PRINCETON, N.J.—For years, it’s been just a patch of grass in the middle of a small park. Soon the ground will be a botanical marvel of sorts, tilled and teeming with some 20 varieties of native trees and shrubs jammed together to trigger super-charged growth.

The microforest-to-be is part of an environmental trend inspired by the late Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, who discovered more than 50 years ago that, with proper soil preparation and a calculated mix of local plants, a clump of densely planted seedlings could grow quickly into lush compact woodlands.

Microforests may well help cities and towns in danger of becoming urban heat islands as temperatures rise because of climate change. Shade trees are known to cool neighborhoods. If they can be nurtured toward fast-tracked growth,

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