Chris Weld

Hey guys, I'm kind of new at this and soliciting ideas.  I'm at a decision point.  I have a third of an acre in suburbia.  Between 8 years ago and now, before I really knew what I was doing, I planted maybe 25 fruit and nut trees (normal suburb dwellers probably already find this annoying).  I have the usual apple, plum, and pears, and some more exotics like paw paw, medlar, and jujube.

My strategy has always been every couple years to pay for a truckload of hardwood mulch and put it around each tree just like most "normal" houses around here.  Now my mulch is almost gone and most of my trees have some grass or weeds up to the trunk.

If I'm going to switch to anything besides hardwood, dead mulch, now is the time.  Keeping in mind I have a demanding day job and would like to keep it simple, and that tons of people in the same HOA will go by my house every day and judge me.  I have trees in front and backyard.

Should I instead truck in compost, spread to the dripline and put in some kind of guild plantings?  If I do that, I'd like to keep roughly the same strategy around each tree, so I'd be in search of stuff that can go under my apple and the mayhaw tree and maybe even the walnut. But that's not a hard rule.  I just don't have a lot of skill to let it get too complicated.

I have some successful experience with comfrey and clovers, but I suck at other things growing by seed.

I've read permaculture books with guild ideas.  I guess I am asking for what is good for beginners and can be done for more than a few trees relatively easily.  Thanks in advance.

North Virginia, zone 7A, mostly clay, acidic soil.  Plenty of rainfall year round.

Denny,

I'm about 100 miles north of you, so I will be paying attention to this thread.  How are you going to plant initially?  Are you dealing with pasture now?

You can mail order white clover and crimson clover in bulk at a decent price.

Maypop grows very well here in Virginia and produces lots of fruit.  It is killed to the ground by freeze, but it always comes back the next year.  It comes up in different places, and in greater numbers.  It spreads underground a lot.  Mine was planted by the back deck and now comes up in the yard too, but I just mow it there like the grass and weeds, and it doesn't bother me.

Assuming you have access to a yard or field that already has it, the easiest way to grow it is to dig up a few of the vines coming up in the summer and just replant them.  Anyone that has had this growing on their property for a few years will have plenty to spare, trust me.  You can just take one shovel full of dirt with each vine and whatever roots come up, then do a half-ass job of transplanting it, and it will almost certainly take.  I've had almost 100% success with doing the bare minimum.

The bees love the beautiful flowers and the fruit is good, so I don't see any downside.  It would be nice to have a practical use for the fruit, since they are awkward to eat.  If anyone has any ideas, please share.