A variety of protocols for site preparation and planting have been developed, all sharing the same underlying principles as the Miyawaki method.
[3] Three is the minimum number of different species of nursery saplings for planting a pocket forest.
Miyawaki developed the method as a means of replenishing forest soils by allowing dead leaves and twigs to decompose in a moist, wood-rotting ecosystem.
[9] This process may be less successful in drier fire ecosystems where nutrients are recycled as ashes.
[10][11] The dense pocket forest forms a capture mechanism for wind-blown embers, dried ground litter is an ignition source, and the multi-layered pocket forest forms a fuel ladder with wildfire risks in urban areas.