In Years 1-3 of a food forest the goal is survival and root growth, not harvest: plant dormant stock, mulch heavily, water deeply and infrequently through the first dry seasons, guard each trunk against animals, and replace losses in the second year. Grow annual crops between the young trees while the sun is abundant, because the planting yields little from the trees themselves yet. Keep records of what you planted and what died, since the pattern of losses shows what your site will not grow.
The establishment phase is the first years after planting, when young trees and shrubs build roots and survive weather, animals and weeds before they bear fruit.
Survival Of The Planting Matters More Than Early Production
The carrier guide (Food Forest & Permaculture Design) describes Year 1-2 as planting the core structure: canopy and sub-canopy trees, a guild around each, ground covers seeded between, heavy mulch to suppress weeds, and annuals such as squash, beans and potatoes between the young trees. Its Year 0 prepares the site with sheet mulch (cardboard with 6-12 inches of wood chips or leaves) and the ordering of stock.
What You Need
- Dormant, healthy stock — bare-root trees where available.
- Mulch in large quantity, and a way to keep it off the bark.
- Water for the first dry spells, and a way to apply it where roots are.
- Guards or fencing against rabbits, voles and deer (Fence Types).
Method
Step 1: Plant in the dormant season. Keep roots moist until planting, set at nursery depth, and firm the soil.
Step 2: Mulch the circle, not the trunk. Sheet-mulch or chip-mulch the planting area, leaving the bark bare.
Step 3: Water deeply and rarely. A young tree’s roots occupy a small volume, so it dries out fast; a soak that wets the whole root zone, followed by a gap to let the soil dry slightly at the surface, encourages roots to go deeper than frequent light watering. How much and how often depends on soil and weather: dig a small hole beside the tree and judge by the moisture at root depth, not by the surface. See Scheduling: When and How Much.
Step 4: Guard the trunks. Fit guards or fencing the first autumn, before voles and deer find them.
Step 5: Remove the first blossoms and keep weeds off the root circle so the young tree puts energy into roots and frame.
Step 6: Train the young tree to a sound shape in the first winters (Pruning and Maintenance Schedule).
Step 7: Replace losses in Year 2 with the same species if it simply died of weather, or with a better-suited one if the site is wrong.
Step 8: Grow annuals between and keep their roots away from the young trunks. See Integrating with Annual Crops.
Common Mistakes
- Planting too deep or too shallow — buried graft unions and exposed roots both kill trees.
- Watering a little every day — it keeps roots near the surface.
- Fertilising heavily at planting — it can burn roots and encourage soft growth.
- Skipping the guards — a single winter of vole damage girdles a young trunk.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Year 3-7: Early Production — the first harvests
- Combine with: Mulching — the mulch itself