Page 30 - Green Builder March-April 2016 Issue

Good Match. The small home orchard is a
manageable size and is stocked with easy-to-grow
varieties. These include Prolific Paw Paw, Paw Paw
NC-1, Early Fuyu Persimmon, Desert King Fig, Spartan
Apple, Spitzenberg Apple as well as Amity Raspberries,
Jewel Blackcap Raspberries

Plum
(existing)

Blueberries

Compact
Strawberry
Tree

Strawberries Fig (Desert King) CREDIT: JUSTIN JAMES MUIR
(groundcover)

Food for People CREDIT: JUSTIN JAMES MUIR

Food-growing can be easily Planting for Success. Three varieties of mid- and late-fruiting
integrated into suburban and blueberry were planted in the orchard. Blueberries require slightly
urban landscapes. acidic soils.

T HE SWAFFORDS’ LANDSCAPE design incorporates www.greenbuildermedia.com
several opportunities for growing food. The home
orchard replaced a sloping lawn that was hard to traverse.
It includes figs, apples, persimmon and pawpaw, a North
American native that produces oblong yellow fruit that
tastes a little bit like mango crossed with banana. Some older fruit
trees, including an apple and a plum, were retained. Blueberry bushes
and raspberries round out the orchard.

“Because it was a sloped site, we seeded a native plant mix under

28 GREEN BUILDER March/April 2016