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Re: Suggestions for planting under fruit trees

>Conventional wisdom says to plant your fruit trees away from flower beds
>and leave only mulch beneath the trees....But
>practically these days, our yards are too small for putting a bunch of
>fruit trees out in the "back forty,"......

I have the same situation.  Plus, I keep my trees very dwarf.

>...what plants (perennials, shrubs, etc.) will do well beneath
>and around the trees, and how to select my underplantings so as to minimize
>the disturbance on the fruit trees.

I plant the under-plantings the same time as I put in the tree.  My worst
cases have been when the secondary things grew much faster than the tree.

What has worked well for you?

Anything that can take about the same watering frequency as the tree and is
basically a ground cover: Fuchsia procumbens, thymes, low oreganos, low
germanders, etc.  It also can work well to include some winter/spring bulbs
like Muscari, tulips, Freesia, etc.

Things to stay away from because they are too tall and/or vigorous:
Japanese Anemone, bearded iris, daylily, Thalictrum, and things like that.

Katherine Pyle
Berkeley, California, USA
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