Lia Leendertz's edible garden - in pictures

In a forest garden, edible perennials are planted together to echo the layers of a forest: canopy, vines, shrub layer and ground cover. Lia's garden planning began with a decisive structure: a circular lawn and straight paths edged in box, and a raised veranda. The lawn stood in for the forest clearing, the veranda replaced taller trees to support big vines; the "forest garden" was confined to four curved and edged beds.
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian

Strawberry 'Mara des Bois' and a white alpine strawberry act as a weed-smothering carpet in one bed, studded with flashes of deep pink and purple from knautia, antirrhinum and geranium, all beneath a paulownia tree and Musa basjoo.
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian

Rhubarb has thrived in the shadiest part of Lia Leendertz's garden. Now, towards the end of summer, the big, crinkled leaves look almost subtropical.
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian

Trained fruit is pretty, takes up little space, and doubles as a trellis over which to grow flowering climbers. Here the clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon' rambles through the branches of a fan-trained peach.
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian

The grapevine 'Boskoop Glory' grows across the veranda.
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian

Not every edible plant will grow in a forest garden – most are greedy for sunshine. But Japanese wineberry can be trained against a wall or fence, is shade tolerant, has buttery yellow leaves and deep red, delicious berries. In Lia's garden it grows with Molinia ‘Moorhexe’ (left) and Coreopsis ‘Rum Punch’ (right).
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian

Edible blood-veined sorrel leaves and Verbena rigida make attractive bedfellows.
Photograph: Joel Redman for the Guardian