Apple Tree Guild
A permaculture classic in 8×8: one apple tree ringed by daffodils, nitrogen-fixing lupines, berries, herbs, and strawberry ground cover.
About This Template
A guild is permaculture's answer to the orchard row: instead of grass under a lonely tree, every plant in the circle does a job for the apple at its center. The daffodil ring is pest patrol — planted at the drip line, the bulbs deter rodents from the trunk and suppress grass where the tree wants feeder roots. Lupines at the corners fix nitrogen. Chives and borage below draw pollinators to the spring blossom window while their scent confuses codling moths. Currants and gooseberries — shade-tolerant by nature — crop happily at the guild's edge, rhubarb and horseradish occupy the deep-rooted accumulator posts, and strawberries with mint knit the whole floor into a living mulch. The tree gets protection, pollination, and fertility; you get apples plus five understory harvests from the same footprint.
Benefits
- 1Every understory plant works for the tree: fixing, deterring, or attracting
- 2Six harvests — apples, berries, rhubarb, strawberries, herbs — from one footprint
- 3The daffodil ring deters voles and rodents from girdling the trunk
- 4Lupines and deep accumulators feed the tree without a fertilizer bag
- 5Living-mulch floor means no grass competition and almost no weeding
Growing Tips
- 1Plant the tree first, guild plants outside its drip line the same autumn
- 2Choose an apple on semi-dwarf rootstock to keep the guild in proportion
- 3Chop-and-drop the borage and lupine foliage twice a year as mulch
- 4Keep a 30 cm bare collar right at the trunk — mulch there invites rot
Included Plants (14)
Apple Tree
Malus domestica
Spacing: 600 cm · 236 in
Currant×2
Ribes rubrum
Spacing: 120 cm · 47 in
Gooseberry×2
Ribes uva-crispa
Spacing: 120 cm · 47 in
Borage×3
Borago officinalis
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Chives×6
Allium schoenoprasum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Lupine×3
Lupinus polyphyllus
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Daffodil×18
Narcissus pseudonarcissus
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Rhubarb
Rheum rhabarbarum
Spacing: 90 cm · 35 in
Strawberry×13
Fragaria x ananassa
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Echinacea×2
Echinacea purpurea
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Mint
Mentha spicata
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Horseradish
Armoracia rusticana
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
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