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Permagora
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Building a guild

Design a planting around a fruit tree by assembling complementary roles.

  1. 01

    Choosing the central tree

    Apple, pear, plum or cherry depending on soil and climate, checking each companion.

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  2. 02

    Nitrogen fixers

    Alder (Frankia); clover or lupin at ground level. Black locust also fixes nitrogen, but it is listed as an invasive non-native species in France (root suckering, seed bank), use it with discernment and avoid it at the edge of natural areas.

  3. 03

    Biomass plants

    Comfrey (potassium-rich mulch).

  4. 04

    Repellent, attractant, ground-cover

    Garlic, tansy; borage, phacelia; thyme, strawberry.

Sources

  • Mollison, B. (1988). Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. Tyalgum : Tagari Publications.
  • Hemenway, T. (2009). Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture (2e éd.). White River Junction : Chelsea Green.
  • Crawford, M. (2010). Creating a Forest Garden: Working with Nature to Grow Edible Crops. Totnes : Green Books.
  • Tyler, B. & Zarro, G. (2022). New findings further the study of dynamic accumulators. Cornell Small Farms Program (smallfarms.cornell.edu).

What next?

To take this pathway further

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