Your ultimate tree + plant list
Here's a super cool project, one that wont get you dirty, but that will advance your gardens cause in leaps and bounds.
Create, over time, a list of the trees + plants e.g. shelter, fruit, support trees and perennials, that are well suited to your place + your needs. It'll be like your own personalised catalogue.
This list is so blimmin handy during planting season, especially if you have a decent amount of land. It focusses you in on good choices, and steels you against garden centre seduction. A little research sets you up for greatness.
The research
Your wider community is the very best place for your research. Google can give you some up's but nothing as valuable as what your neighbours/ local pro's can.
- Check out community orchards.
- Councils often have awesome resources for locally suited natives.
- Visit local specialist nurseries and see what's on offer.
- Go to garden open days/ tours/ workshops.
- Checkout Kahikatea farms amazing database of plants.
- Join your local tree croppers group - such a useful organisation.
Your research criteria is that trees + plants:
- suit your soil
- happily cope with all 4 seasons at your place (sunshine hours, shade, temperature, frost, rainfall)
- are the right size - yes please!
- fulfil your wishes - i.e. you love to eat/ look at/ use them; they attract pollinators, beneficial insects and birds; glow with autumn colour; create privacy/ shelter; feed stock and chooks ... whatever you want and need.
Good matches are my wish for you. They make your garden grow well, and be super useful.
The List
Head up your list using the following headings that apply to your scenario.
- Shelter: Organising your shelter list by height is the bees knees. It will save you rushing into too big trees, and make your shelter will be awesome.
Up to 3m: the most useful height - sheltering animals/small fruit trees/berries/vegies/you.
3-5m: to shelter house/ larger fruit trees/ slopes/ big winds.
Over 6m: suits larger tracts of land, large nut trees, soaking up water, erosion control. - Wetland and riparian plantings: Protect the waterways that grace your land. Essential.
- Erosion control: for banks and hillsides. Steep land needs trees on it.
- Deciduous: for leaf litter, shade, and autumn colour
- Shade: avenue trees for animals/ chooks/ humans, and afternoon shade for greenhouses in hot, dry places.
- Support trees for orchard companions e.g. nitrogen fixers and fast growers for chop-and-drop, and for stock fodder.
- Deciduous fruit + nut trees
- Evergreen fruit: e.g. citrus, avocado, olive, feijoa
- Fruiting vines
- Berries + Currants
- Perennials: herbs, flowers, mineral rich companions and chop-and-drop legends