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My main aim is to set up a forest garden. Have enough money for some sort of a plot but was wondering what things i need to take into account. Saw a plot of land said that it would be suitable for a forest garden though one wasn't established - couldn't quite see the difference from the rest of the description why this one was more suitable than others on sale.

I don't know how to advise - the idea of being able to choose a place for it rather than having to make do with what you've got sounds really exciting though!

The best source of advice I know of are the books by Jacks and Toensmeier or Martin Crawford. But get them from the library - they cost a fortune! the Agroforestry Trust has a website with some information which is expanded in Crawford's book.

There's also a smaller one by Patrick Whitefield which is very good but not detailed enough when you really get into it. And it does get very exciting!!!!

I have the Martin Crawford one as an ebook but i guess i should invest in a hardcopy as i don't always want to read at my computer. What's your place like? Do you have any photos?

I would have to commute to it to start with as probably no planning permission.

Still in very early stages, so far we've got the fruit trees in (our gardens too small for canopy trees, although we've got a sweet chestnut and a walnut to put in the field behind us). And we've got a good few things in pots ready to go in when we've got the beds sorted out.

We need to get the shop ready for opening at Easter so things are on hold a bit at the moment.

I love sweet chestnut. Did you get the French variety that fruits quicker?

My sister has a walnut tree, and they taste unlike anything you can get in the shops, lovely and fresh and without that slight bitterness. Getting the outer casing off is vile, though - get some of those thin plastic gloves.

As for the suitability of the land for a forest garden - maybe they are just aware that it is a popular thing to do at the moment, so will help the sale of a piece of land that can't be used to build on? Still, I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to do. I'm very jealous.

janerowena wrote:maybe they are just aware that it is a popular thing to do at the moment, so will help the sale of a piece of land that can't be used to build on?

Thanks. I did think that but other similar looking plots with the same people don't say the same :-s

Well thanks to graham mainly on here I am hooked on the forest gardening path, and I am scribling plans for my 4 acres on a nightly basis.

I think really I would look for Farm Land rather than forest / wood. Then its all the other things, location, access to service, soil type, levels, orientation, how sheltered it is, etc etc. Then it's the price versus the ease of doing it. ( a boogy meadow with a steep slope up to a road may well be cheaper than a flat arable pasture, but in essence they could both do exactly the same job for you)

Look out for big hawthorns you can cut down and graft plums onto! You just got to love that idea!

Or make a pleached hedge! I would love to do that. (Plashed, laid, whatever it's called in your locality)

I was walking around an old piece of woodland with my sister, near thetford forest somewhere, and the owner in the 1800s had built himself a mausoleum in his favourite woodlands. The new owners, once his son had gambled away all the estate, had very unkindly thrown his body out but kept the mausoleum. How mean. Just in case you fancied doing something similar.

I used to work as a tree/shrub propagator for a large nursery, so it is a subject very close to my heart.

janerowena wrote:

I used to work as a tree/shrub propagator for a large nursery, so it is a subject very close to my heart.

Ooooh. start a thread ansd share some tips...........................

There aren't usually many people wanting to know about trees! Not unless they are fruiting ones. It's probably best if I wait for a question to pop up.

boboff wrote:I think really I would look for Farm Land rather than forest / wood. Then its all the other things, location, access to service, soil type, levels, orientation, how sheltered it is, etc etc. Then it's the price versus the ease of doing it. ( a boogy meadow with a steep slope up to a road may well be cheaper than a flat arable pasture, but in essence they could both do exactly the same job for you)

Look out for big hawthorns you can cut down and graft plums onto! You just got to love that idea!

Thanks a lot Boboff i'll relook through the options now looking for something more suitable. Good luck with the plans for your 4 acres - sounds exciting.

janerowena wrote:Getting the outer casing off is vile, though - get some of those thin plastic gloves.

BUT, the smell is fantastic!
Well, the crushed leaves at else!

Actually, do you think it'd be doable to make essential oil from them? Then I could make some shampoo and all sorts of fun stuff!

Sounds like a brilliant project. I would love to do something like this. Have fun