny aspect with well-drained soil is perfect, but this is not always the reality of everyone’s space. Most edibles grow best with around six hours of sunlight. This is particularly important in winter when the sun is lower in the sky, so any area that is sunny for most of the day in winter is perfect.

Once you have chosen your space consider how you are going to irrigate the area. For very small gardens this may just be using a hose, for larger gardens you may wish to install drip irrigation or set up a passive grey water system, utilising runoff from driveways, washing machines or water tanks. For large properties, this may include adding in swales, dams or making the use of creeks and other waterways.

Deciding on the varieties of plants and trees is up to you. Your main canopy trees will work best if they are deciduous, as they will let in valuable light to understory plants in winter and their leaves will provide excellent mulch. Choose your other plants based on what will grow in your climate and that you enjoy eating, cooking and preserving. Consider planting so you will be able to harvest from your garden year-round, instead of a glut of produce in summer.

Planting your food forest

When you’re ready to begin planting out your forest, it’s a good idea to clear the space and remove any unwanted items or plants. Weed over the whole area — if you have difficult weeds to remove like Kikuyu or Couch, you may consider solarising the area in the warmer months by laying down black plastic for several weeks, or laying down thick layers of newspaper with a mulch on top.

All soils will benefit for the addition of organic matter, compost, manures etc., so digging in some or all of these and then mulching heavily will give you an excellent base to start planting into. The type of mulch you use is up to you, Lucerne and Pea straw will add valuable nitrogen into the soil as it breaks down, but Sugar Cane and bark chips are good too.

Planting is best done in autumn when the weather has cooled from the harsh summer but the soil is still warm for growth. Planting your canopy and small trees in winter will make the most of cheaper bared rooted stock from nurseries.

Maintaining your food forest

Whilst the idea of a food forest is for it to be low maintenance, this does not mean no work is required.

Quarterly applications of an organic fruit and vegetable slow release fertiliser will benefit all the plantings and encourage healthy strong growth. The fruit trees will need, at the very least, a winter prune each year to keep them neat and of a manageable size and shape. Espalier trees need pruning several times a year to keep growth in check. Netting fruit trees a few weeks before the fruit is ripe will ensure a good harvest from your trees.

Keeping the area tidy and weed free will help keep the overall maintenance down. Topping up the mulch yearly in winter will help the soil and keep the moisture in during the hot summer months. Let plants like Nasturtiums, Warrigal Greens and Parsley flower and set seed before removing the spent plant, this will mean you won’t need to replant and you’ll have stronger plants that are accustomed to your soil.

Filling spare spaces with quick growing annuals like Radish, Spinach and Lettuce will make the most of every available space. Growing Peas in winter and Beans in summer will make the most of fences and trellises.

Below is a simple layout for a backyard food forest measuring 10m x 5m. It includes plants from all seven layers of the system, and a meandering path for access and wandering.

You can use this plan as it is or adjust the plantings to your climate and tastes. It can also be extended for a larger space, or you can use part of the plan for a smaller garden.