Sarah Faulkner

Thank you, Steve. Grafting is a great idea!

Hi. I’d like to plant some trees in our backyard in western Montana (Zone 5). We originally had a standard apple tree in the backyard that recently came down from old age. I have thought about putting up another standard apple tree in the same SW corner of the yard, but part of me wonders if a large dappled shade tree would work back here with several dwarf fruit trees along the east side of the yard. The photos I’ve posted are facing south. We get a lot of very bright sun in our yard that hits our patio full blast from lunch to dinner time. It’s be nice to have a partially shaded patio but we can build a pergola for that one day. Any suggestions for whether our yard is too small for a dappled shade tree? If not then what tree would you choose? Or do you think a standard apple would be a better option with several dwarf fruit trees on the east (wood fence) side of the yard? I plan to fill the yard in with some raised bed gardens, shrubs, flowers/smaller plants and some more diverse ground cover. But first I need to make a decision about what and where the biggest tree in our yard will be. I don’t want to create complete shade in our backyard. We want to able to grow lots of things. We enjoy the summer sun, just want some respite.
I appreciate any suggestions you have.

*The first photo is south facing and the second photo is the west side of our yard where there are some lilac trees.

Great idea! Do you mean a trellis for the raspberries?

Thanks for your response. Our area isn’t too bad for deer though I certainly don’t want to attract them. Glad to know your neighbor’s raspberries are thriving!

That’s helpful to know. Thanks for your reply.  I love the blanketflower!

Thank you, John! Happy to have found this site.

Hi. My name is Sarah. I'm new here and new to permaculture. I live in the heart of Missoula, MT. I have a roughly 5' x 24' strip of South facing alley where I'm wondering what to plant. Keeping in line with the principles of permaculture I'd like it to be diverse and widely beneficial. I've seen neighbors' alleys planted with gooseberries, saskatoons, currents, etc. I haven't seen any raspberries planted in the allies here and am wondering if that's because they're deer candy? Would any small, narrow fruit trees work in this strip? I bought a number of native plants today from our local Native Plant Society: Purple Coneflower, Fringed Sagewort, Purple Prairie Clover, Blanket flower, Wild strawberry, Upright Goldenrod, Bee balm, and Prairie Smoke and am hoping to incorporate a few of those into the area but I also have other areas of my yard where I can incorporate these.  I'm open to any and all suggestions. Grateful for this community forum and all the knowledgeable folks in here who have advice.