Syntropic Food Garden

From the outset, Michelle and I knew we wanted something different from what we were seeing on many farms and hobby properties. Long rows of single crops. Large areas of under-used space. High inputs for relatively modest returns.

Our question was simple. How could we make better use of every metre of land, every hour of effort, and every dollar invested?

Syntropic agriculture offered a compelling answer. After attending a three-day course, we were convinced. This approach aligned with our regenerative values and allowed us to design a food system that worked with natural processes while maximising productivity within a relatively small footprint.

At Seven Hills Estate, the syntropic food garden is a living example of how regeneration can be intensive, diverse, and highly efficient.

What is syntropic agriculture?

Syntropic agriculture was pioneered by Ernst Götsch. It is based on careful observation of how natural forests establish, grow, and renew themselves over time.

Rather than planting single species in isolation, syntropic systems combine trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, and short-term plants in layered arrangements. Each species occupies a different niche. Different heights. Different root depths. Different growth speeds.

The system is designed around succession. Fast-growing pioneers generate shade, biomass, and protection early on. Longer-lived trees follow. Pruning and “chop-and-drop” replace external fertilisers, returning organic matter directly to the soil.

Why we chose this approach

For us, syntropic farming was about leverage.

By stacking species vertically and horizontally, we are able to:

make more effective use of space,
reduce long-term inputs,
build soil health steadily over time,
use companion planting to support plant health and balance,
protect young and long-lived trees from wind and extreme heat, and
support a system that becomes more resilient as it matures.

This approach suits both our landscape and our context as an eco-tourism destination. It allows us to grow food, restore soil, and create a visually rich environment that invites curiosity rather than confusion.

Rows, layers, and legibility

While syntropic systems are sometimes described as food forests, ours has been intentionally adapted.

The garden is laid out in defined rows and inter-rows. This structure allows us to manage succession, pruning, and access more easily, while also creating a space that feels ordered and welcoming to visitors. Many people are unfamiliar with dense food forests, and an untidy system can be difficult to read.

By keeping the garden neat and legible, guests can better understand how the system works. Complexity is still present, but it is expressed in a form that is walkable, observable, and inviting.

For this reason, we refer to it as a syntropic food garden rather than a food forest.

An organic system by design

The syntropic food garden at Seven Hills Estate is managed as an organic system. We do not use synthetic fertilisers, herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides.

Fertility is generated within the system itself. Prunings are returned to the soil through chop-and-drop. Mulch protects moisture and feeds soil biology. Companion planting supports plant health and balance. Over time, these processes replace the need for external chemical inputs.

This approach is not about restriction. It is about design. When systems are structured to work with natural cycles, soil fertility, plant health, and resilience emerge as outcomes rather than products.

What we are observing

The results so far have exceeded expectations.

Research suggested eucalyptus trees might grow up to around 1.5 metres per year. Several of ours have grown more than 6 metres from tube stock in just over two years. While a small number of fruit and nut trees have been lost, the vast majority are thriving.

Perhaps most tellingly, our syntropic consultant has repeatedly described this as the healthiest system he has seen — by a considerable margin. Soil structure, plant vitality, and biological activity all point in the same direction.

Sharing this with our guests

Guests are invited to experience the syntropic food garden through guided walk-and-talk tours, where we share the thinking behind the system and how it works in practice. These informal walks explore an alternative approach to food growing — one that is productive, regenerative, and grounded in natural processes.

The garden is more than a source of food. It is a place for observation, conversation, and curiosity. Visitors are encouraged to slow down, ask questions, and see how layered living systems function when given the space to thrive.

Learn more

For a deeper look at how and why we developed the syntropic food garden, you can download our full regenerative farming white paper below:

Download the Seven Hills Estate Regenerative Farming White Paper

We also share this journey in detail on our YouTube channel, Life’s Better on the Farm. The following episodes explore the thinking, design, and early outcomes of our syntropic system: