Saturday's planting and musings on forest gardens

Today's planting was all for the forest garden. A forest garden is planted so that the structure of a natural forest is emulated as much as possible but where all the species used have a use. Most of the tree planting so far here at Brickhurst has been in the form of orchards and coppice. My approach to the forest garden I intend here is a little different. 








The forest has 7 distinct layers. 
1 The canopy
2 Secondaries
3 Shrubs
4 Herbaceous
5 Rhizosphere (Roots)
6 Soil surface (creepers and strawberry type plants)
7 Vertical (Climbers)

If you get the balance of plants right a forest garden will provide you with food, materials such as dyes and fibres, medicines and a host of other things.

Here's what I planted today

Betula Lenta, Sweet or cherry birch http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Betula+lenta PC4-6 used as a sweetener and for it's sweet sap. It's also a good medicinal plant.

Caragana Arborescens, Siberian pea shrub http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Caragana+arborescens Code L Requires scarrification I usually rub the seeds on a brick until the membrane around the seed just wears through. This plant fixes nitrogen and produces edible seeds and shoots

Humulus Lupulus, Common Hop  http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Humulus+lupulus

Needs a period of cold to germinate used in beer and as a mild sedative This will be part of layer 7

Liquidambar Styraciflua, Sweet gum http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Liquidambar+styraciflua PC 8 Mostly medicinal can be used to make gum. Canopy tree.

Mahonia Aquifolium, Oregon Grape http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Mahonia+aquifolium MD 16 Shrub layer edible berries and some medicinal uses

Phellodendron amurense Amur cork tree http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Phellodendron+amurense MD 12 One of the 50 main Chinese medicinal plants

Punica Granatum Pomegranate http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Punica+granatum MD14 Not sure how well this will do here, it's frost tender but I'll try it in some sheltered corners and see what happens.

Pyrus Communis, Wild pear http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Pyrus+communis MD16 Canopy fruit edible cooked or bletted, can be used as rootstock for large trees some medicinal uses.

Tsuga Heterophylla, Western Hemlock http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Tsuga+heterophylla 

PC canopy tree has a number of uses see the link.

I'll leave it there for today but back tomorrow and if the weather is sunny as promised by the Met Office I'll be clearing brambles for the medicinal herb garden.