Ecological Gardening

Lesson 3: Planting Choices

Interplanting and Polycultures

Suggested reading: Chapter 8, Gaia’s Garden

This year I will be working, with several others, to restore a clearcut. Our intention is to use this exercise as both a learning and a teaching experience. The property is privately owned and covers 160 acres. The owner has given us complete access. When we first visited the site the mud was too deep to do an in-depth site observation. We returned in two weeks and began the process.

Since I first contacted the owner I have been researching the boreal forest and the plant guilds that exist here.

The site will be divided into sections. We are setting up an experimental site to see how well trees such as the burr oak fare here. The burr oak is not native to the region but should grow well and give a steady supply of acorns for wildlife and humans. The second site will be our attempt to create a plant guild which is based upon plants native to the area. My initial research shows that a guild based upon the trembling aspen (populus tremuloides)which provides wood for playgrounds and sauna benches as it does not splinter, as well as shelter for wild life, will work well. In addition, beaked hazel (corylus coruta) which provides hazel nuts for humans and wildlife and low blueberries (vacinium angustifolium) which also provides food for wildlife (bears, birds) and humans. These three also do well with pine and spruce trees which are also native to the area and a number of other berry bushes. So there is a good diverse selection of plants and trees that can be incorporated into the overall design. Each plant performs at least two functions and each meets the needs of both humans and local wildlife.

Glossary
Interplanting: the mixing of different crops in the same planting area by considering the length of growing season, the size and shape of the plant, the size and shape of the plant's root system, and the plant's tolerance for shade. Most vegetables are well suited for this technique.

Polyculture: an intermingling of plant species.

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