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Know the Basic Layer of a Food Forest

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Are you aware of what a food forest means? It’s the one that produces food with more edible plants included across the landscape. But that’s not all. A food forest is made of seven basic layers discussed below:

  1. Canopy or top tree layer: The biggest overarching food forest layer is made of nine-meter-high trees. It comprises species of bigger nut trees like walnuts. It can also include non-edible timber species such as pine or oak.
  2. Large shrub or canopy layer: This layer contains trees three to nine-metre high. The layer generally includes fruit trees such as cherry, apricots, pear, and apple. When bigger trees fail to work, this layer serves as a canopy for the forest.
  3. Shrub layer: The perennial plants in this layer are bigger than the herbaceous crops but are smaller than trees. It contains plants as high as three metres.
  4. Herbaceous layer: Plants in this layer and below are distinct because they lack thick woody shrubs and tree stems. They will die fully in the winter season and grow in the spring season.
  5. Ground cover layer: The creeper layer contains plants that are near the ground. The varieties are more grounded than those in the herbaceous layer.
  6. Underground layer: The layer not only includes underground plants but also contains several crossovers with plants from the upper two layers. Alliums such as leeks, ramps, scallions, onion, and garlic are the general underground crops.
  7. Vine layer: This layer of the food forest includes vining or climbing plants. These plants can develop from the ground layer up to the canopy’s top.

Forest assessments are focused on ensuring all the layers of a food forest are created right and working well.