I have a backyard and I was think the other day about how much I do n’t enjoy mowing it . alternatively of using my energy to trim back this grass every week why do n’t I put in a productive food forest ? We can produce so many nutrient producing plants here in Florida . There are mantrap , Mulberries , Bananas , Apples , Avocados , Figs , Oranges , Berries . The inclination literally goes on and on .
This is a effective affair and a bad affair . For me in any case , when I have too many choice I get analytic thinking paralysis . So I adjudicate to make a leaning of some of the proficient permaculture plants that I could incur in guild to help anybody else that is give this problem .
What are the best food for thought forest plants for Florida?These are plants that can make for together to provide a habitat most like a natural forest . There will be tall trees , medium trees , shrubs , priming coat covers and vine . Common Florida food timber plants areLoquats , Mulberrires , Lemon Gunter Grass , Sweet white potato vine , Malabar Spinach , and Comfrey .
ThanksQuesterMarkfor the pic.
A one sizing fits all approach wo n’t work for Florida .
North Florida and south Florida have very dissimilar climates . North Florida has regular freeze and south Florida is pretty much a tropical climate . This signify that there are go to be some differences in what you may mature depending on your location in Florida . For case , ravisher , which are a groovy solid food timber plant , need a sure number of chill hours to set yield . You wo n’t be able-bodied to grow those in south Florida . But bananas detest freeze , so you wo n’t be able to get uninterrupted harvests of bananas in north Florida .
There are also many different mixed bag of each plant , some more altered to the rut / inhuman than other motley . Read on to witness out more about the proficient solid food forest plant that you could grow in Florida .
ThanksJoachim Huber
Best Food Forest Plants For Florida
Live Oak
This is a definite canopy tree and will grow huge ! hot oaks grow crazy in north and central Florida . If you have some state I calculate you already have one on it . They do n’t ask much input but they provide great shade for your flora and home ground for lots of wildlife . It ’s not really a executable food for thought source for human .
Pecan
Pecans are another tree that grow really large . A canopy tree for certain . Pecans can be grow in north and primal Florida . Pecan trees do n’t even take care our flaxen stain so they make a keen addition to the Florida intellectual nourishment woods .
Florida friendly pecan varieties : Cape Fear , Moreland , and Elliot .
Malus pumila
ThanksGailhampshirefor the pic.
These trees can grow to be about 20 - 30 feet magniloquent . orchard apple tree involve about 300 - 400 chill 60 minutes to make fruit . Apples wo n’t be a very good pick for south Florida gardeners but Second Earl of Guilford and cardinal Florida have a good prospect of being able to succesfully raise apples . These Tree are best plant during the cool calendar month , December through February . Apples also demand to be crossbreeding pollinate to set fruit , this intend you will have to plant multiple apple trees in your food forest .
Florida friendly apple varieties : Anna , Dorsett Golden , TropicSweet
Avocado
ThanksEric Toensmeierfor the pic
avocado can grow larger , from 30 – 60 feet marvelous . They need all the sun so they are a groovy canopy alternative . alligator pear have it away the south Florida climate . These trees can not withstand temperatures below 20 ° F , so north Florida gardener may have some fuss growing these cat depending on how cold your wintertime get . Avocado trees ripen at different times depend on which diverseness you get . Avocados are pretty interesting and diving deep on them requires their own article .
Florida friendly avocado varieties : Bernicker , Brogdon , Choquette , Day , Hall , Lula , Marcus Pumpkin , Mexicola , Monroe , Pollack , Russell , Simmonds , Winter
common fig tree
figs can grow up to 12 feet magniloquent and they can get pretty panoptic as well . They like full to part sun and they do n’t wish to have their feet wet for a long time . They can be consider part of the canopy layer or low tree level depend on your design . Figs need about 100 chill 60 minutes to make fruit . This would n’t be a great option for those further south in Florida .
Florida friendly Fig varieties : Brown Turkey , Celeste , Green Ischisa , Jelly
LoquatThanksGailhampshirefor the pic .
ThanksTjeerd Wiersmafor the pic.
These are beautiful Tree that mature stupid easy here in Florida . They have long , non-white green leaves and make footling comestible fruits . They could be a canopy tree or an under floor tree diagram calculate on your pattern . They like full sunlight and you’re able to develop them as a tree up to 20 understructure marvellous . you’re able to also discipline it like a bush and it will grow up to 15 invertebrate foot wide(This make for easier harvest ) . They produce a ton of fruit and can be grown in all parts of Florida . These tree are actually used for lots of landscapes around Florida already so they should n’t be hard to find at your local nursery .
Florida favorable loquat tree varieties : Advamce , Champagne , Emanuel , Golitch , Juda , Judith , Oliver , Thales , Thursby , Wolfe
MoringaThanksEric Toensmeierfor the exposure
This tree can grow tall and tight . I ’m talk like 10 foot a twelvemonth . However , It ’s a good idea to keep the plant somewhat tall and use it as a low-pitched tree . The leaves are edible andextremely nutritious and growing the tree really tall makes it hard to harvest . This Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree will pop off back during the inhuman parts of north Florida but it will regrow when it warms up . in south Florida and most parts of cardinal Florida you could grow this year round . This plant may be a little harder to get , You might have to call around to a few different glasshouse .
Mulberry
in all likelihood the easiest Charles Edward Berry to grow in Florida . This is a tree that can arise in all parts of Florida and produces tons and oodles of piddling berries that resemble blackberry . This tree prefers full sun and calculate on the variety you get can lay out in height from 20 – 60 feet grandiloquent in full grown . White mulberry rise the tallest . crimson mulberry is native and loves out weather condition . it grows rapidly and allow expert shade and plenty of fruit fast . Black mulberry tree really grows more like a bush than a tree and is said to have the right savour fruit .
melon tree
Te papaya is n’t best option for allow for a ton of shade but it will acquire cursorily and easily grow tons of fruit . These are definitely tropical Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , they do n’t like temperature below 45ºF. You will probably need more than one works because you do need to cross pollinate these guy . That is unless you got golden and get a bisexual plant that ego cross-pollinate .
Peach
Peach trees can produce to be anywhere between 15 - 25 foot marvelous . beauty can be develop as far to the south in Florida as Fort Myers thanks to UF producing some low chill hour variety recently . If you want to dive deeper , I have a whole article ongrowing lulu in Florida .
Star yield
A tropic tree that would mature well in all of south Florida and most parts of cardinal Florida . It can withstand temperatures down to the upper twenties . stellar yield trees , also called Carambolas , are a medium sized tree that can develop between 20 - 30 ft grandiloquent , provide good shade and portion of sweet or tart yield .
ThanksEric Toensmeierfor the pic.
Florida friendly star yield varieties : Arkins , Dah Pon , Demak , Golden star , Kajang , Kary , Wubuntu
Berries
berry of all variety ; beautyberry , blackberry bush , blueberry , mulberry tree , strawberry and Surinam Cherries . Mulberry was mentioned above as a tree but it coach very well into a bush also . Surinam cherry are really the same path , if you desire to you’re able to train them into a tree or a shrub .
ThanksTomas Castelazofor the pic.
Cassava
Can also be get as a small tree . It ’s a staple crop in Africa and grows really well in primal and south Florida . It can be grow in north Florida but it will get knock back during the wintertime time . you could wipe out the roots and the leaf , however this plant is poisonous to us unless we boil it before we feed it . both the roots and the leaves must be boil be for eating !
Cassava is not normally pop out from seminal fluid . It ’s super leisurely to grow from cutting , which you may odlly enough find plenty of choices tobuy from on ebay .
This image was made by LoadmasterDavid R. Tribble
ChayaThanksEric Toensmeierfor the pic .
Is in the same folk as cassava . This also means it ’s toxicant to us if we exhaust it before we churn it . Chaya is grown for its scrumptious green parting . In south and central Florida you could grow this no problem . northerly Florida wintertime will kill it back but when the conditions starts to warm this plant will pop its head back up and start growing again .
It ’s easy to maturate Chaya from cut as well . You canget your hands on some chaya cut here .
Katuk
Katuk can grow in full sunlight but it also really likes partial tone . When grown in Dixieland and central Florida they can grow up to about 10 feet and be a nice compact bush . In north Florida the frosts will belt down it back but it should also grow back . Katuk is used as a Green River . you’re able to eat the foliage raw or cook them up .
you could get katuk cuttings onAmazon(Check price )
These are well started during the rainy season , they grow wild during our summertime months here in Florida .
Prickly Pear
An awing looking for cactus that grows like a bush . It not only bring in gracious red and orangish flowers but its fruits and “ leaves ” are edible . It can resist drought and loves sandlike stain . It can take full sun no problem .
The leaves(also called the pads ) are good when eaten young .
Rosemary
Rosemary is a not bad herbaceous plant for the garden that fill up in the shrub stratum nicely here in Florida . it is drouth kind and does n’t bear in mind our born grunge . It can grow up to 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide .
tea leaf
Like the tea that you drink ! Florida has a great climate for maturate tea . It ’s an evergreen bush but can be trained into a small tree . It ’s best raise in light shade but it can take full Sunday .
The teatime flora will last freeze temperature and can hold up inflame all the way up to 95 ° F .
It can be maturate from seed or cut .
noodle
Bush bean are a familiar vegetable crop to many Florida gardeners . They are ace easy food source to grow in Florida and they also pump atomic number 7 back into the soil which help all plants develop .
I ’m cluster a lot of d1ffernt bean together . There are some that vine and some that bush . There are the green bonce varieites and also the black-market eyed pea kinda bean as well .
One thing that they have in coarse though , is that most edible bean have intercourse full sun .
and because of the unlike growing habit of all bean they could fill your herbaceous layer , your land cover stratum , or your vining layer .
Florida friendly bush bean varieties : Bush Blue Lake , Contender , Roma II , provider , Cherokee wax , Pinto , Red Kidney , Black Bean , Navy , Garbanzo
Florida friendly pole bean assortment : McCaslan , Kentucky Wonder , Blue Lake
Collards
One of the easiest vegetables I ’ve ever originate in Florida . Here in primal Florida I can somewhat much harvest collards year round . You should come out collards pretty much any clip of the year except the hot or coldest months where you are .
Florida well-disposed collard varieties : Georgia Southern , Yates Strain
herb
All of the standard herbs you’re able to intend of are great for the berhaceous layer of your Floriuda food forest . Check this out for the10 easiest herbs to rise in Florida .
Lemon gage
Used in lots of Asiatic cuisine as a spiciness it ’s an easy top grow herbaceous plant that can get up to 6 feet tall and 3 feet wide . Lemon grass loves the humidness so south Florida and cardinal Florida wo n’t have a problem growing this year round , In north Florida halt will kill it back but it will regrow .
Peppers
Another familiar vegetable gardening plant , peppers are middling easy to grow heer in Florida . Heat and humidity make love plants they can grow to be a brace foot magniloquent and wide . they like full sun .
In north Florida you should implant peppers around August . In central and south Florida you’re able to implant in September and again in March .
Florida friendly sweet capsicum varieties : California wonder , Red Knight , Big Bertha , Sweet Banana , Giant Marconi , Cubanelle
Florida friendly hot pepper varieties : other Jalapeno , Cherry Bomb , Hungarian Hot Wax , Big Chile II , Mariachi , Numex , Ancho , Thai , Anaheim Chile , Long Cayenne , Habanero , Caribbean Red Habanero
Ginger
Is a low growing plant , about 2 feet tall . Ginger is so easy to grow here in Florida and its variety of expense in the stores so I do n’t know why more masses do n’t grow it . It like the tincture and does n’t require much care .
There is an eatable ginger and a decortive pep , make certain yotu get the comestible one , Zingiber officinale .
Jerusalem artichoke
This works is native to north Florida and is sometimes called the Jerusalem artichoke . They grow to about 6 - 10 foundation tall , the roots are eatable and the plant can be chop and dropped on the soil to help build a sizeable environment . The plants will keep to pop back up twelvemonth after year . If you ’re in north and central Florida you will probably have middling adept luck uprise these guys but I conceive it would be difficult to get them going in south Florida .
Malabar prickly-seeded spinach
Also called climbing prickly-seeded spinach , Its a vine that grow large green leaves and climbs up trellis or other trees or near by bushes . If you want you could pick off the fresh leaves and keep it as a smaller bush case plantor permit it uprise wild . It loves heat energy and humidness as well and will expand in south Florida . you’re able to produce it in central and north Florida but it will clamber during the winter calendar month .
mickle
If you ’ve ever speak to anybody that has grown mint in the same containers as other herbs I wager they will all tell you the same thing . Mint has the power to take over a space . Mint is a grim maintenance choice for the food forest . It will grow like crazy over a newly found food forest which is fine . Its an comestible ground cover that does n’t involve much care . It ’s protecting the soil from the sun which is exactly what we want .
Passion yield
Is a vine that can grow up to 40 feet foresightful . you may establish already grow plants from the nursery at any time in lower central and southern Florida .
Seminole squeeze
A vining works that can farm up your tall trees or lay on the basis and play as a ground cover . They grow sick easy here and can take our summer heat in central and south Florida , which not all plants can say . They are pretty much precaution free once they get situate .
Sweet potato
Probably the easiest vegetable I have ever uprise . In fact I ’ve had a severe time getting it out of my raise bed garden . It completely hatch my 4’x12′ garden and I only transplant 8 picayune plants . Which really crop great with what I was growing with it . It act like a living mulch . The best time in Florida to start these are Mar through June . They bask the affectionate months in all parts of Florida .
Florida friendly sort : Beauregard , Hernandez , Picodito
What is a Food Forest?
A food forest is built of seven layers .
Have you ever taken the clock time to look at the manner plant naturally maturate when you ’re on a paseo ? Forests may wait like a big ol higgledy-piggledy muddle but they actually grow in patterns . To make a successful intellectual nourishment woodland you do n’t postulate every single layer but a combination of a few of these layers sets you up for success .
All of the plant in a successful food forest are there for a reason and have a healthy relationship with the other plants .
Just like nature though food wood can also depend like a jumbled mess . Food forests are not Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree plant in little happy dustup , That ’s not how things normally maturate .
Your food forest doesn’thaveto look like an unmanagaed mess but a lot of time it does . A successful food timber is not guess based on how it looks .
A successful food forest is one that sustains itself and you !
Layers Of A Food Forest
This layer is made up of the tallest trees in your food forest . The tree diagram that are the tallest will obviously change based on how much size of it you are work with . If you have some space to work with , your trees can be vary tall like the Live Oak trees we have all around Frederick North and primal Florida . But if you ’re only working with a small backyard , something like a Japanese plum or bananas might be your canopy stratum .
These are trees that are smaller than your tallest trees . They care the support the bigger tree yield them . count on how prominent your canopy level is , they could be things like apples , Figs or mulberry tree . This bed is usually full of nutrient . yield , nuts and berries !
This level is useful for nitrogen fixing industrial plant , good bug attraction , and some food . this gets tucked in and around your two Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree layers . These could be things like cassava or blueberries .
This is where you may get batch of herb or veggies embed . These get tucked into any outer space that you have left . Seriously cram this material in there . thing like basil , ginger , and longevity spinach are perfect for this bed .
Lots of thing that you could establish as your ” herbaceous layer ” are also part of your root crop layer . thing like carrots count as both . perfumed white potato are a root layer craw but also a ground natural covering and a vine ! So there is some flexibleness to all of these layers .
The ground cover layer really aid protect the ground . It acts as a live mulch and help the sandyFlorida soilstay protected from the hot sunlight . Sweet potatoes and stack are super promiscuous options to grow as your terra firma cover .
This layer creeps up and grows on your trees , bush and any other support you provide . This layer maximizes outer space . A vining bed could be grape , passion fruit or the versatile sweetened tater again !
Prepare Your Site
I would suggest starting small , like I ’m going to do . When i pop out gardening I want to grow everything but I quickly realized that I was in over my head .
Clearing your land of all the sess and mourning band that are currently there is the first step to machinate your website for a food forest . Of course , if there is something that you want to keep already mature there you should leave it .
The most important thing you could do after clearing your site is to lay down mulch .
Contactyour county extension officeand see if there is any property near you that you may get mulch from . you’re able to also judge contacting local tree companies in your area , I play muckle of them are willing to degenerate off loads of wood chips to you for free .
clarification and protect your grime is what we are go for right now .
How To Plan A Food Forest
forest are very bio diverse . Natural woodland around the earth only cover 6 % of its full land but are home to over 50 % of the species on the plant .
When plan a food forest you need to think in term of layers .
Forests do n’t get in straight assembly line . things are usually growing all around each other .
This only becomes a problem when there is something growing that is killing the other things raise . When planing your food forest you desire to make indisputable that each industrial plant will exploit together instead of fighting each other for sun , root blank space , nutrients and weewee .
If you discover an result starting to happen , you have the king to remove a plant or chop up one down . You are building this forest and work with nature to optimise it ’s production .
Not only do you have to think of which plants are good for you , but you also have to analyze the outer space you are solve with .
If you ’re like me and its just a backyard , Start paying aid to where the sunshine fall and how it moves with the season . Which office of your yard get the most sun and which parts of your yard get the least ?
Does your yard slope at all ? and does body of water compile anywhere ?
These are all things of importance when surveil your work space .
Now that you know the lay of your land and have your grease prepared it ’s time to project what plants you want to put where .
What Is A Fruit Tree Guild?
This is basically a sexual union of a few industrial plant that work together to build the dissimilar layer of the solid food forest . Not all of the layers need to be accounted for every time but get at least three of the layer occupied by plant makes a expert jazz group .
A big Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , some bush , some vine and a ground cover and you ’ve bugger off yourself a fruit tree guild .
So , what are some of the best Florida food wood works pairings ?
Common Fruit Tree Guilds For Florida
Benefits Of A Food Forest
If you have n’t hear of David the good , check him outhere on Youtube
He he also has a Holy Scripture out right now call Creat Your Own Florida Food Forest which you canget on Amazon .
Robert Bowden has a great book calledFlorida Fruit & Vegetable Gardeningwith deal of information about fruit trees and diversity that grow best in Florida .
