It will take some work to get this area prepped for the forest garden. It's full of junk, improperly pruned fruit trees (which will probably be taken out), weeds, etc. There are a few excellent hickory nut trees currently standing, which rocks. Hickory trees take forever to grow and bear. I feel blessed that there are two or three perfect specimens there already, bearing wonderful nuts. (I had never had a hickory nut until recently... hard to crack, but absolutely fabulous nuts.)
This is an evening shot of part of the forest garden area. Lots of work to do. It may be a couple of years before we get it ready to plant trees and shrubs, but the sooner the better because it will take a while for anything to bear fruit.
There are several "layers" to an orchard garden. The canopy is the larger trees - nuts, etc. The sub-story is the semi-dwarf fruit trees, and the ground layer will be shade tolerant fruit shrubs/vines, herbs and veggies. I still have a lot to learn about forest gardening, so the work that is in front of us is a good thing while I figure out what and where to plant.
We've chosen the apple varieties we want to plant that will give us fruit over the whole season. We'll also be putting in cherry, nectarine, peach, plum, paw paw, pecan and apricot trees. In addition, we'll add mulberries, hardy kiwi, elderberry, gooseberry, blackberry, raspberry and blueberry plants. We'll have to create individual ecosystems for each of the plants in order to get conditions right for good growth and harvest. I'm also considering taking advantage of windbreaks, reflective materials and some judicious weatherproofing to try some of the more tropical trees and plants like olives, almonds, etc.
Lots and lots of planning required, but should be self-sustaining if we do it right. So much fun!
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