Building a Food Forest

Picture this: you step into the backyard and pick baskets of figs, bananas, and berries. That is the heart of a food forest, a layered Florida friendly landscape that feeds your family, supports wildlife, and looks gorgeous year round.

What Is A Food Forest?

A food forest stacks life in layers: tall trees, small trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers, roots, and herbs. Each layer plays a role: shade, mulch, nutrients, pollination, and of course food. Done right, it becomes lower maintenance over time and more abundant each season.

Start With These Local All Stars

Fruit Trees and Small Canopy

  • Fig – Quick to produce and perfect for smaller yards
  • Mulberry – Fast growing and generous with spring berries
  • Loquat – Evergreen, fragrant blooms, tangy fruit in late winter and early spring
  • Persimmon – Sweet fall harvests and great backyard shade
  • Banana and plantain – Lush foliage and clusters of fruit that love our heat
  • Papaya – Lightning fast from seedling to fruit

Shrubs and Berry Producers

  •  Blackberries – Reliable, abundant, and simple to trellis
  • American Beautyberry – Native shrub with purple berries that birds adore
  • Elderberry – Great for syrups and thrives in moist spots
  • Chickasaw Plum –  Early white blossoms for pollinators and tart fruit for jelly

Vines, Ground covers, and Perennial Greens

  • Muscadine Grapes
  • Native vines that shine on arbors and fences
  • Passionfruit Exotic blooms, tasty fruit, butterfly magnet
  • Okinawa Spinach, Katuk, Chaya, Cuban Oregano Perennial greens that also act as living mulch

Soil Builders and Support Crew

  • Wax Myrtle – Boosts soil fertility and shelters wildlife
  • Yaupon Holly – Native evergreen with deep cultural roots in Florida
  • Firebush and Native Wildflowers – Nectar hubs that increase fruit set across the garden

A Simple Seven Layer Starter Plan for a 10 by 15 ft space

  1. Small canopy one fig in the center back
  2. Understory one loquat or persimmon in the front left
  3. Shrubs two blackberries and one beautyberry
  4. Vines one muscadine on a fence or arch
  5. Herb layer katuk and Cuban oregano along paths
  6. Groundcover sweet potato or peanuts for living mulch
  7. Root layer turmeric or ginger tucked in the shadiest pockets

Tip: Plant bananas in a wet corner with elderberry and taro if you enjoy edible roots. Add a thick ring of mulch and refresh it often.

Planting and Care Made Local

  • Best planting push late summer into fall is prime. September is a sweet spot for getting perennials established.
  • Mulch like a pro three to six inches of chipped wood or leaves keeps roots cool and feeds the soil. Keep mulch a few inches off trunks.
  • Irrigation rhythm deep, infrequent soaks beat daily sprinkles. Young trees appreciate a slow hose trickle at the drip line.
  • Salt and sand savvy along the coast, choose tolerant plants such as loquat, fig, and beautyberry and build soil with steady mulch and compost.
  • Prune for people first shape trees for easy picking and airflow. With bananas, remove older stems after harvest and feed the clump.
A food forest turns a yard into a living pantry. Start small, plant what you love to eat, and let the layers build. With figs, blackberries, bananas, loquats, mulberries, and a crew of helpful natives, Volusia County backyards can overflow with flavor with no complicated upkeep required.