How to Make a Forest Garden

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.