The Medicinal Forest Garden Handbook

Description by Anne Stobart. Permanent Publications, 2020. Anne Stobart is an experienced medical herbalist who started her medicinal forest garden in 2004 in North Devon, UK. This is an extensive handbook with practical information on growing, harvesting trees and shrubs sustainably for medicinal uses, along with how to make preparations. The author not only goes into great detail for the 40 species included in the Directory section, but also practical advice on how to design with medicinal trees and shrubs, how to combine them and underplant them to create a forest garden system. The directory section includes info on key medicinal constituents and research studies into their effects. Details about sustainable harvesting for products such as bark and leaves are invaluable and can be found in few other places. Coppicing and pollarding are important techniques in this respect. Whether you want to grow a few medicinal trees or set up a full-blown medicinal forest garden, this is an excellent and authoritative book.