Forest Garden
A fence woven with cascara surrounds our main forest garden. Our 15-year old forest is full of cascara, a fast growing tree that is flexible when green and great for fence building. We often need to thin the stands of cascara, which we manage through coppicing (cutting of trunks near ground level). It grows back each year so it is a constant source of building material. Willow is growing up throughout the fence to eventually create a living fence as the old fence wears down. We have woven living benches from other willow growing inside the garden. A small tire pond with water hyacinth, water fern, and other species creates a small peaceful microclimate within the multi-story garden. Trees in the garden include black cottonwood and black Hawthorne as part of the fencing, and beaked hazelnut and pear for food. Other plants include spineless blackberry, Hardy kiwi, chokeberry, emerald creeper, perennial kale, and many more.
is one aspect of the multi-story design that
provides year-round food, shade, and serenity.
Our North forest garden is an example of utilizing succession (the stages in the development of an ecosystem). In 1999, the southern portion of this orchard was sheet-mulched using a layer of cardboard and about four inches of straw. The northern portion was fenced off and used as a chicken range. In 2000, the perimeter of this site was planted with edible and ornamental shrubs, with trees more widely spaced. These plants will form a living fence to keep deer out of the garden. The southern portion is planted with perennial wheat and alsike clover interspersed with blueberry bushes. Eventually, the entire site will be planted with forest garden species to form a multi-storied forest as well.
We have another orchard adjacent to the main forest garden in the process of becoming a forest garden. In 2000, several black cottonwood, a Russian mulberry, two Asian pears, and two native twinberry were planted to create a living fence to keep deer out. These will be integrated with the pre-existing native black hawthorn and other trees and shrubs that may be added. A row of walnuts was planted along the Douglas fir corridor behind this site, integrating with the filberts that were previously planted along the swale. We are utilizing the edge effect to create a productive and wild-looking edge along the firs.
Back to Swales/Hedgerows Return to Index Continue to Orchards