A food forest stacks plants in layers by height, from canopy trees down through smaller trees, shrubs, herbs, ground cover, roots and climbing vines, so that each layer uses light, water and soil space the others leave free. Plant the tallest layer first and sparsely, because canopy trees will shade everything beneath them once they mature, then fill the lower layers around them. The layers compete as well as cooperate, so the design works only when you decide which layer is allowed to win in each spot.
A forest garden is a planting modelled on the vertical structure of a woodland, with food-bearing species chosen for each height from the tree canopy to the roots in the soil.
Each Layer Claims A Different Slice Of Height And Depth
A woodland is productive because it fills its space: tall trees catch the strongest light, smaller trees and shrubs live in the dappled light beneath them, and herbs and ground covers live on what reaches the floor. A food forest copies that arrangement but chooses food, fodder and utility species for each level. The carrier guide, Food Forest & Permaculture Design, lists seven layers with these heights:
| Layer | Height | Typical members |
|---|---|---|
| Canopy | 30-60 ft | Nut trees, full-size apple, pear, cherry |
| Sub-canopy | 10-30 ft | Dwarf and semi-dwarf fruit, pawpaw, persimmon |
| Shrub | 3-10 ft | Berry bushes, hazelnut |
| Herbaceous | 0-3 ft | Rhubarb, asparagus, perennial kale |
| Ground cover | at the surface | Strawberry, clover |
| Root | below ground | Jerusalem artichoke, groundnut |
| Vine | climbs the others | Grape, hardy kiwi, hops |
The root and vine layers are not separate heights. They share space with the others: roots under the herb layer, vines up the trunks and trellises.
The Canopy Sets The Light Budget For Everything Beneath It
Every layer below the canopy lives on whatever light the layers above let through. A young planting is sunny and open; a mature one is not. Plan the lower layers for the light they will receive in ten or fifteen years, not on planting day, and see Shade Tolerance for how to judge what a crop can still do under tree cover. Light is not the only contest: roots of the layers draw on the same soil water, which matters most in a dry year (see Drought Resilience).
What You Need
- A site map with the sun path, slope and water movement marked (see Sun Mapping and Slope Analysis).
- A species list by layer, chosen for your climate. This corpus has no location, so the guide cannot tell you which species survive your winters. Find that out locally before ordering anything.
- Mulch material to carry the planting through its first years.
Method: Plan From The Top Down, Plant From The Top Down
Step 1: Choose the canopy. Pick few trees and give each its mature spread; the carrier advises 25-40 ft between canopy trees and warns to plant fewer than you think.
Step 2: Place the sub-canopy in the gaps where it will get partial light, not in the canopy’s deepest shade.
Step 3: Fill shrubs and herbs in the sunny edges and openings.
Step 4: Cover the ground with a species that suppresses weeds and does not compete hard with young tree roots.
Step 5: Add climbers last, on dedicated supports, so they do not smother a young tree.
Step 6: Record what you planted and where. Layers hide each other once grown, and a map is the only way to know in year eight what the herb layer under a canopy was meant to be.
Common Mistakes
- Crowding the canopy — close-planted trees shade each other and the layers below long before they bear much; the lower layers then fail.
- Planting every layer at once with no thinning plan — decide in advance which plants are temporary (fast shrubs, annuals) and will be removed as the canopy closes.
- Treating the layers as a recipe — the heights above are a guide; the same species behaves differently on a different soil and climate.
Safety
Several layer plants are toxic in part or raw
Elderberry fruit eaten raw, and its leaves, stems and bark, are toxic; cook the berries and use only the ripe fruit. Rhubarb leaves are poisonous (only the stalks are eaten). Comfrey is a mulch and fodder plant, not a food: do not eat it. Identify every plant with certainty before anyone eats from the planting, and keep a planting map so a stranger or a child cannot mistake one for another.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Guild Planting — how plants within the layers are grouped by job
- Combine with: Establishment Timeline — how long each layer takes to produce