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Tiny, pocket forests are sprouting up all around Washington state: on old, abandoned fields and in people’s backyards. They’re meant to mimic nature – and to grow quickly and increase biodiversity.
Take a small plot of land on the grounds of the Yakama Nation’s Correctional and Rehabilitation Facility.
This hot, wind-blown field used to be completely barren.
“There was nothing out here. At all. They didn't have to put a weed killer on her because there was just nothing, no base to grow on. It was just dirt and a few rocks,” said Marylee Jones, a gatherer with the Yakama Nation.
Jones helped transform this space into a mini-forest more than six years ago. It’s one example of a decades-old planting method that communities across Washington state, and the world, are using to adapt to the changing climate.
On the Yakama Nation grounds, in the summertime, the forest cools this small space. Summer temperatures in Toppenish, Washington, will only get hotter with climate change. This mini-forest won’t be enough to cool larger areas, but a little shade still helps.
“So it's like 10 to 20 degrees cooler inside here. So you can come and sit and have lunch. It's really nice,” said Debra Byrd, a vice-chairwoman for the Yakama Nation General Council.
Byrd is something of a mini-forest evangelist. She even has one in her backyard. The Yakama Nation has planted several of these forests across its lands. The tribe is also considering expanding at least one of its mini-forests, Byrd said, because they’ve seen the benefits they bring.
The Method
The Yakama Nation planted this forest in a very specific way: the Miyawaki Method. It was the brainchild of Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
“He was creating these native forests that were growing 10 times faster than through typical afforestation,” said Ethan Bryson, founder of Natural Urban Forests.
“Micro forests, mini forests, pocket forests. I've even heard someone say petite forests."Ethan Bryson
Bryson knows the method well — he’s overseen planting for numerous Miyawaki forests, including the one for the Yakama Nation. This style of planting has sprouted up all over the world, from New Zealand to South Africa.
“Micro forests, mini forests, pocket forests. I've even heard someone say petite forests,” Bryson said.
The name doesn’t matter so much, but how it’s done does. Miyawaki Method forests can grow in an area as small as six parked cars. Each plant, only a forearm’s length from the other. A diverse array of shrubs, ground cover and trees stratify the canopy layers – all plants native to the area.
At first, Byrd said, it was hard to find so many native plants. This particular forest in Toppenish has at least 47 different species – and almost 9,000 trees.
“There are only a few nurseries in the whole state that grow these plants,” she said. “We did have to get from several different areas, and we had to coordinate a time to get them here.”
A ‘Healing Forest’
They’ve dubbed it the “Healing Forest,” because of how it is helping heal the land and the people who use it, especially people incarcerated at the Yakama Nation Correction and Rehabilitation Facility. People who are incarcerated can use the space for a talking circle and have helped plant and maintain the forest.
“It may be a rough start, but you come away with learning something new and being able to use these plants and foods and medicines in your life to help you stay on track,” Byrd said.
Now, aspens and cottonwood trees sway back and forth. Wild roses and elderberry bushes peek out of the densely packed foliage.
Jones leads the way inside, where paths circle the edges of small forest plots. Jones pointed out all sorts of plants that would have grown here 200 years ago.
“The currents, the little yellow blossoms. We call them xnín and xnán,” she said.
The whole thing forms the shape of a medicine wheel. The paths act as spokes, leading to an empty hub in the center.
Mimicking Mother Nature
Yakama Nation member Marlene Hunt said some people were skeptical at first. Then, they noticed: “If you go out into the wild, you can see the trees the same way. And that's kind of mimicking what Mother nature has already done,” Hunt said.
When these native plants went into the ground, they were just saplings. Hunt pinched her fingers close together to show just how small. And now? She raised her hands as high as her tiny frame could reach.
“Those first three years, everything flourished so much. And you see all the mushrooms growing wild out here. You see the animals running away as soon as they see you coming,” Hunt said.
Many plants in this arid forest can also be used for teas, tinctures and other important cultural uses for the tribe. In addition, Byrd said these mini-forests help people experience nature, not too far from home.
“Nature will truly give us the insight of teaching, if we listen, to understand how diversity makes up a community."Marylee Jones
“I think it's like a gem in the Yakama Nation,” she said.
Still, there is much to learn from these tiny forests, Jones said.
“Nature will truly give us the insight of teaching, if we listen, to understand how diversity makes up a community,” Jones said.
Across Washington, people have both applied and modified the Miyawaki Method.
Adapting the Method
In Tacoma, students, professors and community members are finding ways to make the method work for them. On the city’s campus of the University of Washington, students have planted a mini-forest using the Miyawaki method.
But they also decided to include sections of native prairie. That’s because the South Sound area used to be covered in prairie. But most of it has been lost. Micahel Dorner, a senior at UW Tacoma, wanted to bring some of it back.
“In my opinion, I like to think that the prairie wants to come back. I think that it misses Tacoma."Micahel Dorner
Dorner and his peers started planting the prairie and mini-forest in October. Already, the prairie is thriving. Blue-Eyed Mary, Roemer’s Fescue and Balsam root all poke out of the earth.
“In my opinion, I like to think that the prairie wants to come back. I think that it misses Tacoma,” Dorner said.
This new prairie sits on a plot of land that is a little over 12,000 square feet. It used to just be empty space. Now, the students are filling it with native plants.
It’s still in the beginning stages, but Andrew Shams, a graduate of UW Tacoma, said he hopes it becomes a community hub.
Building community
“Having a space like this would give students another space where they would be able to socialize on campus, but they also would be able to immerse themselves in nature,” Shams said.
He said there's not a lot of spaces for people to gather on campus. And, there’s substantial research that being in green spaces improves mental health. One study published in the peer reviewed journal, Public Health, in 2013 found that more green space in a neighborhood and a shorter distance to get to it was associated with less instances of anxiety or other mood disorders for people in urban areas.
“If they're stressed out, they could go out into nature. They're more likely to come out less stressed than when they went in. And so that's one of many benefits that we see from a potential micro-forest,” Shams said.
The space is a restoration, community building and climate mitigation project. UW Tacoma students and their professors are trying to solve a handful of problems, including a lack of tree canopy cover in the city and adapting to climate change as the area gets hotter and drier.
Preparing for climate change
In one area, they’ve planted trees from further down along the West Coast. Here, they’re trialing something called assisted migration.
“Optimally we would like to see if the same species, but from Oregon or Northern California, do well here,” said Ruben Casas, a professor at the UW Tacoma and one of the leads on this project.
The idea is to take trees or other plants and move them to where they might be more successful with climate change.
“As temperatures increase, as winters become drier, that could become instructive for what we end up planting 10 or 15 years from now, in other parts of Tacoma or Western Washington,” Casas said.
The group hopes that a green space like this could still thrive as the climate changes.
A backyard project
In Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood, one woman has seen how planting a mini-forest can make a big difference.
“We planted it and within the first spring of it being planted, so less than six months, our yard was filled with birds,” said Wendy Clapp, the proud creator of a mini-forest in her backyard.
Since 2024, she’s been following the Miyawaki method to plant tree saplings, elderberries, native honeysuckle and lots of other plants closely together around her yard.
“I was really delighted with myself for coming up with a way to incorporate it into sort of a garden plan,” Clapp said.
Clapp wanted to make her backyard a forest oasis — and a healthier space for her family.
“This is the first time I've seen real hope where I see like, we're actually making a difference out here now."Wendy Clapp
For years, she struggled to control an invasive species called Japanese knotweed in her backyard. She wanted to see if filling the space with dense vegetation would crowd out the weeds.
And, it is.
“This is the first time I've seen real hope where I see like, we're actually making a difference out here now,” Clapp said.
There is a lot less knotweed popping up. But, there are still some. So, to try and get rid of it for good, every fall, Clapp said she applies a herbicide to any new growth.
Because the Miyawaki method strictly prohibits the use of herbicides, Clapp said she fences off the surrounding vegetation and applies it with a paintbrush.
Making it work
One of the criticisms of the Miyawaki method is that it is too rigid. That can limit people’s ability to use it.
But Clapp said she has found ways to make it work for her.
Instead of digging down and amending the soil, she added new soil and built up a healthy foundation for her plants. She’s gotten free plants at giveaways. And, she has had friends help with the labor intensive planting.
“If more people could plant more forest, could adapt the ideas for their own homes, I just think about how much healthier just our basic environment would be with the birds and the bees,” Clapp said. “Even if you only have enough space to plant one native tree and a couple of shrubs, you're doing something. You're doing something to make an improvement.”
