A design pattern is a reusable layout idea: what goes where, in what order, for a common NZ situation. Pick the pattern that matches your site size and climate honesty, then swap species for your frost and wind.
Warm Bay of Plenty ideas (including lessons from Troppo) do not transplant unchanged onto a frosty inland terrace. Plan species with the free grower tools hub, then deepen with guides and guilds.
Public-facing verge or church edge, 10-100 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for church community verge, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern
Bed modules 20–100 m² each; expandable
A public-facing food forest edge for schools, marae and community gardens — tough plants, clear paths, teaching layers and shared care without fragile showpieces.
Open pattern
Existing orchard footprint
Underplant and enrich edges to shift a simple orchard toward a more diverse food forest — without ripping out every productive tree.
Open pattern
Retired shelter or orchard margin, 50-1000 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for kiwifruit shelter conversion, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open patternSuburban lawn conversion, 20-300 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for lawn to food forest staged, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern
Nettable berry alley, 10-100 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for cool climate berry alley, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern
50–300 m² planting area
A honest cool-climate pattern: skip fantasy subtropical canopies, stack hardy producers, and use microclimates without lying about frost.
Open pattern
Coastal boundary or windy edge, 10-120 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for coastal salt tolerant edge, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open patternNarrow driveway or parking edge, 1-3 m wide
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for driveway edge strip, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern
Rural shelterbelt edge, 50-500 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for lifestyle block shelterbelt food, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern1–3 m wide strips
A slim productive edge for fences and side yards — fruiting shrubs, climbers and herbs without blocking neighbours, bins or paths.
Open pattern
Single or double row along the windward edge
Establish shelter before showpiece fruit trees — a productive windward edge that softens salt and wind so the inner food forest can settle.
Open pattern
Existing avocado rows, 100-2000 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for avocado orchard understorey retrofit, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern
Rows between annual production, 100-2000 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for market garden alley crop hybrid, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern
200 m²+
Work with slope for drainage, frost air-flow and layered planting on warm northern and Bay of Plenty hillsides — Troppo-country thinking without copying Te Puke blindly.
Open pattern
Small slope or lifestyle block strip, 20-200 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for swale on contour modest, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern10–40 m²
A tiny sheltered courtyard or patio pocket — citrus, herbs, climbers and containers stacked for kai in the warmest microclimate on a small section.
Open pattern
Containers and removable beds, 2-30 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for rental friendly movable guild, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern80–400 m² planting area
A layered edible ecosystem sized for a typical Aotearoa suburban section — productive without pretending you have a lifestyle block.
Open pattern
3–6 m diameter pocket
A warm-climate pocket that turns kitchen scraps and chop-and-drop into moisture and fertility — banana and support plants in a mulched basin, Te Puke / subtropical style.
Open patternWarm wall pocket, 4-30 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for north wall heat trap, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open patternHeavy-soil mound module, 10-100 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for clay soil mound pattern, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open patternPond or wetland margin, 10-100 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for pond edge guild pattern, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open patternDownpipe or runoff basin, 4-50 m2
A practical New Zealand food-forest design pattern for rain garden food edge, with staged establishment, access, water, and maintenance built in.
Open pattern