To transform our front lawn to a food forest, we began by studying the terrain, to see which way rainwater flows on this site. A site called contourmapcreator helped to visualize the inclines.

Based on the contour map, we decided where the trees would be placed. The nursery tags told us each tree’s mature height. Using the rule of thumb that a tree will grow to be as wide as tall, we determined the elbow room needed by each tree and used this to space them out. 

About the most physically hard part of the job was digging a hole for each tree, which needed to be a little bigger than the pot it came in. The clay soil was dry and hard. If we could have timed to plant just after a rain, the soil would have opened up and the digging easier. In any case, we sifted the stones out of the excavated soil and the same soil was replaced in the hole. We did this so the tree roots would get used to the local soil where it was planted. This is different from planting in the city, where local soil is often construction debris! 

The sod (bits of lawn dug up) was turned upside down and placed a few inches outside the hole. On top of the sod we added cardboard soaked in EM-1 to add effective microorganisms to the soil. Think probiotics for the soil!  This was topped off with coco-coir, a sprinkling of cow manure, spent mushroom compost, and lots of wood chips. Visually, we created a well, with the tree in the center.

the team — Genie, Ishmael, Noah
Noah mindfully building up sheet mulch for cherry tree
Rainier sweet cherry tree
persimmon tree
plum tree
foreground — persimmon and plum trees background — asian pear, cherry, peach trees
sheet mulching with cardboard, for bed with persimmon and plum tree in background.
tools — wheelbarrow, shovel, old shower curtain as tarp, screener, buckets for soil and stones
mulching blueberry bushes
blueberry bushes
Blueberry bushes around cypress in backyard
raspberry patch along sidewalk
raspberry patch along sidewalk

So far we have planted a sweet cherry, a persimmon, an asian pear, a peach and a plum tree. Each tree will have smaller plants at the base, plants that help the tree and the surrounding eco-system. How? Some plants are mulchmakers (low leaves shade the soil, excess leaves chopped and dropped to cover soil), some are nutrient accumulators (bringing up nutrients from deep in the soil), some invite beneficial insects, some are barrier plants (to keep the lawn from taking over the bed), some are nitrogen fixers (to bring nitrogen from the air and down into the soil as a fertilizer for the tree), some are pest repellants, and some invite wildlife. Of course, many are edible by humans, and even have medicinal value!

A good balance of these supporting plants means we wouldn’t need to use pesticides to kill insects that devastate our plants, or herbicides to kill weeds that take over the space intended for the plants we want in our garden. 

I’ve built myself a reference of plant roles based on discussions with my friend Noah Madlin and this link, mainly for the region I live in, which is Southeastern Pennsylvania, USDA hardiness zone 6. I’ve pasted this initial list below for quick reference, though I know it will be an evolving list as I learn more. 

  • nitrogen fixers — acacia, alder, beans, black locust, buffaloberry, ceonothus, clover, goumi, mountain mahogany, autumn olive, Russian olive, peas, vetch — more listed here
  • mulch makers — ajuga, artichoke, barley, buckwheat, cardoon, clover, comfrey, crotoloaria, ferns, mustard, nasturtium, oats, reeds, rhubarb, wild strawberry, stonecrop, sunchoke, thrift, vetch, wheat, dwarf yarrow, yerba buena, pokeweed, sweet potato, potato, sorrel
  • dynamic nutrient accumulators — chamomile, chicory, comfrey, dandelion, fennel, lambs quarters, plantain, sorrel, strawberry, yarrow, artichoke, borage, cardoon, carrots, clover, onion, parsley, sunflower, thistle, valerian
  • insectary plants (includes pollinators & predators) — bee balm, buckwheat, carrot, celery, clover, coriander, dill, fennel, golden marguerite, lavender, lily, mint, onion, queen annes lace, sunflower, yarrow, anisse hyssop, asters, borage, comfrey, apple mint, mountain mint, oregano, parslet, parsnips, thyme, valerian
  • pest repellants / deterrents — elderberry, false indigo, marigold, nasturtium, allium, chives, daffodil, onion
  • fortress plants AKA barrier plants — comfrey, lemongrass, red-hot poker, sunchoke — per NM, also… chive, daffodil, walking onion, oregano, rosemary, sage, sorrel, thyme, turkish rocket, valerian
  • spike root plants — daikon, chicory, comfrey, artichoke, dandelion, mustard, rapeseed, alfalfa
  • wildlife nurturing plants — dogwood, elderberry, chokeberry, blueberry, native roses, hawthorn, ceanothus, wild cherries
  • shelterbreak (wind break) plants — Maximilian sunflower, Jerusalem artichokes, bamboo, basketry willows, wildlife shrubs, berry bushes, Osage orange, hawthorn, native roses, Manchurian plums, gooseberries

I’m also learning that simply sourcing many of these perennial plants takes work, since most local nurseries seem to sell annual plants for summertime color. We will need to find other gardeners to swap with.