planning my first guild/ planting at my new property

Hey there everyone!

i have been trying to plan my first planting with the guild concept in mind. woud love some feed back and ideas. soo here goes.

zone 8a, lewis county wa

key stone species/canopy : walnut (grafted varieties for my area)

understory tree species: paw paw

shrub layer: hazelnut and elderberry

accumulator/attractant: bocking 14 comfrey

repeller: hardneck garlic

ground cover: candy roaster squash, seminole pumpkin

what else could i add here?

my goal is to fill the juglone exposed area immediately as to not have to worry about what i can and cant plant after this planting. also the walnut and paw paw are going to take the longest time to mature.

How big of an area are you wanting to cover? if this is just a guild around one tree I think you’ve done a pretty great job at putting it together. I’d put a flower or two that would help while the comfrey gets established. There’s quite a few that are compatible with walnuts.

Joe Hallmark wrote:How big of an area are you wanting to cover? if this is just a guild around one tree I think you’ve done a pretty great job at putting it together. I’d put a flower or two that would help while the comfrey gets established. There’s quite a few that are compatible with walnuts.

i was going to do 3-5 walnut trees as the canopy/key stone. so the area would be fairly large.

i read echinacea does well around walnut. what else do you think would work?

i forgot a nitrogen fixer.

some research shows goumi berry being a good choice.

i put together a planting schedule for this area that spans a year. i did this to offset cost but also to allow the elderberry to establish a bit to provide protection for the paw paw. tried to also schedule out the planting for proper timing for each species.

Year 1 2024

Beltane( may 1)
Plant:
Walnut
Goumi berry
Elderberry
Bocking 14 Comfrey
Echinacea
Winter Squash

Litha ( june 21)

Lughnasadh ( august 1)
Plant:
Chard

Mabon (september 21)
Plant:
Arugula

Samhain ( october 31)
Plant:
Garlic
Harvest:
Squash

Yule (december 21)





Year 2 2025

Imbolc (febuary 1)
Plant:
Paw Paw
Hazel Nut
Trillium


Ostera (march 21)
Plant:
Arugula

Asters or goldenrods have a lot of different varieties that could be suitable. Alliums could be used as well and provide food as well as the garlic. I did 2 each of garlic and onion around my fruit trees this year.