the little orchard: a plan and the first steps

The first step is to lower my ambition on the speed and amount of things I want to do. It still needs to be fun and I hope to engage my teenage kids and my husband's grandchildren in the project, which will require patience and a slow pace. In addition, this first week we do not have a car, so I will have to aim for finding everything for the garden locally either in the garden or in the neighbourhood. I have been hamstring the seeds I want for this garden for some months now, but the bulk of these will only arrive later this week.

We already got some cardboard from a local supermarket, so the first apple tree got a layer in order to suppress the grass underneath it.

First layer of cardboard to suppress grass

I let the rain do the next step: making the cardboard wet. This is necessary before applying the next layer, which will be grass clippings (plenty of it in this garden) and then bark chips, branches, or compost in case one wants to add ground covering plants. This technique is the very simple version of mulching as used in permaculture. Ideally, you would add more layers, but this will do for the time being. 

Grass under fruit trees is not good, because the roots compete for the same water and nutrition. It is better to plant some companion plants which will form a "guild" with the fruit tree (which is explained below). Turning over the soil disturbs the soil and its thriving micro eco-system and it breaks my back. So the easiest and the best way is the mulching. It suppresses the grass and weeds, it is like composting your green and brown organic material on the spot providing fresh nutrition for the plants or trees, and it will be easier to maintain in the future. 

It is my intention to add some cover plants on top of the mulch layer: first white clover (trifolium repens, witte klaver, hvid-kloever) and nasturtium (tropaeolum, Oost-Indische kers, tallerkensmækker) and later maybe wild strawberries. Around the cardboard and still under the dripping line of the tree, I planted some wild garlic (allium ursinum or bear's garlic, daslook, ramsloeg) and on the other side some comfrey (symphytum officinale, smeerwortel, kulsukker). Around and in between the trees, I will add white and red clover. All of these plants mentioned are recommended to support fruit trees. 

An example of an apple tree guild. 
Source: Hemenway, Toby. Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, 2001

Adding a diversity of supporting plants in several heights below the fruit tree turns it into a "guild", in this case an apple guild. For each type of tree there are specific companion plants, plants which attract pollinators, nitrogen fixing plants, green manure, weed suppressing plants, plants acting as wind barriers, nutrient plants etc., which contribute to a healthy eco-system around the tree. Above, you can see a drawing from the excellent book, I based myself upon, "Gaia's Garden" by Toby Hemenway. Here, I will describe my own selection of plants, which hopefully will form a good guild together.

I think nobody would object if I call comfrey a key plant in permaculture.  The more functions one plant can offer to other plants, local wildlife, or humans, the better ("stacking functions"). Comfrey is a green manure (P, N, K, Ca, Mg, Fe), which can be composted on the spot once or twice a year, it fixes nitrogen into the soil, it is an excellent slug trap, it provides nectar and pollen for bees and other beneficial insects, it suppresses weed, it covers the soil, it can also be used as a compost starter. In some places I will plant it as a temporary soil improver and then cut it on the spot. Afterwards, I can then plant bushes on top of the cut leaves. 

I chose the wild garlic for my future salads, as a support for the fruit trees, while deterring aphids, weevils, and slugs. Again, it does not go well with beans and peas, so if I want those, they clearly will need to go in another part of our garden. Just to confirm my correct choice, I just read that the first evidence of the human use of A. ursinum comes from the Mesolithic settlement in Denmark (Barkær)!

The next day, I already found a good amount of baby slugs hanging on underneath the cardboard. I think planting the comfrey and wild garlic next to the cardboard was a good idea, if I ever want to have a wild strawberry left for me in future.

We already planted some nasturtium (tropaeolum, Oost-Indische kers, tallerkensmækker) in small seed pots to make sure the first shoots are not eaten right away by the slugs. I would like to plant these under the fruit trees and next to my future pumpkins to help to protect them from pests. The flowers are very beautiful and edible. (The pumpkin and sunflower seeds are not for the orchard, but for the compost area, and the forget-me-nots are for the raspberries, both see next post).

Clover is another multifunctional plant and I love it. A clover field is always buzzing with bumble bees and honey bees! It is a perennial plant which is appreciated in permaculture gardens (it is less disturbing to have permanent plants and of course easier for the gardener) and it can take frost.  It provides nectar and pollen, fixes nitrogen for other plants, works as an excellent ground cover, it aerates the soil (and thus can be used as a pioneer plant to air tight soil for future veggies), and it is a green manure (N and P), which can be used as a on the spot mulch layer. It fits well with fruit trees and strawberries, as well as veggies like potatoes and parsnip, but I read it does not go to well with beans and peas. I will plant both white and red clover in between and under the trees.

 

Later on, I would also like to add phacelia (phacelia tanacetifolia, bijenvoer, honningurt), again, a fruit tree supporting plant. It can be used as green manure, it is a nitrogen fixing plant, it provides air to compact soil, and attracts bees and other insects. Borage (borago officinalis, berganie of komkommerkruid, hjulkrone) is also on my wishing list. Its flowers are edible and very pretty in a salad, it acts as a green manure (K and Si), and is an excellent pollinator attracting plant. 

In a next phase, I hope to add a Northern wind barrier of shrubs like sea buckthorn (excellent nitrogen fixer); to add excellent orchard herbs like lemon balm (melissa officinalis, citroenmelisse) and mint (not yet sure which species); to add berries, like gooseberries (Ribes uva-crispa, stekelbes, stikkelsbaer) and black currant (ribes nigrum, zwarte bes, solbaer); and even root veggies like horseradish (armoracia rusticana,  mierikswortel, peberrod).

I hope the selection above will be a good apple guild for a Northern temperate climate like we have here in Denmark.