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Some fruit and nut guilds

 
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I've been assembling guild plans for my new forest garden (https://permies.com/t/377100/Forest-Garden-Designs)! These are for southeastern Pennsylvania, zone 7a, and I have two soil types on the property. These are preliminary lists right now, but I think it's coming together, so I want to add it to my progress report. (And I'm definitely going to need to learn to propagate my own plants to do this. This sure is a lot of plants!!)

Neutral to slightly alkaline zone:
Apple/crabapple/quince guild:
Garlic chives, walking onions, daffodil (bulb ring)
False indigo and/or New Jersey tea (N2 fixing shrub)
Gooseberry (food, wildlife support)
American vetch (N2 fixing vine) (more with the larger trees, or near the outer deer fence where it can climb)
Anise hyssop (nectary, aromatic, wildlife support)
Russian comfrey (all the things)
Chicory (all the things)
White clover + strawberry (ground covers)
-or-
French sorrell, green and gold, foamflower (to be added later, once it's shady enough) (ground covers)

(There are 9 of these trees in total, so I will have some variations where I swap a couple plants in the list for each other!)

Pawpaw guild:
Garlic chives, walking onions, daffodil (bulb ring)
Goumi (N2 fixing shrub, nurse plant providing shade when the pawpaw is young)
Gooseberry (food, wildlife support)
Russian comfrey
Sage
Anise hyssop
Green and gold, white clover


Persimmon guild:
Garlic chives, walking onions, daffodil (bulb ring)
Goumi and/or false indigo (N2 fixing shrub)
American vetch (N2 fixing vine)
Russian comfrey
Chicory
White clover, french sorrell, foamflower (once shady) (ground covers)


European plum guild:
Garlic chives, walking onions, daffodil (bulb ring)
False indigo
Sundial lupine (N2 fixer, nectary, etc.)
Russian comfrey
Oregano
French sorrell, viola (ground covers)


The above are all pretty similar, and also are in one large superguild, so many of the plants will actually be shared across the borders between the trees.

In the more acidic planting zone:
Hardy fig guild:
Garlic chives, walking onions, daffodil (bulb ring)
Goumi (N2 fixing shrub)
Serviceberry (small tree/large shrub for food, wildlife support)
Currants (food, wildlife support)
Russian comfrey
Anise hyssop
Sundial lupine
Rosemary (maybe; it's wet and the winters are cold, so I'm unsure if it will succeed)
Green and gold, foamflower (shade-tolerant ground covers; figs have more intense canopy coverage)

 
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Looks like a solid start. One thing I noticed with my own guilds is that the ground layer ends up doing most of the heavy lifting in the first few years before the canopy fills in, so it's worth front-loading those. Comfrey and clover establish fast and start building the soil while you wait for the trees. The alkaline vs acidic distinction is smart to separate out early, saves you fighting the soil later.
 
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