Fruit Tree Guild, Revisited
In June I blogged about how to plant a fruit tree guild, and gave the example of one I was planting by the Fowl Fortress. I thought I’d show you how it matured.
![Apple tree in trouble: heavy clay thoroughly shot through with Bermuda grass. Yuck!](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/6-2-13-004-345x4601.jpg)
This was the area four months ago. Heavy, sticky clay taken over with Bermuda grass. A struggling apple tree begs for my help. A star jasmine climbs the side of the Fowl Fortress. A portion of the brown subterranean irrigation system lies aboveground.
Using permaculture design, I created a plant guild with herbs and vegetables that would build the soil and help the apple tree.
![A guild is planted.](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/6-2-13-005-345x4601.jpg)
Strawberries went around the trunk of the tree for groundcover and grass competition. Comfrey, a valuable nutrient accumulator in there, too, for slash and drop fertilization. There is also a perennial basil, marjoram, gourds, golden runner bean (a nitrogen fixer), garlic chives, a prostrate rosemary and a tomato, along with other flower seeds. This is how it looks now from the same vantage point:
![The guild in September.](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/9-22-13-030-345x460.jpg)
![Layers of plants protect the ground and produce food..](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/9-22-13-029-345x460.jpg)
![These gourds can be dried and made into bowls.](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/9-22-13-031-345x460.jpg)
![Perennial basil, Amish paste tomatoes smother the weeds and enrich the soil.](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/9-22-13-034-613x460.jpg)
![Nasturtiums reseed and fill in as the other vegetables die off.](http://www.vegetariat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/9-22-13-036-613x460.jpg)
Polyculture beds produce abundant, insect-confusing food guilds which help fertilize and water each other and improve the soil quality. Meanwhile the apple tree has a few apples on it and looks healthier than it has been. Next year’s growth should be drastically improved, and the amount of invasive grasses should be nil. If I don’t grow consecutive annual crops here around the perennial plants, I will sheet mulch the bed.