Help me plan a garden that thrives on neglect

Hi all! I'm going to be living with my parents for a few years to save money while attending college. I want to garden during that time- they have an entire acre of yard to play with!- but I don't want to leave them with a lot of work or an unsightly mess a few years down the line. I was thinking that a forest garden would be a good fit for this. They've given me the go-ahead to plant whatever I like in the back yard, but my preference is for plants that are unlikely to poison dogs, children, or livestock. We're in the Piedmont district of New Jersey, hardiness zone 7a, and I hope to use mostly native plants (though I'm willing to use non-native alternatives for plants that are no longer able to survive long here- chestnuts, for example)

I know that I'm not going to get much return from a forest garden in just a few years. Gardening is fun- the food at the end is just a bonus. Planting some trees and long-lived or self-seeding perennials will still benefit me in the long run, but I'm more interested in investing in the land than seeing the returns.

So far, I'm thinking I want a couple of chestnut trees. I'll build up guilds of shorter, shade tolerant trees around them, and plant some nitrogen fixers to keep them happy. New Jersey Tea and American Groundnut both look interesting to me!

What are your thoughts? If you were building a "set it and forget it" garden, what would you prioritize?

Welcome to Permies Inez!
This sounds like a great opportunity to create a lasting legacy, and a very generous offer by your parents.

I'm going to suggest ribes, like currents and gooseberries and canes, like blackberries and raspberries.
They generally take of themselves, they are delicious and they are easy to propagate.

Welcome to the forum!

Planning a garden with annual plants is what you want to do if you want to leave them with a mess.

Inez said,  but I don't want to leave them with a lot of work or an unsightly mess a few years down the line.

You mention a forest garden so do they already have a forest?  Or are you planning on planting lots of trees?

Or maybe a food forest is what you are wanting?

And I agree with the mention of berry bushes.

William Bronson wrote:
I'm going to suggest ribes, like currents and gooseberries and canes, like blackberries and raspberries.
They generally take of themselves, they are delicious and they are easy to propagate.

Hi Inez! I'm with William on this. I inherited my grandma's cottage in Finland and the 20 blackcurrant bushes were alive and kicking after years of neglect. They needed pruning and they like fertilizing (with your home-made mixes!) but even without extra care you get a delightful harvest. You have to spend a few days picking currants and then you have some fantastic eating options: jam! (my favourite) or if your parents don't want to spend time stripping the berries off their little stalks, you can make blackcurrant juice concentrate with a Nordic steam-juicer a.k.a. "Mehu-Maija". Redcurrants are tarter than black ones but they seem to be a bit hardier and also make delicious jam or juice (or pies, frozen berries, smoothies, muffins, dehydrated, jelly, etc). Gooseberries are super delicious too, a bit harder to pick because of the thorny branches.

If your parents want zero labour input you could plant species for non-humans... blossoming things for pollinators, birds, special bat habitat, sanctuary for threatened local species, soil construction???

Mulberries for sure - they will spread themselves too. I'd plant some slow to bear but sturdy trees like hickory and persimmon as well.

I like a lot of vigorous perennial vines, but I'd probably stay away from those if no one is going to be harvesting from the garden for awhile.

Jerusalem artichoke for sure.

Asparagus does very well with neglect.

Blueberries.

Artichoke/Cardoon.

Amaranth will self-seed and out compete weeds.

Hi Inez, welcome to permies!
That sounds like a win-win situation to me! You get to garden and your parents get a maintenance free yard

You say you are interested in native plants, so you might like to look at this link: Native edible plants of North America Unfortnately it is not sorted by climate zone, but may still be useful for you.

If you are thinking for the long term, consider the mature size of the trees and other plants and how they will interact with buildings and other surroundings. Think about what is there now and how it might change with succession (lawn -scrub - forest). Other things to consider:
What is the soil like?
What budget do you have for plants?
What do you and your parents like to eat? There may be a place for apple trees and rhubarb as well as unusual edibles!
What about paths and places to sit?

One of the things that drew me to permaculture was the 'lazy gardening' aspect, but laziness does take some planning!

Hey, I'm in Union County! For semi-urban/ suburban New Jersey we get an awful lot of deer who walk right into our yards and up to our front porches. Our first couple years with gardening were learning experiences for sure. Around food we had to put a wire fence with metal stakes to keep out small animals, layered with a taller fence of deer netting. Maybe your acre is fenced in, or maybe you don't have deer around there, but if you're not sure, make sure you spend some time observing animal presence before committing. Our deer come around various times of day but the time they really come up to the house is like 1-3 am. We didn't know this until we got a camera on the front of our house. Just something to think about! Can't wait to hear what you end up doing!