Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

Misleading and Not a blueprint	Customer Rating:
I thought this would be more informative than any website on the subject. However, it wasn't. It lacked all the specifics I would have wanted.

How to Make a Forest Garden	Customer Rating:
I made a mistake when I ordered this book -- I didn't realize it was centered in Britain and as a result it was less useful for me. I did learn a few things, but I don't plan to keep the book. I have since seen it referenced in other texts and suspect it is an excellent book for someone in the UK.

Title misleading

Customer Rating:

First I want to say that I very much agree with the approach to gardening presented in Mr. Whitefield's book. That said the title is very misleading. The reason for my 3 star rating. The book has little to do with actual "Forest Gardening". Multi-layer planting or poly culture, more accurately describes his approach. He does use these terms periodically to describe this way of gardening. Early on Whitefield makes a brief comment on the idea that if you don't have much room, you might try a "forest garden" in a container. Perhaps in England they have forests in a pot, but in the part of the U.S. where I live people maybe have several acres of actual forest to work with. He also tells the reader to be aware of full day shade caused by nearby buildings. Important information if your forest exists between two multi-story buildings. But that is not a concern in a forest. This book does offer some constructive information for those who have a city lot or small yard to work with and wish to have a fruit tree or two, some berry bushes, combined with a vegetable garden. What I did learn from this book is that for gardening in a real forest a fair amount of the fruit trees and plants suggest by Whitefield probably won't work due to the light condition created by the forest canopy. Also the reader should know the hardiness of some of his suggestions are defined in general terms like, "can withstand cold temperatures". He does mention ability to withstand frost relating to some plants. One will need to check with other sources for plant hardiness, as cold for someone in England may be different than for someone living in Wisconsin. If you are actually wanting to garden in a forest you would might be better off researching native plants that may already be in your local forest environment, do some experimenting with plants to check their light requirements, or checking with your state university. They may have information on agri-forestry or other alternative approaches for food production in a forest environment. Bottom line... If you are planning for your back yard you might consider this book as a good starting place. It will give you some good information and designs for a progressive way to produce your own food. If you are planning to co-existing in a forest setting, in a way that allows you to produce a variety of fruits and vegetables I don't believe this book is your best place for ideas.

Clear explanations of basic concepts.

Customer Rating:

I bought this book for my wife who is an avid gardener and who has been studying permaculture for several years. We wanted a good book that would explain basic concepts of "forest gardens" that we have only begun to study. She loves the book, and while traveling recently, she read the first two chapters to me. I found the author's explanations to be very clear and concise. He presented some ideas which got me thinking differently about the way we develop and use our small yard. We are anxious to try out many of the ideas he presented. Overall, we are both very happy with this book, and it well fulfilled our expectations. If there is one downside to the book at all, it is the fact that he bases his explanations on the circumstances and climate of Great Britain. We would love it if he had his forest garden here in our area, and mentioned plants specific to our area. That makes it a bit of a challenge to interpret the specific methods to our own climate, but the general principles are useful anywhere. Yes, we highly recommend this book!

Finally, a 'forest garden blueprint' for us all.

Customer Rating:

If you are looking for a book that will inspire you to make a forest / woodland garden then this book has everything and more. When the realisation of low-maintenance gardening can produce such an incredible variety of produce, in such a sustainable way, it defies belief that this way of gardening is not implemented all over the world. Absolute value for money, and, as the principals of forest garden can be easily applied to the smallest garden space, there is no excuse for anybody not to give it a go. This book will give you all the help and guidance you need to make this vision a reality and the plants will just keep on giving. Truly inspirational.