Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops

Crawford, Martin

ISBN 10: 1900322625 / ISBN 13: 9781900322621

Edité par Green Books, 2010

A propos de cet article

Forest Gardening or Agroforestry is a way of growing edible crops with nature doing most of the work. Modelled on young woodland, a wide range of crops is grown in vertical layers. Species are chosen for their beneficial effects on each other, creating a healthy system that maintains its own fertility, with little need for digging, weeding or pest control. Whether a small area in your back garden or a larger plot, here is advice on how to create a beautiful space with great environmental benefits from planning and design (using permaculture principles) to planting and maintenance. With a changing climate, we must grow food sustainably, without compromising soil health, food quality or biodiversity and Forest Gardening offers an exciting solution to the challenge. Creating a Forest Garden also includes a detailed directory of over 500 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, annuals, root crops and climbers â almost all of them edible and many very unusual. As well as more familiar plants you can grow your own chokeberries, goji berries, yams, heartnuts, bamboo shoots and buffalo currants.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9781900322621

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops
• Éditeur: Green Books
• Date de parution: 2010
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1900322625
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781900322621
• Reliure: Couverture rigide
• État de l'article: New

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Filled with helpful tips and beautiful photographs, this guide contains everything you need to create your own forest garden.

Forest Gardening, or agroforestry, is a way of growing edible crops while allowing nature to do most of the work. Species are chosen for their beneficial effects on each other, creating a healthy system that maintains its own fertility, with little need for digging, weeding or pest control. The result of this largely perennial planting is a tranquil, beautiful and productive space, where you can cultivate your own fruits, nuts, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms and even forage firewood and honey.

Whether in a small back garden or in a larger plot, forest gardens really benefit the environment and are also a viable solution to the challenge of a changing climate. The soil thrives from being covered with plants all year round and is also able to store more water after heavy rains, minimising flooding and erosion and helping plants to survive through drought. Forest gardens also store carbon dioxide in the soil and in the woody biomass of the trees and shrubs. The mixed variety of plants further boosts the health of the ecosystem by ensuring a balance of predators and beneficial insects.

Creating a Forest Garden is a bible for permaculture and forest gardening, with practical advice on how to create a forest garden, from planning and design to planting and maintenance. It includes a detailed directory of over 500 trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials, annuals, root crops and climbers. As well as more familiar plants such as fig and apple trees, blackcurrants and rosemary shrubs, you can grow your own chokeberries, goji berries, yams, heartnuts, bamboo shoots and buffalo currants.

Grow a forest garden with this handy guide and become more self-sufficient while also enjoying the natural beauty and environmental benefits of these wonderful green spaces.

À propos de l?auteur

Martin Crawford has worked in organic agriculture and horticulture for many years. He is director of the Agroforestry Research Trust, a charity that researches temperate agroforestry and all aspects of plant cropping and uses, with a focus on tree, shrub and perennial crops.