Emma Cooper

A wood pile for wildlife, at Ewelme Nature Reserve

Welcome to Forest Garden Friday! The idea is to collect together all kinds of information about forest gardens, which are designed to mimic a natural forest system using productive plants – and thus provide a sustainable and varied harvest.

One of the main ways in which permaculture and forest gardens differs from regular gardening is that it understands that it doesn’t pay to be too tidy. There are many reasons why you might let a plant set seed, for example. Perhaps you want to let it self-seed, to add to the low maintenance nature of the garden. Or perhaps the seeds are valuable for wildlife. Or maybe you want to collect seed and share it with friends.

Leaving unkempt areas of garden has other advantages, too. A lack of dead material in gardens makes it hard for organisms at the bottom of the food chain (detritivores, or decomposers) to find anything to eat. Without them the soil doesn’t regenerate properly, and the animals higher up the food chain don’t have anything to eat either and the visible wildlife will also struggle to exist on your plot.

And so a compost heap is a valuable wildlife addition to your garden, but there are other ways to make use of dead material, particularly the woody stuff that won’t rapidly compost down.

Lia Leendertz and the Hedgewizard both have dead hedges – collections of dead plant material that make great barriers, wind breaks and wildlife habitats and are also quick, easy and free to make. I first encountered them at the Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, and I must remember to take a photo next time I’m there. They blend in nicely with the garden and don’t look tatty.

Another way to make use of woody material is through hugelkultur. In essence this means turning your woody waste into the bottom layer of a raised bed. This gives you a raised bed with plenty of organic material and air pockets to encourage healthy plant growth, and a slow-release source of fertilizer (potentially for years if you use a slow-rotting wood) although you do have to be on the look out in case your wood is too fresh and is locking up all the soil nitrogren while it decomposes. Well-rotted wood won’t give you that problem.

And, of course, you can simply make a log pile in a quiet corner that will make a home for all kinds of minibeasts and creepy crawlies, which will be beneficial to your garden (and very educational if you have kids).

What are your favourite ways to incoporate a little bit of death and decay into your garden, to complete the circle of life?