Adventures in forest gardening

In 2023 Debbie and I started thinking about extending into the ginnel at the back of our terrace which was basically a bin storage area, too narrow for traffic. We'd seen some posts about them and it seemed like a great way to get to know our neighbours better if we could get them involved. A trip to Tatton park flower show where Jason Williams (aka "The cloud gardener") had a ginnel display garden convinced us to give it a try.  We spoke to our neighbours Alex and Bianca on the other side of the ginnel and they were up for the challenge.  We decided to make it primarily an edible space as we were already heavily involved with incredible edible and this gave us access to some funding and insurance. Having said that we've tried to make it as cheaply as possible by making our own planters with donated wood and pallets and growing plants from seed.  We started building at the back end of 2023 and by the time winter arrived had the first of our bin covers/ pla...

An introduction to the history and techniques of forest gardening for people wishing to learn more and maybe create their own forest garden. What is a forest garden? A forest garden or food forest as it's known as in the US is firstly badly named! A dense forest is not somewhere to forage for food as the light levels are usually too low for much to grow beneath the trees. You will find food however around the edges and clearings and this is the model for a forest garden. The correct name might be "woodland edge garden" and It's this environment we want to create for our forest garden. It can be done on any scale from many acres down to a couple of square metres. Or even the back of a tortoise! Forest gardens are nothing new and there are examples of them in the tropics that have been in the same family for 80 generations! It would provide everything a community needs from food to firewood, medicines and a place to keep livestock. In the west it...

 Debbie and I moved here at the end of 2021 and started working on the garden around February 2022. It's a small space (3.7mx11m at the back, 4.3x2m at the front, total about 45sq m) and I wanted food including trees, ornamentals, water, a wood store and shed, composting and somewhere to sit.  It was a blank canvas and blessed with a SW facing sloping plot with decent soil. But small and narrow, every square meter had to earn it's keep. First, somewhere to sit. Next I laid out the paths and put the shed in. I begrudged the space taken but really needed somewhere for my bike and tools. To the left of the path was a small lawn which I took up and composted. The gravel was laid over the existing ugly concrete path which was too thick to take up. Due to the small space I decided to add some height for climbing plants. Lighting was added and a small pond using a flexible builders bucket. I'm a retired electrician so I could do this cheaply. Next was a wood store at the bottom of...

 2023 has started wet and mild after a couple of very cold weeks in December when temperatures reached -7.  I've been working on the front garden which was paved between rain showers. I've re-purposed the flags elsewhere and made a bed where they were. I'll be growing mainly herbs here with a compact tree from the back. I'm not sure which one yet but I'm leaning towards the crab apple. The wood was salvaged from a skip so the only cost here has been about £15 for gravel.  Ready for planting. January I've splashed out on 4 unusual edibles: an autumn olive (elaeagnus umbellata), a Hungarian black Hawthorne, a blue sausage shrub (decaisnea fargesil) and a paw paw. I didn't realise paw paws were hardy but they grow quite far up into north America and will tolerate -15. I'm not sure I have room for them but there is always the community forest garden as back up. Lack of space never stopped me from aquiring more plants before! I'm looking forward to the se...