Together groups of plants
Create a Macro-Organism
Functional Eco-systems behave in many ways like one single organism. The individual species composing any eco-system are just like the organs composing any other organism.
With the right eyes one can witness them collaborating in the most interesting ways to achieve these common goals:
Growth, increase, and order
How to build the appropriate plant consortium
When creating a plant consortium there are different aspects to consider. Defining aspects include the moment in time (season of the year) and location (site characteristics) where we are intervening, but also by 'plant sociology' (i.e. how plants relate to each other). What we look for are plants that are able to grow vigorously on the site, that are indicated to plant during the season in which we plan to make our plantation, and finding the 'right' combination of plants.
What makes plant consortiums succesful?
Our primary goal with creating the right plant consortium is always to catalyze generative processes that lead to the rehabilitation of eco-system function. To achieve this we consider the Natural Succession of Species and plant many species belonging to the different lifecycles together. Another crucial aspect to consider is Vegetative Stratification as it is the defining factor in combining plants belonging to the same lifecycle and joining them together by creating an appropriate context for the plant to grow in.
Other aspects to consider
In order to make the operation a satisfying success there are some more aspects to consider. A really important, and often overlooked, aspect is to organize all the plants in a manner that facilitates the Site Management process. For this it is important to have an idea of what the different management activities will be in different moments already at the beginning. The other aspect is to strategically integrate productive species, that will produce in the different stages of Natural succession of Species.
Need help?
Since this process can be overwhelming and experience can greatly improve the obtained results, we offer help in the planning stages of your project. We help with the site assessment and create a report with indicated species as well as a suggested design pattern for your individual Agroforest suited to your property and needs.