A Florida food forest that feeds you back
A layered edible garden of fruit trees, berry shrubs, and herbs that grows together like a natural woodland. Built to produce food for years, with far less work than raised beds you replant every season.
What it is
What is a food forest?
A food forest is an edible garden designed to work like a natural woodland. Instead of rows you replant every season, layers of fruit trees, berry shrubs, herbs, and ground cover grow together and support each other. Once it takes hold, it produces food year after year with far less work than a traditional vegetable garden. Food forest, edible landscaping, and permaculture all describe the same idea, growing food the way a healthy ecosystem already does.
Most edible gardens around Tampa Bay are raised beds. They give you a season of vegetables, then you pull them out and start over. A food forest is built to stay. It uses plants that come back on their own, feed the soil as they grow, and need less water and replanting every year that passes. One approach gives you a harvest. The other gives you a system that keeps feeding you.
We design food forests around what Florida actually gives you, the heat, the sandy soil, the heavy summer rain, and the long dry winters. Every plant is chosen because it belongs in this climate, and placed so the rain feeds it and the soil holds together. The result is a garden that works with Florida instead of against it.
What is included
What goes into your food forest.
Every food forest is designed for the specific property, but the foundation is always the same. Here is what we build into the plan.
Site and Soil Assessment
We read your land first, the sun, the slope, where water sits and where it runs off, and what the soil is working with. Everything in the design starts from what your property actually has.
Layered Planting Design
A food forest grows in layers, from tall fruit trees down to ground cover. We map each layer so plants share light, water, and root space instead of competing, the way a real woodland does.
Fruit and Nut Trees
The backbone of the food forest. We choose fruit and nut trees proven to produce in the Tampa Bay climate, and place them for shade, structure, and decades of harvest.
Edible Shrubs and Herbs
Berry bushes, perennial herbs, and edible ground cover fill in beneath the trees. These layers produce early, hold moisture in the soil, and keep the whole system productive.
Water and Soil Building
We shape the ground so rain soaks in where plants need it instead of running off. Mulch and ground cover feed the soil over time, so the food forest gets richer instead of poorer.
Establishment Plan
The first year or two matter most. You get a clear plan for what to water, prune, and watch, and the option to have us tend it with you until it can stand on its own.
How it works
The seven layers of a food forest
A food forest copies the structure of a natural woodland, where plants grow at different heights and every layer has a job. Stacking these layers is what lets a small space produce a lot of food while taking care of itself.
Canopy
The tall fruit and nut trees that anchor the garden, provide shade, and produce for decades. They set the structure everything else grows around.
Understory
Smaller fruit trees that grow in the dappled light beneath the canopy, adding more harvest without crowding the big trees.
Shrub
Berry bushes and other edible shrubs. This layer often produces first and keeps producing through the seasons.
Herbaceous
Herbs, greens, and flowering plants that bring food to the table, attract pollinators, and support the plants around them.
Ground Cover
Low spreading plants that shade the soil, hold in moisture, and crowd out weeds so you do less work.
Root
Edible roots and tubers growing below the surface, making use of space the other layers do not reach.
Vine
Climbing edibles that use the trees and structures for support, adding yet another layer of food from the same footprint.
Living Spaces Gardening founder Kiamesha Wray is an experienced Florida Master Naturalist and a FANN credentialed native plant professional. A food forest is an ecosystem, and she designs it the way a naturalist reads the land, not the way a lawn crew plants a row.
Common questions
Questions about food forests and permaculture
A food forest is an edible garden designed to work like a natural woodland. Instead of rows you replant every season, layers of fruit trees, berry shrubs, herbs, and ground cover grow together and support each other. Once it is established, it produces food year after year with far less work than a traditional vegetable garden. Food forest, edible landscaping, and permaculture all describe this same approach to growing food the way a healthy ecosystem does.
A vegetable garden is usually raised beds of annual crops that you plant, harvest, and tear out every season, then start over. A food forest is built to stay. It uses perennial plants in layers that come back on their own, build the soil as they grow, and need less water and replanting over time. A vegetable garden gives you one season of food. A food forest is designed to feed you for years.
Yes, when it is designed for Florida. Our heat, sandy soil, heavy summer rain, and dry winters all shape what belongs in the design. We choose fruit trees, edible shrubs, and ground cover that are proven in the Tampa Bay climate and place them so the rain feeds them and the soil holds together. A food forest built for Florida works with these conditions instead of fighting them.
Herbs and ground cover can produce in the first season. Berry shrubs and fast fruiting plants often follow within a year or two. Larger fruit and nut trees take longer to reach full production, but they keep producing for decades once they do. A food forest rewards patience early and pays it back for years.
Less than a lawn and far less than raised vegetable beds once it is established. The first year or two need regular attention while roots take hold. After that, a well designed food forest largely takes care of itself, with seasonal pruning, harvesting, and light upkeep. We offer ongoing maintenance and monitoring if you would rather we tend it with you.
Yes. Living Spaces Gardening designs and installs food forests and permaculture gardens throughout the Tampa Bay area, including St. Petersburg, Largo, Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, and Tampa. Founder Kiamesha Wray is a Florida Master Naturalist and a FANN credentialed professional. Contact us at 727-710-7400 or through the form below.
Where we work
Food forest design across Tampa Bay
Living Spaces Gardening designs and installs food forests and permaculture gardens throughout Pinellas County and the greater Tampa Bay area. Find your community below.
Start here
Let's design a garden that feeds you.
Pick a topic below. Kiamesha responds personally. Consultations start at $125 and that goes toward your design.