Annuals, Biennials, and Climbers
Such plants need to be placed very deliberately if they are to thrive in a forest garden. Among the annuals that may be desirable to have in a forest garden are the traditional vegetables that everyone knows. Most of these originate from sunny regions such as the Mediterranean and Central America and therefore require a lot of sun to thrive.
Design
Annuals and biennials
Since the soil in the forest garden is covered, it is difficult for annual and biennial plants to sow themselves. There will always be the most work with annuals and biennials due to the need for weed control. Since they are so sun-demanding, this means that you need a clearing in the forest garden for them to grow up sufficiently.
Climbers
If you have walls, fences or other things in the forest garden that are suitable for climbers - there are many to choose from. Otherwise, larger trees are suitable for climbers, wild wine will climb as much as 30 meters if given the chance. However, this means that you may have to wait 5-8 years before you start introducing them into the forest garden.
Most climbers are edge plants - meaning they prefer a cool forest floor and like to climb trees towards the sun. Herbaceous perennial climbers die down to the root each autumn, and do not grow as tall as the woody climbers. Hops can grow up to 6 meters tall.
Perennial climbers are best placed on the south side of a suitable shrub or tree. This shrub or tree should not bear fruit or berries itself, since the climber will compete for sun. Fruit-bearing woody climbers - such as mini kiwi and grapes - tend to bear their fruit on young wood.
Therefore, those who grow up along tall trees will tend to bear their fruit high up in the tree. To avoid this, the climbers can be trained up lower branches of the tree that have been left for this purpose. Harvesting will then be easy. Alternatively, you can use pruned low trees.