Customer Reviews

How to Make a Forest Garden

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In many climates around the world, forest is the natural state of vegetation. It grows without anyone's say-so. It takes no human effort at all for nature to be sustainable, diverse, productive, multi-dimensional, and beautiful. However, most people's gardens, even food gardens, are really none of these, despite large amounts of effort on the part of the gardeners. So what would it be like to garden in tune with nature, to grow a forest garden, with many of the features of a natural forest, and little of the labour usually involved in gardening? Robert Hart pioneered this approach to growing food sustainably, based on his long experience of agro-forestry around the world. He applied his wisdom to his backyard and wrote about it in the classics, 'Forest Gardening' and 'Beyond the Forest Garden'. However, much of what Hart wrote was general and philosophical - explaining the 'why' perhaps more than the 'how'. Patrick Whitefield has produced this intensely practical guide to the 'how' of forest gardening, starting from first principles and including all manner of precise details. Whitefield is an experienced permaculture practicioner and teacher, and he rightly places the forest garden in context as a very useful component of a larger system of sustainable living. On the strength of this book I am in the process of transforming my standard suburban plot into a beautiful forest garden, with apples, pears, cherries, raspberries, loganberries, figs, redcurrants, perennial herbs and salads. It has proved to be an invaluable and much thumbed manual, and an inspirational work. It is directly applicable to temperate climates, and will be of use to those living elsewhere too.

If you are into permaculture, agroforestry, or bored with row crop gardening, this book is for you. Peter is from Britain but, his book is very useful for the temparate US. Peter discusses planting trees, shrubs and an herb layer all in your garden, mimmicking the layers of a forest. There's lots of good info on cultivars, including some lesser known fruits and veggies. This book is much more practical and informative than Robert Hart's book Forest Gardening.

I happened upon this book while learning more about permaculture. As we are preparing to plant a private orchard, this book was invaluable - it altered our approach entirely! Being quite mindful of the ecology on our rural property, we are quite pleased that we can provide natural, healthy food for our family without altering the ecosystem that surrounds us. As a matter of fact, we are now living more harmoniously with the wildlife.

This book provided the framework for us to devise an effective plan for our property in the Mid-Atlantic region although it was written based upon UK geography.

I would have gladly given 5 stars to this book if it had included more color photography and detailed illustrations. Nonetheless, it's a valuable addition to your self-sustaining library.

First I want to say that I very much agree with the approach to gardening presented in Mr. Whitefield's book. That said the title is very misleading. The reason for my 3 star rating. The book has little to do with actual "Forest Gardening". Multi-layer planting or poly culture, more accurately describes his approach. He does use these terms periodically to describe this way of gardening. Early on Whitefield makes a brief comment on the idea that if you don't have much room, you might try a "forest garden" in a container. Perhaps in England they have forests in a pot, but in the part of the U.S. where I live people maybe have several acres of actual forest to work with. He also tells the reader to be aware of full day shade caused by nearby buildings. Important information if your forest exists between two multi-story buildings. But that is not a concern in a forest. This book does offer some constructive information for those who have a city lot or small yard to work with and wish to have a fruit tree or two, some berry bushes, combined with a vegetable garden. What I did learn from this book is that for gardening in a real forest a fair amount of the fruit trees and plants suggest by Whitefield probably won't work due to the light condition created by the forest canopy. Also the reader should know the hardiness of some of his suggestions are defined in general terms like, "can withstand cold temperatures". He does mention ability to withstand frost relating to some plants. One will need to check with other sources for plant hardiness, as cold for someone in England may be different than for someone living in Wisconsin. If you are actually wanting to garden in a forest you would might be better off researching native plants that may already be in your local forest environment, do some experimenting with plants to check their light requirements, or checking with your state university. They may have information on agri-forestry or other alternative approaches for food production in a forest environment. Bottom line... If you are planning for your back yard you might consider this book as a good starting place. It will give you some good information and designs for a progressive way to produce your own food. If you are planning to co-existing in a forest setting, in a way that allows you to produce a variety of fruits and vegetables I don't believe this book is your best place for ideas.

I bought this book for my wife who is an avid gardener and who has been studying permaculture for several years. We wanted a good book that would explain basic concepts of "forest gardens" that we have only begun to study. She loves the book, and while traveling recently, she read the first two chapters to me. I found the author's explanations to be very clear and concise. He presented some ideas which got me thinking differently about the way we develop and use our small yard. We are anxious to try out many of the ideas he presented. Overall, we are both very happy with this book, and it well fulfilled our expectations. If there is one downside to the book at all, it is the fact that he bases his explanations on the circumstances and climate of Great Britain. We would love it if he had his forest garden here in our area, and mentioned plants specific to our area. That makes it a bit of a challenge to interpret the specific methods to our own climate, but the general principles are useful anywhere. Yes, we highly recommend this book!

I made a mistake when I ordered this book -- I didn't realize it was centered in Britain and as a result it was less useful for me. I did learn a few things, but I don't plan to keep the book. I have since seen it referenced in other texts and suspect it is an excellent book for someone in the UK.

If you are looking for a book that will inspire you to make a forest / woodland garden then this book has everything and more.

When the realisation of low-maintenance gardening can produce such an incredible variety of produce, in such a sustainable way, it defies belief that this way of gardening is not implemented all over the world.

Absolute value for money, and, as the principals of forest garden can be easily applied to the smallest garden space, there is no excuse for anybody not to give it a go.

This book will give you all the help and guidance you need to make this vision a reality and the plants will just keep on giving. Truly inspirational.

This book couldn't hold my interest because it refers mostly to the gardening conditions in England,which are so different from the southeastern USA where I garden. If your in England or somewhere with comparable conditions, I'm sure it would be great.

I am tired of buying these great books, only to find out they are written for the British Isles. I am sure I can learn some principles from it, but all the sources are not for us in the USA. Couldn't this be stated in the description?

Pretty impressed with this book. It is an excellent resource, and provides a very good introduction to forest gardening. This book will be most useful to people who live in the UK, but can be useful to anyone in a somewhat similar climate. My only real complaint is just that I wish it leaned more towards the use of native plants. Very glad that I own this book.