Turning 2.5 acre fenced pasture into forest garden.

Hello All,

I'm new to this group, but not new to growing and planting. I've studied permaculture and forest gardening for three years. My farm is located in the South Carolina upcountry, on the border of zone 8a and 7b. I am growing Southern heirloom apples and pears on my farm in a traditional orchard. I also have a wide range of fruiting trees beyond apples and pears, including medlars, plums, figs, persimmon, and mulberry. I want to plant a forest garden on a 2.5 acre piece of land that was most recently a cow pasture. My question is this: what are the first steps for creating a forest garden on such a large area? In short, what needs to be planted during the current dormant season, and how might these plantings be properly spaced in preparation for the overall forest garden design? The land in question is mostly sunny, but is bordered by a stand of mature hardwood forest to the west that shades out the western portion of the field in a significant way. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Well, maybe one more question. Can anyone recommend a good company to help design my new forest garden?  Professional plans might help a great deal.

We are also in the midst of converting 2.5 acres of pasture into permaculture/food forest. We are gradually planting small trees into the now very tall pasture. My plan is to get trees established in the coming couple years and gradually replace pasture plants with things people can eat. The good things about tall pasture include that it holds soil moisture, supports lots of biodiversity, and suppresses invasive weeds, all while we figure out a plan for converting from pasture to food forest. I am hoping observations made as trees establish and start growing will guide our decisions about building around the trees.

I have little insight for you, but was interested to see someone else in a similar situation to us, albeit in a very different climate/habitat.

I'm sure people will chime in to help.  I'll just tell you where I would start.  I would plant windbreak trees on all sides except the south.  I think it was Gaia's Garden where I first read about how important windbreaks are, and how much they improve your forest garden's productivity.  I would have to look for sure.  I would recommend getting windbreak tree and shrubs in first.  You can start those now while everything else is still in the planning stage.  

The other recommendation I would give you is to be very careful with tree spacing.  Everyone I know, and yes, that definitely includes me, puts way too many trees in in the beginning.  It's very hard not to.  At first, your forest garden looks like a big field with a few sticks in it.  As hard as it is to do, try to live with that tree spacing for a few years unless you plan to cull trees heavily.  In the end, you want trees with lots of support species and layers, but still an open canopy.  If I were starting over, I would recommend figuring out what you think you would like your tree spacing to be, and then at least double it.  You can always add more trees, but it can be painful to cut down a tree you spent years growing because you put everything too close together.

Trace Oswald wrote:I'm sure people will chime in to help.  I'll just tell you where I would start.  I would plant windbreak trees on all sides except the south.  I think it was Gaia's Garden where I first read about how important windbreaks are, and how much they improve your forest garden's productivity.  I would have to look for sure.  I would recommend getting windbreak tree and shrubs in first.  You can start those now while everything else is still in the planning stage.  

The other recommendation I would give you is to be very careful with tree spacing.  Everyone I know, and yes, that definitely includes me, puts way too many trees in in the beginning.  It's very hard not to.  At first, your forest garden looks like a big field with a few sticks in it.  As hard as it is to do, try to live with that tree spacing for a few years unless you plan to cull trees heavily.  In the end, you want trees with lots of support species and layers, but still an open canopy.  If I were starting over, I would recommend figuring out what you think you would like your tree spacing to be, and then at least double it.  You can always add more trees, but it can be painful to cut down a tree you spent years growing because you put everything too close together.

Thank you for the sound recommendations. Yes, I recognize the importance of proper tree spacing. That's the main issue on my mind presently.

Andy Jensen wrote:We are also in the midst of converting 2.5 acres of pasture into permaculture/food forest. We are gradually planting small trees into the now very tall pasture. My plan is to get trees established in the coming couple years and gradually replace pasture plants with things people can eat. The good things about tall pasture include that it holds soil moisture, supports lots of biodiversity, and suppresses invasive weeds, all while we figure out a plan for converting from pasture to food forest. I am hoping observations made as trees establish and start growing will guide our decisions about building around the trees.

I have little insight for you, but was interested to see someone else in a similar situation to us, albeit in a very different climate/habitat.

Sounds like you are in a similar situation. I look forward to hearing about how your project progresses in the future.

I think Forest Gardens are as individual as the people who create them. Some people seem to have a good success with broadcasting tree seed and editing out what turns out to be less good at fruiting or in the wrong place, others like to have everything planned out and regimented, most are somewhere in between. In terms of design it helps if you have a vision of what you are trying to achieve; two and a half acres is large for a food forest. Since harvesting tends to be more like foraging it can be inefficient for time, although good for the soul perhaps.
The winter dormant period  is normally a good time for planting bare root trees, so if you can get a plan put together in the next month or so, and the main trees in the ground (if you're not going for the freehand nature-guided approach) then that would be good.  Many perennials need a winter vernalisation to start from seed, so if you are intending to do this then these may be worth starting in a nursery bed or pots, even if you don't know where they are going to end up.