Hello all,

I've been reading quite a lot of Martin Crawford' excellent Creating a Forest Garden book.

He outlines the design process:

* Determine your aims, requirements, time and resources (food? fibre? fuel? camping? time? resources? etc.)
* Collect information and map the site (size, orientations, etc.)
* Decide on the speed of planting and succession stages (we probably want to plant over a number of years, but start to grow some of our own seedlings now)
* Design windbreak/ hedges and edges (from what I remember its already a fairly sheltered site, but it probably makes sense to plant more)
* Design the canopy layer (roughly one tree per 20-40m2)
* Design the shrub layer (in the spaces between the trees)
* Design the perennial/ ground-cover layer
* Design the annuals, biennials and climbers
* Design the nitrogen fixers (need 10-30% of space for garden to be self-sufficient - but maybe much less if we've got loads of inputs from happy campers) 
* Design the clearings, living spaces and paths.

Hopefully by the end of Thursday we'll have a good understanding of our aims, requirements, time and resources.  Be good if we could start the mapping process too (have a you got a plan of the land with the dimensions already on it?).  We should also start thinking about how we're going to harvest and store winter rain for use in the summer (eg. run-off from the Quadrangle's access road)

Then next big thing we've got to decide are what trees and large shrubs do we want in the canopy layer?

Essentially this come down making a large scale map (100:1 or 200:1) and some scale circles representing tree/ shrub canopy sizes when mature, then working out which mix of the following do we want, and can fit, in the space (leaving enough space for everything else between):

* Common fruiting trees
(Quince, Fig, Apple, Medlar, Apricot, Sweet/ Sour Cherry, Plums/ Gages/ Bullaces/ Damsons, Peach/ Nectarine, Japanese Plums, Pears)
* Less-common fruiting trees
(Juneberries/ Serviceberries, Stawberry Tree, Pawpaw, Dogwoods, Hawthorns, Blue Bean, Persimmons, Elaeagnus x ebbingei, Autumn Olive, Snowbell/ Silverbell Tree, Sea Buckthorns, Mulberries, Cherry Plum & Mirabelle, Blackthorn/ Sloe, European Elder, Rowans/ Whitebeams & Service Trees)
* Trees for nuts and seeds
("if you don't want to control squirrel numbers, then don't waste space in your forest garden by planting nut trees (with the exception of Sweet Chestnut)" Monkey Puzzle, Siberian Pea, Hickories/ Pecan, Chestnuts, Hazels, Maidenhair Tree, Heartnut, Black Walnut, Walnut, Pines, Almond, Oaks)
* Tree with edible leaves
(Limes/ Lindens, Chinese Cedar)
* Trees for herbs and spices
(Bay, Pepper Trees)
* Trees with other edible parts
(Maples, Birches, Sumachs)
* Firewood from coppice
(Common alder, Sweet Chestnut, Hazel, Eucalyptus, Ash, Black locust, Limes)
* Medicinal Trees
(Eucalyptus)
* Nitrogen-fixing trees
(Wattles, Alders, Siberian Pea, Redbuds & Judas Tree, Elaeagnus, Sea Buckthorns, Amur Maackia, Bayberries/ Wax Myrtles, Black locust/ False Acacia, Buffalo Berry).

Once we know the size of the site we can work out roughly how many trees we'll be able to fit, then we'll have to decide which ones we actually want to plant! (based on our requirements) :)

I really like the idea of trying to incorporate camping facilities within the garden. This could mean, for example, we'll need less nitrogen-fixers (because we'll have plenty of wee). And maybe we'd like to include trees to grow new poles for replacement yurts/ shelters in the future? And some firewood too to heat the shelter and cook food? (although I guess some of these outputs may be better suited to the existing little woodland).

Exciting!