Urban Food Forest for Beginners: Step by Step Guide
How to transform an urban garden into a food forest? How to start a food forest? Can you turn a small space into a food forest? These are all questions I had when we started this journey. I knew this was what I wanted but didn’t know if I would have the time to do it, especially with a new baby, so I started to look for help. Every landscaper I spoke with said we didn’t have space. So I found someone who specialized in permaculture landscaping in the area and even he said we wouldn’t have space to do much one than one or two trees in the space. I kept pushing for a food forest and eventually he ghosted us.
I was so frustrated but it motivated me to not give up on the vision I had. I spent the next year and a half reading everything I could about regenerative gardening, permaculture, and landscaping. When I finally felt ready to start I contacted a landscaper who came recommended from a friend to do our fencing and then I worked with him to get the layout we wanted laid out so I could then go in later and plant.
We started planting our food forest in 2020 during lockdown and now five years later we have countless trees, shrubs, vines, and countless other plants which make up our diverse ecosystem.
Transforming your urban garden no matter how small into a working food forest is possible and I’m here to show you how we did it. This will be a multipart blog series otherwise this post would be the length of a book.
Before we get started into building a food forest lets cover what you need to know or do before you get to planting.
Basic things to know before you plant your food forest
#1 know your growing zones
Everyone always mentions USDA zones which are great for knowing when your frost dates are. However heat zones will have the biggest impact on how successful your food forest is. It’s important to pick trees and plants that work with your environment. You can easily google “your location + chill hours” to find out what the chill hours are for your area. You can also do this for rainfall and heat.
USDA zones are measured by your frost start and end dates.
Here is the USDA zone map
Heat zones on the other hand are measured by the number of days per year over 86 degrees. This is actually something that I keep track of annually so I can see how we do from year to year. For heat zones there is no one set zone because as the world changes so will the heat’s impact on your garden. Below is the map from the American Horticultural Society.
This map is a fantastic starting off point, but I will also recommend that you keep a journal or garden log monitoring the heat. This will not only help you plan your garden better from season to season but it will also give you a better idea of how different crops handle the weather and whether you will need to make any adjustments in the following seasons.
#2 Know what the microclimates around your property
A microclimate is a small area where the weather can differ from a surrounding area. Areas with shade will be cooler than areas with sun. But even within a sun filled area you can have different microclimates. This is important to know because you can use this to your advantage when creating your food forest. For example: Shadier areas will be colder than sunnier areas. So if you have an area that is shadier during the winter time but during spring and summer it still manages to get plenty of sun then this spot would be a good candidate for a tree that needs more chill hours to produce fruit.
#3 Consider how much space you have and the types of trees
Planning out your space and figuring out how much space you have to dedicate to fruit trees is essential especially if you don’t have a large space to work with. If you are low in space but want max yields go for dwarf or semi dwarf fruit trees these easier to collect from and stay a manageable size.
#4 Know your soil
This may be one of the most important tips! What your soil is like is really important. If your soil is depleted of nutrients and you can’t find any worms in it, you will need to take care of it first so your trees can thrive from the start. Here are some questions to ask yourself: What is the drainage like? What is the acidity? What is the composition of the soil like (clay, sand, rocky)? Consider a soil test. This will help you determine what your soil needs and how to amend it.
#5 Plant trees with similar nutritional and water needs together
This will not only make irrigation planning easier but will make it easier for the plants to thrive. It’s tempting to just try to throw plants every which way but I can guarantee you that when you put a little bit of planning and time into designing your food forest it will go a long way into making sure that the plants are doing their best right from the start.
Now to the good stuff!
Building the layers of a food forest
A forest is organized in layers. There is usually a top canopy of the tallest trees, lower trees, vines, shrubs, and finally base ground plants. A food forest is set up with the same principles but with edible plants and plants who work to support the system.
The layers of a food forest consist of:
Top canopy- These are usually large native trees which can be used by owls and hawks to nest in so they can hunt in your space, or large fruiting trees like nuts or mulberries. In my space, because it is a small urban lot, I can’t really fit those types of large trees. However, I have large redwoods on adjacent lots that serve the purpose. When you consider food forests in an urban environment consider what you have around you as well. In a space like mine, more than one large tree would dominate my front yard so taking advantage of the space around my property helps a lot.
Lower canopy- This is the main fruit production section of a food forest and you very well can have this be your top layer. In my space these are the main focus.
Large shrubs- These go near your fruit trees or under them. In my case I have a mix of native shrubs such as salvia and currants which are great for supporting wildlife, and I have others like European elderberries and blueberries. Blueberries have their own dedicated space due to the acidity of their soil area.
Understory plants- There are many layers to understory plants and they all play a role in helping the soil and your food forest thrive. This is probably one of my favorite areas of a food forest and one that you can go building over the years. Here are the different types of understory plants you will needs and within these there is much overlap.
Pollinator attracting plants: Such as nectar rich flowers like calendula, zinnias, and such.
Pest repelling plants: Such as marigolds which spook off cabbage moths but also help your soil against root knot nematodes
Weed suppressor plants: Such as lemon balm
Mulching plants: Such as strawberries (and yes please do mulch around your trees still)
Nutrient accumulator plants: like comfrey or buckwheat
Nutrient fixer plants: Such as cover crops, buckwheat is a fantastic fixer plant and there are many native plants who also help. In California where I am we have native flowers like lupine and phacelia which help fix the soil and support wildlife.
Now you may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned vines yet. When you look at how vines work in a forest or even how its used in older permaculture practices the vines are climbing trees or crawling on the ground. This is fine if you have a large space but in a small urban garden it doesn’t work well. So you have to think of different ways like incorporating vines and canes into creating green fences or covering arch ways and such. In my space I have both cane berries and passion vine on a 20 foot fence trellis, which works as a great sound barrier to keep out road noise, produces a good harvest of fruit, and attracts a ton of pollinators throughout the year.
Spacing fruit trees
One of the last things that I’m going to cover in this guide is how far apart should you plant your trees. This depends a lot on the type of tree you get. For instance your dwarf and semi dwarf varieties can be planted a lot closer together than your standard varieties. In my space which consists just of dwarf and semi dwarf trees meaning that the majority of my trees wont grow above 8 feet in height. I have the citrus trees spaced 4 feet of each other. The apple trees and others are spaced 8 feet apart. The spacing of the trees also takes into account how you prune the trees. If you keep them smaller the distance between them can be smaller as well. It all depends in how much you want to harvest from them.
I hope this was helpful! I know this was a lot of information so let me know in the comments if you want me to expand on anything or if you have any questions.
Until next time plant what brings you joy!
Ale
This video is a companion to this blog post.
