Agroforestry management changes as years progress. We are stepping into year 5 in this zone. At this point our trees give us most of our mulch. We have never brought in mulch and never plan to. In the early years many other plants were utilized for mulch until they are phased out as the system works it way through natural succession. Heavy pruning drives our system forward as it begins to become stagnant and crowded with overgrowth. Pruning the system hard pulses it into grow mode again. At this moment we have an opportunity to plant a few more species into the system as its nice and open and there’s a lot of sunlight.

Notice how teamwork makes our dream work. Julie cuts the trees apart and Spencer grabs the material as it comes down to limit destruction to our shorter plantings. As Julie finishes the climbing tree work most of the material is already cut, organized and managed as mulch into our system.

Agroforestry management is all about cycles and diligence. PRUNE YOUR SYSTEM!