What is a support species?


This is one of the key concepts in food forests and agroforestry, and it has a lot to offer backyard growers and lifestyle block owners too.

Basically there are some plants that we grow for food, and there are others that we grow to feed and protect the soil, our fruit trees and the system as a whole. These are the support species.

Support species can provide shelter from frost, wind, and hot summer sun. They shade the soil preventing moisture loss, and help prevent the growth of grass and other weeds. Deep roots can break up compacted ground, and produce sugars to feed soil micro organisms, building fertility and soil structure.

Through the process of pruning and chop and drop, support species provide mulch which can be placed around fruiting plants to further build soil, conserve moisture and suppress weeds. Whats not to love!

There is a workload associated with support species; they need to be managed to prevent them getting too big and shading out the fruit trees. However, they provide huge benifits in the growth and happiness of the fruit trees they are supporting, and they can drastically reduce the jobs of weeding and grass control.

The main qualities of a good support species are:     

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Easy to cut and handle 
soft foliage and softwood stems are ideal. thorns, hard wood and awkward angled branches are harder and slower to manage.

Able to take a hard prune
The ability to recover quickly from a chop with a new flush of growth means you can keep using the same plant as a support species for many years.

Fast growth and hardyness
A fast growing support species will quickly provide shade and shelter even in poor conditions. It will also provide larger and more regular amounts of material to use as mulch to feed the system.

Non weedy
Sterile, non seed producing plants are ideal so that they will not spread to other areas and become a problem. Many support species are sun loving, and can be phased out of a system naturally once the fruit trees get big and start casting heavy shade.

Where do I start?

Below is the selection of plants that we have found to be most useful as support species in our context here in New Zealand. Many of them also provide fruit or other yeilds as well. Click on the plants to go to the profile for more in depth information.