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| forg:forest_gardening [2025/12/05 10:13] – created - external edit 127.0.0.1 | forg:forest_gardening [2025/12/17 04:30] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1 |
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| Three layers of perennial plants – the herb layer is valerian (medicinal), the shrub layer is flax (fibres), and the canopy is fruit and firewood trees. | _Three layers of perennial plants – the herb layer is valerian (medicinal), the shrub layer is flax (fibres), and the canopy is fruit and firewood trees._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| The seven layers of a forest garden. Image: [Graham Burnett](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forgard2-003.gif), [CC BY-SA 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) | _The seven layers of a forest garden. Image: [Graham Burnett](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forgard2-003.gif), [CC BY-SA 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)_ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| This is a good example of a guild – a group of plants that are mutually beneficial; here comfrey provides ground cover and is a mineral accumulator (can be cut to produce a mineral-rich mulch for fruit trees), aromatic herbs protect fruit from pests, currant bushes are planted around the drip line of the trees so that they get watered, plus redcurrants do well in the shade of the apple tree. | _This is a good example of a guild – a group of plants that are mutually beneficial; here comfrey provides ground cover and is a mineral accumulator (can be cut to produce a mineral-rich mulch for fruit trees), aromatic herbs protect fruit from pests, currant bushes are planted around the drip line of the trees so that they get watered, plus redcurrants do well in the shade of the apple tree._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| <caption> | <caption> |
| Harvesting gooseberries from a forest garden, with rhubarb in the foreground and apple and damson trees forming the canopy. | _Harvesting gooseberries from a forest garden, with rhubarb in the foreground and apple and damson trees forming the canopy._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
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| Examples of good ground cover for a forest garden – marjoram, wild strawberry, New Zealand flax, buckler-leaved sorrel, Babbington leek and good King Henry. | _Examples of good ground cover for a forest garden – marjoram, wild strawberry, New Zealand flax, buckler-leaved sorrel, Babbington leek and good King Henry._ |
| </caption> | </caption> |
| </figure> | </figure> |
| ## Further resources | ## Further resources |
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| | - [National Forest Gardening Scheme](https://nationalforestgardening.org/) |
| | - [Permaculture Association](https://www.permaculture.org.uk/research/forest-garden-research) - 10-year forest garden trials |
| | - [Perennial Solutions](https://www.perennialsolutions.org/perennial-farming-systems-organic-agriculture-edible-permaculture-eric-toensmeier-large-scale-farmland.html) - call for a move to perennial crops |
| | - [Plants for a Future](https://pfaf.org/user/) - database of over 8000 edible or useful plants, plus research on ecological agriculture, especially perennials |
| | - [Resilience](https://www.resilience.org/stories/2010-12-13/agriculture-stands-chance-perennial-polyculture-hard-limits-post-carbon-farming/) - perennial polyculture and the problem with annual monocultures |
| | - [UN Food & Agriculture Organisation](https://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/agphome/documents/scpi/PerennialPolicyBrief.pdf) - perennial agriculture: landscape resilience for the future |
| | - [Agroforestry Research Trust](https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/about-agroforestry/forest-gardening/) |
| | - [Mother Earth News](https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/garden-planning/backyard-forest-garden-ze0z1406zcgp/) - how to design a backyard forest garden |
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| ## Specialist(s) | |
| | ## Specialist curators of this topic |
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