Three working layers on the perimeter, all the way around the lot (north, east, diagonal, west):
17 fruit trees: 2 on the north band (multi-graft apple + multi-graft Asian pear), 2 in the diagonal pocket (paired persimmons — Fuyu + Hachiya), 5 on the west band, 5 on the east band (citrus reshuffled north for winter sun, olive + pomegranate south), 1 in the NE corner pocket (loquat), and 2 Cornelian cherries at the SW and SE south ends. Each tree at the center of a 6 ft mulched circle. Trees spaced 7 ft on center using Backyard Orchard Culture. The south Cornelian cherry pair sits under the house's winter shadow — that's intentional: Cornus mas prefers part shade in Bay Area heat.
Inside each mulched circle: 1 comfrey downhill, 1 nitrogen-fixer (Ceanothus 'Concha' — native, doubled to one per tree after dropping goumi for invasive-risk reasons), 1–2 pollinators (borage and/or yarrow), a 4-plant ring of alliums at 1.5 ft from the trunk, alpine strawberry as ground cover.
~15 evergreen productive shrubs filling the ~1 ft gaps between mulched circles. Pineapple guava, pomegranate shrub, upright rosemary, toyon — all swappable. Combined with letting nitrogen-fixers grow to 6–8 ft, this restores the ball-catching perimeter without taking up lawn space.
Lawn meets patio (with table) between lot and house. No plants on the south band — winter shade from the house makes it unproductive.
Hover any plant for variety, category, and alternates. Click a plant card below to read its full entry in the reference.
One tree's mulched circle at 3× zoom. Apply this pattern to every fruit tree.
Shared colors = shared role or shared family. Tooltips also show category.
The whole plan, by the numbers: ~33 species, ~225 individual plants. Trees are 1-of-each (with paired persimmons and paired Cornelian cherries); bridge shrubs distributed across the gap positions; guild plants repeat around all 17 fruit trees.
| Category | Species | Plants |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit trees (apple multi-graft, Asian pear multi-graft, persimmon Fuyu + Hachiya, mulberry, plum, peach Indian Free, apricot, jujube, fig, pomegranate, olive, lemon, mandarin, loquat, Cornelian cherry pair) | 16 | 17 |
| Wall & trellis fruit — thornless blackberry, table grape, fan-trained fig, gooseberry ×2 | 4 | 5 |
| Bridge / perimeter shrubs — pineapple guava ×10, pomegranate shrub ×4, upright rosemary ×2, toyon ×1 (moved NE) | 4 | 17 |
| Wall cascading — trailing rosemary, California fuchsia, trailing lantana, alpine strawberry runners, nasturtium, creeping thyme | 5+ | ~30+ |
| Guild plants around every tree — comfrey ×17, Ceanothus 'Concha' ×16 (doubled after dropping goumi), borage ×10, yarrow ×6, chives ~48, garlic chives ~12, alpine strawberry ~80 | 7 | ~190 |
| Total | ~36 | ~260 |
Open the full counts table in the plant reference for the species-by-species breakdown, or click any plant name in the palette below for its full entry.
Click any plant name to open its full entry in the plant reference.
Multi-graft solves cross-pollination and Lafayette's low chill (200–400 hr) on one trunk. 'Fuji' + 'Anna' both crop reliably here; 'Pink Lady' is the borderline-chill bonus.
Full entryAsian pears are more reliable in Lafayette's low-chill winters than European 'Warren' (400 hr). Multi-graft = three cross-pollinating cultivars on one trunk.
Full entryNudged east to (7, 13) for ≥7 ft BOC spacing from T4 Mulberry.
Full entryKid favorite; long, dark fruit.
Full entrySwapped from 'Frost' — 'Frost' needs ~700 chill hr per Dave Wilson, too much for Lafayette. 'Indian Free' is 200–300 hr and partly PLC-resistant. Cross-pollinates with the plum nearby (Prunus genus) or accept lower set in cold years.
Full entryReshuffled so citrus (which ripens in winter) gets winter-noon sun in the north half. Olive + pomegranate take the south positions where house winter-shade is densest — they tolerate it because they're either evergreen (olive) or winter-bare (pomegranate).
North end (most sun). Two crops/year in Lafayette.
Full entryMoved north for winter sun (citrus ripens Dec–Feb when shade is densest).
Full entryMoved north for winter sun. Most cold-hardy citrus.
Full entryMoved south — evergreen and shade-tolerant; doesn't need winter sun.
Full entryMoved south — winter-bare deciduous tolerates winter shade fine.
Full entryEvergreen, winter-blooming, spring fruit. Fills the NE corner between the pear (T2) and the east band (T9).
Full entryBoth Cornelian cherries sit under the east 2/3 of the house's winter-noon shadow. This is intentional: Cornus mas is happiest in zones 4–8, so part shade in Bay Area heat is a feature, not a bug. The SW (T15) is the more easily relocatable of the two — if you ever want to swap one for a serviceberry or second loquat, that's the one to move; the SE (T16) is the more committed kid-zone-side position.
Yellow February flowers (earliest bloom on the lot), tart-sweet red cherries for jam + fresh eating. Most relocatable tree on the lot if you change your mind later.
Full entryCross-pollinator for T15. Different fruit color/ripening time for harvest spread.
Full entryMoved from west wall. North ~10 ft of east trellis. Kid-safe, productive.
Full entryMiddle ~12 ft of east trellis. Crisp seedless red grapes, July–August.
Full entrySouth ~14 ft of east trellis. Compact, intensely sweet violet figs.
Full entryThree-tier cascading planting along every wall top. Primary = most cover and evergreen base (esp. visible north). Secondary + tertiary = seasonal accents and pollinators.
~15 plants, ~4 ft on center, all wall tops. Evergreen silver-blue, edible, winter bloom, deer-resistant. Drapes 2–3 ft.
Full entry~4 plants on west + diagonal walls. CA native, hummingbird magnet, magenta tubes Aug–Oct.
Full entry~3 plants on north + east walls. Year-round flowers, butterfly + bee magnet.
Full entryCascading runners from wall top for summer kid-snack berries.
Full entryAnnual; sow each spring for cascading orange/red flowers + edible leaves and flowers. ~30 seeds spread among wall tops.
Low (~3") edible cascade, fragrant, tucks into cool pockets between rosemary clumps.
Dense evergreen, edible flowers + fall fruit.
Full entryN-fixer + pollinator magnet. Doubled to 16 (one per fruit tree) after dropping goumi for invasive-risk reasons (Elaeagnus seedlings spread by birds into nearby oak woodland).
Full entryThe main lot's planting, by the numbers: ~33 species, ~260 individual plants.
| Category | Species | Plants |
|---|---|---|
| Fruit trees (apple multi-graft, Asian pear multi-graft, persimmon ×2, mulberry, plum, peach 'Indian Free', apricot, jujube, fig, pomegranate, olive, lemon, mandarin, loquat, Cornelian cherry pair) | 16 | 17 |
| Wall & trellis fruit — thornless blackberry ×1, table grape ×1, fan-trained fig ×1, gooseberry ×2 | 4 | 5 |
| Bridge / perimeter shrubs — pineapple guava ×10, pomegranate shrub ×4, upright rosemary ×2, toyon ×1 (moved NE) | 4 | 17 |
| Wall cascading plantings — primary trailing rosemary, secondary California fuchsia + trailing lantana, tertiary alpine strawberry + nasturtium + creeping thyme | 5+ | ~30+ |
| Guild plants around every tree — comfrey ×17, Ceanothus 'Concha' ×16 (DOUBLED — replaces goumi), borage ×10, yarrow ×6, chives ~48, garlic chives ~12, alpine strawberry ~80 | 7 | ~190 |
| Total | ~33 | ~260 |
For per-species breakdown plus what each plant is good for, see the plant reference summary table.