Australian Natives: In A Food Forest Garden

Well-designed food forests and forest gardens are a versatile food production solution that, in addition to producing food, are able to provide for a wide range of animals and fungi that create the connections between the plants in our garden.

As well as being focused on food for the people who are involved in the project, the plants that are selected for a food forest garden need to provide food and habitat for beneficial birds, insects and other animals. Without these supporting elements, these creatures will not inhabit a forest garden and instead of a designed plant community that mimics the patterns and processes of a natural ecosystem, there will simply be a collection of plants.

While there is a wealth of information about the plants that can be grown to produce a fruit or food yield for people, there is much less available about the support plants to incorporate into a food forest garden. The books that are available on the subject generally feature species from the northern hemisphere, and it can be difficult to understand where Australian species fit in.