The Backyard Forest

Transform your backyard into a lush food forest, growing edible crops in a wildlife haven
What you'll learn
Forest gardening
Sustainable garden design
Growing perennial vegetables
Wildlife gardening
Creating a permaculture food forest
Requirements
An interest in plants, gardening and wildlife
Description
No matter the size of your garden, you can create a lush food forest using forest garden techniques. Step-by-step, you’ll learn how to work with nature to grow edible crops, all the while creating a haven for wildlife.
The course is divided into 3 stages
Watching, thinking and planning — where you observe, measure and document your garden to start the planning process, then on to create the map to enable the design process.
Structural planting — establish the windbreaks & protective structures, start a productive perennial veg bed and plant the canopy tree layer.
Filling in the structure — prepare the ground so that you can plant the shrubs and the ground cover
A forest garden emulates the edge of woodland, working with nature to reduce the amount of watering and maintenance, with a permanent living ground cover and a self-sustaining ecosystem of nutrients & pest control. Mostly perennial plants are used, in all three dimensions, as they are more resilient, lower maintenance and more nutritious.
NB course slideshow & notes available on my Nature Works website.
Also, I now recommend not using woven plastic sheet mulch, in 8. Ground Preparation, as we need to reduce our reliance on plastic.
The full course outline is:
Introducing
Plan
Design
Protect
Perennial Veg
Canopy layer
Ground Preparation
Shrubs & Ground Cover

Who this course is for:
People who want to grow their own food and who are interested in sustainable gardening and wildlife.

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