Miyawaki Planting Project

Published in the Common Interests Newsletter – October 2021

Common Earth has created a Miyawaki forest in two 10 sq m plots on the forest edge at Abbey Gardens, working our way inwards towards the gravel pit. We planted 700 native trees and shrubs that emulate the natural forest ecosystems surrounding Abbey Gardens, in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada and that are typical for the region.

The idea behind the Miyawaki method, created by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, is to plant the trees really close together to facilitate competition and mycorrhizal network connections – we’re hoping that this will make the trees grow much faster and help to regenerate the earth.

Thanks to all the Common Earthers who volunteered with the planting and a special thanks to Katie Pita and Dave Patterson for spearheading this amazing initiative!