Urban Micro-Forests

Do you have a small corner of vacant land, an un-used slice of urban backyard or a wasted corner of an industrial property? How about turning it into a maintenence free Micro-Forest?

A Micro-Forest is a small, densely planted forest often in urban areas or industrial backyards. You don’t need a huge amount of space; you can plant them almost anywhere in sites as small as three square meters. They are perfect for fast regeneration of urban areas, school playgrounds and urban spaces.

The Miyawaki Method for planting a Micro-Forest is named after a Japanese botanist and ecologist Akira Miyawaki. The theory is that by planting a large variety of native trees close together provides an increase in biodiversity and seed availability. The denseness of growth and rapid canopy cover shades out weeds and creates a cool home for insects and birds, and the increased leaf mulch builds fertility and life in the soil. This leads to greater suppression of weeds, faster growth, faster reforestation and faster return to the natural ecosystem.  Hopefully, this would also result in the forest sequestering carbon much earlier and at a higher rate and all the benefits that accompany an established forest.

Miyawaki style Micro-Forests only need to be maintained for the first two-to-three years. After that, you can stop weeding and mulching and let the forest get on with it.

There are four stages when planting a Miyawaki style Micro-forest:

1) Identify the native vegetation best suited to the area being planted. Forests are multi-layered, and we identify and plant all layers of vegetation, building a resilient green wall of canopy trees, trees, sub-trees and shrubs. 

2) Soil preparation to restore the missing biology and put it on the path to becoming oxygenated, fertile and self-sustaining. 

3) Dense planting of three to four plants per square metre in a random manner that mirrors how natural forests grow. This creates biodiversity, increases carbon capture, pollution filtration and produces an area more resilient to flooding and landslides. Increased canopy cover reduces the amount of rainfall that hits the ground, increases shade and promotes cooling.

4) Mulch protects the soil and retains moisture. Species such as earthworms, beetles and other insects feed from the top-down, building soil fertility by pulling the mulch into the ground for it to be broken down by microbes.

Now sit back and watch it grow!

Give us a call and lets see how we can turn your backyard into your own slice of paradise!