Mulch in the Forest Garden:

Mulching is heavily used in “high value” areas of the Forest Garden, including the permagarden and timber trees. The picture above illustrates how much mulching can improve soil quality. The richer darker soil indicates that mulch was applied.

In addition, fruit trees are one of the most important components growing in a Forest Garden. Due to the amount of nourishment and income that a fruit tree can provide, farmers want to provide these trees with the best growing conditions and management. Farmers will add mulch to the cuvettes surrounding their fruit trees so that water and nutrients can be captured into the soil without runoff and evaporation. Adding mulch to a cuvette will also limit weed growth and avoid any resource competition from occurring in the fruit trees space.