Tiny forest, big vision

Volunteers prepared the land for Summit, NJ’s tiny forest

On April 2, 2022, Mayor Nora Radest cut the ribbon on the Summit Environmental Commission’s newly established “Tiny Forest,” an 11,000 square foot area—only a quarter of an acre—behind the Summit Community Center. Having planted over 500 native species of trees, bushes, and understory plants, the commissioners hope the space will become a fully grown forest in 20-30 years.

The project was funded by grants from the New Jersey American Water Company and the Summit Conservancy. After securing its first grant in 2021, the Environmental Commission conducted rigorous soil testing and consulted with engineers, eventually deciding on a space behind the community center. 

The Summit tiny forest is a part of a growing movement that began in Japan with a botanist named Akira Miyawaki. An expert in ecological restoration, he coined the “Miyawaki Method” to grow forests in a tenth of the time it might take without human intervention. The method consists of densely planting native trees and understory plants and caring for them for 2-3 years until they are autonomous. “The planting should center on the primary trees of the location, and following the laws of the natural forest” said Miyawaki in a 2006 essay. 

According to data from Wageningen University released in April 2021, one 2,150-square-foot tiny forest sequesters about 550 pounds of CO2 per year from the atmosphere. That’s about the same amount of carbon released by driving from Orlando to New York City. The Summit forest is five times as large, with even more potential to clean the air and slow climate change. The study also noted biodiversity in tiny forests, finding 595 different species of plants and animals in seven different tiny forests across the Netherlands.

Inspired by the Miyawaki method and its benefits, dozens of volunteers came to the Summit Community Center between November 2021 and May 2022 to prepare the site. In the fall, they readied the ground for planting without using chemicals or disturbing the soil. Instead, they began by putting down a layer of biochar, a substance used to sequester carbon, which was donated by Aries Clean Technologies. They proceeded to layer on topsoil, cardboard, mulch, and sand, to kill the existing vegetation. Using mostly wheelbarrows, shovels, and some machinery lent by the city, residents of Summit and other nearby towns worked over several weekends to get ready for the spring planting.

“You don’t realize how big a quarter of an acre is until you’re having to put multiple layers of cardboard, mulch, and sand over it wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow,” said Danny O’Sullivan, a tiny forest volunteer and Ward 1 representative on the Summit town council.

In December 2021, volunteers initially planted 34 trees donated by the Pinelands Nursery and installed an eight-foot-tall deer fence. They proceeded to plant 150 trees at the April 2 ribbon cutting and 250 more trees and bushes throughout the month of April. The space will need consistent watering and weeding for the next 2-3 years, at which point sunlight will no longer be able to penetrate unfiltered to the ground, and it will need protection from deer for the next 10 years.

Within the tiny forest area is also an indigenous medicine garden, a project spearheaded by Christina Perez, a senior at Seton Hall University. “We wanted to find a way to honor the land’s indigenous people,” said Perez. The medicine garden mainly consists of tobacco, sweet grass, cedar, and sage—plants sacred to the Lenape people, according to whom each of the four plants correspond to a cardinal direction.

Christina Perez and Dr. Marian Glenn prepared to plant the medicine garden

Perez is also working with Dr. Marian Glenn, a retired Seton Hall biology professor, to monitor the biodiversity of the tiny forest. With the use of sound recordings, visual surveys, and eventually nesting boxes, Perez and Glenn will be able to monitor in depth the different species of plants and animals in the tiny forest over time. “We have been seeing more activity even in this early stage,” said Perez.

“Simply getting the project done has been our biggest accomplishment so far and…everyone has rallied behind it,”' said Donna Patel, chair of the Summit Environmental Commission. “Hopefully we’ll see the community interact with it even more going forward.” Patel hopes that the Tiny Forest will become an educational space for the community and a peaceful place for residents to find refuge in nature. She also hopes that the neighboring community center will use the space for its youth programs. 

“Hopefully I’ll still be around to see it in 30 years,” said O’Sullivan, “but this isn’t for me. It’s for the next generation, and it’ll be a really wonderful asset to Summit.”