Stacking - The Mature Forest Garden

One thing that we can observe in the climax forest is the existance of specific niches that are occupied by different species. Seven distinct layers have been defined within the cool temperate forest; light-loving canopy trees, smaller shade-tolerant trees, shrubs, herbaceous species, climbers, ground covers & the vegetable & root layer. We can use this knowledge to mimic this structure within a productive food forest (very common in some countries), making the most of all the available niches that nature provides rather than just one or two - how our food is usually grown in the West. Scaled down forest gardens can even be developed in small spaces producing food, attracting wildlife & being a lovely place to be close to nature.