The Concept
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So, what sets our Microwoodland apart? It’s not just a collection of trees but a complex system that demands a deeper understanding of its unique purpose.
My methodology as a horticulturist and designer is to share the why because when we understand the plant’s purpose, we appreciate what nature strives for in our gardens. Nature intends to evolve into an apex forest in every waking moment! What do I mean by that? Each type of plant plays a role in developing ‘virgin soil’ for a complete fruition forest, and the cycle is continuous, with natural disasters such as flooding, forest fires, and wind damage being the route to a cleared plain ready for renewal.
To start again, the fast-germinating ephemeral, annual seeds will colonise and reseed on the freshly disturbed soil. Where do these seeds come from? They could be blown in or have laid latent for millennia, possibly! The biannual swill follow these, flowering in their second year, sending down tap roots and breaking up subsoil to mobilise nutrients therein. As these larger blooms and leaves create better ground cover, the pioneer shrubs and woody perennials start taking hold, short-lived (in relative terms) dominating the ground enough to give time for sapling trees such as growing Maple, followed by the apex species such as Oak or Black Ash in the case of UK natives.
What is wonderful is that if we left the world to its own natural devices, this is what would happen in fertile, temperate areas!
If you want to tame nature, take time over the annuals and growing weeds; they are working with purpose. Use shrubs and trees to improve the state of your soil and create a canopy for understory plants. Tame the height and spread of your trees with careful, knowledge-based pruning, and know that for now, we are masters of the jungle at our back door!
For this course, we are going to plant pioneer trees. As described above, these are the trees that will work within an open natural environment to create a community—that is what we are looking for.
So now that you understand what nature is trying to do, let’s examine our design and see what we can recreate to understand those principles.
