Deciduous Forest Gardens

Puhinui’s natural capital and land use patterns mean that opportunities for productive gardens in Puhinui should be focused on intensive, small-scale productive gardens and orchards for fresh fruit and vegetables and some livestock. Small scale intensive systems require more energy input per area of land than extensive systems and typically have higher yields. Three intensive food production systems suitable for Te Puhinui include intensive gardens, orchards, perennial crops and forest gardens. A deciduous forest garden is characterised by deciduous trees and stone fruit species such as apples, plums and pears, with a shrub layer of seasonal berries and dense herbaceous ground cover of perennial and annual species. Deciduous forest gardens are best suited to well drained soils and with good air circulation to reduce the likelihood of mold and fungal infection caused by still humid air. Because deciduous plants drop their leaves annually, a deciduous forest garden builds a continual layer of leaf mulch and humus which adds to the soil fertility over time