if you do nothing to a piece of land in
temperate climates it will become the
forest the forces of nature are actively
moving the land towards a balanced
sustainable and resilient ecosystem this
is called succession in southwest
England an unusual forest is growing
nut trees fruit trees shrubs and
perennials are planted in a way that
mimics a natural woodland this forest
garden is the life’s work of Martin
Crawford an unconventional gardener who
grows 500 edible plants with just a few
hours of maintenance per month what we
think of as normal in terms of food
production is actually not normal at all
annual plants are very rare in nature
and yet most of our agricultural fields
are full of annual plants it’s not
normal what normal is a more forested or
semi forested system forest gardens in a
temperate climate tend to have seven
layers also high trees smaller trees
shrubs perennials ground cover layers
root crops and climbers so it includes
directly useful plants many types of
fruit trees both the common ones and
much less common fruit trees all the
types of nuts tuba crops vegetables
medicinal plants timber but also logs
that you might grow other things on like
mushrooms
there are also plants of in directives
system plants to help the system
function better and that includes
nitrogen-fixing plants mineral
accumulators plants to attract
beneficial insects to eat all your pests
forest gardens are very beautiful places
to be in because although they’re
managed the management is light so they
have this very naturalistic feel to them
and it is more like being out in nature
than being in a cultivated garden it can
seem a bit overwhelming there’s so many
different species you shouldn’t let that
stop you from beginning a project
because you don’t have to know
everything to begin with just start
plants and trees and go from there it’s
not the gradually increasing
temperatures that then
plants it’s the increase in extreme
events big storms big wins very heavy
rain hail droughts by having a very
diverse system whatever happens to the
weather most of your crops will probably
do fine
some may fail some may do better that’s
very important going into the future
because we don’t know exactly what’s
going to happen to our weather so by
having a diverse system it gives you
maximum resilience [Music]
temperate climates it will become the
forest the forces of nature are actively
moving the land towards a balanced
sustainable and resilient ecosystem this
is called succession in southwest
England an unusual forest is growing
nut trees fruit trees shrubs and
perennials are planted in a way that
mimics a natural woodland this forest
garden is the life’s work of Martin
Crawford an unconventional gardener who
grows 500 edible plants with just a few
hours of maintenance per month what we
think of as normal in terms of food
production is actually not normal at all
annual plants are very rare in nature
and yet most of our agricultural fields
are full of annual plants it’s not
normal what normal is a more forested or
semi forested system forest gardens in a
temperate climate tend to have seven
layers also high trees smaller trees
shrubs perennials ground cover layers
root crops and climbers so it includes
directly useful plants many types of
fruit trees both the common ones and
much less common fruit trees all the
types of nuts tuba crops vegetables
medicinal plants timber but also logs
that you might grow other things on like
mushrooms
there are also plants of in directives
system plants to help the system
function better and that includes
nitrogen-fixing plants mineral
accumulators plants to attract
beneficial insects to eat all your pests
forest gardens are very beautiful places
to be in because although they’re
managed the management is light so they
have this very naturalistic feel to them
and it is more like being out in nature
than being in a cultivated garden it can
seem a bit overwhelming there’s so many
different species you shouldn’t let that
stop you from beginning a project
because you don’t have to know
everything to begin with just start
plants and trees and go from there it’s
not the gradually increasing
temperatures that then
plants it’s the increase in extreme
events big storms big wins very heavy
rain hail droughts by having a very
diverse system whatever happens to the
weather most of your crops will probably
do fine
some may fail some may do better that’s
very important going into the future
because we don’t know exactly what’s
going to happen to our weather so by
having a diverse system it gives you
maximum resilience [Music]
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