Tell me!... What do you think? Can't wait to hear from you! ❤

All my 51 fruit and nut trees (from almond cross 'Robijn' that is already starting to blossom and medlar to old apple varieties like 'Ashmeads Kernel', 'Ingrid Marie' and 'Groninger Kroon') are part of a guild (in progress). Last year I came to the conclusion I want to pair every tree with spring bulbs. It gives the guilds a nice pop of colour in late winter and spring when most plants are still dormant , bumblebees adore them and I can't plant large plants or tubers directly under the trees. So this seems perfect. I planted over a thousand bulbs and can't wait to see the result. I'm looking forward to see what you will plant in your guilds.

@lisaskilton3746

Жыл бұрын

oh wow that sounds amazing!

Thank you, Niall. I’m inspired by your work.

Fascinating! I found your channel looking for garden bed layout ideas and now I’m hooked! Not only have you inspired me to build my own beds (doesn’t look much harder than assembling a kit) but now I’m mentally scanning my yard to think of where to put a few fruit tree guilds. I need to focus - one project at a time. 😂

i like the raised garden bed layout.

@niallgardens

6 ай бұрын

Thanks very much!

I have planted two peach trees, two plum trees, two pear trees. Next step is watching your videos on creating a fruit tree guild. I appreciate the fact that you give the names of the six types of plants needed for a successful guild. Also, within the types of plants needed examples of the specific plants. I don't think I will do the raised variety but till up the sod in my yard. I have really rich black dirt so feel comfortable I will be ok doing it this way. Will get it tilled this summer/fall so it will be ready for early Spring. Thank you so much for all this information. Good luck with your guild and can't wait to see the growth of your guilds.

@niallgardens

17 күн бұрын

I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the video and what you're doing sounds superb!

I put in 4 L shaped metal raised beds on my allotment in the same configuration as yours. I put an outdoor rug in the middle with a bistro set. Then surrounded the edge of the rug with pots of daffodil and tulip bulbs. I planted 4 varieties of cherry trees in the corners of my L shaped beds last autumn and underplanted the trees with winter pansies. The rest of the beds I've filled with garlic, onion and shallot sets. In the summer when the alliums are taken out I plan to put in my courgettes and cucumbers. I like the look of your arches and may put some up and grow peas and beans on them.

OK - LOVED the idea and would do it myself If I weren't such an old fart. But I think it will be beautiful and I'm anxious to see the progress you make over the next few years. Thank you for sharing this adventure with us. DA (Vancouver, WA - USA)

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Hi Donald! I'm the same - I've loved the idea for ages now. I think what I like about it is that it's a concept that you can add into all sorts of spaces without having to go full-on 'permaculture'. I can't wait to see how they develop over the year - here's hoping!

These things really work, I have a plum tree that was full of some stick fly goo stuff and weird flies, I tried to spray it with neem oil, that helped but only temporarily and then the flies came back. The tree was clearly struggling too and we couldnt eat a single plum from it coz the tree was under so much stress it didnt have the energy to bear fruit. 3 years ago someone recommended me to plant feverfew under it and I also plugged in a leftover foxglove seedling. Since that year I have ZERO sticky flies on the plum tree and last year it even started fruiting. The foxglove is so tall that it grows into the branches of the tree attracting all the good bugs and bees while the feverfew below is repelling the bad guys. It is absolutely fabulous, I didnt expect them to work so well!

I'm inspired, Niall. The idea of a fruit tree guild is exactly what I've been searching for. I live in Canada in zone 3B and have raised veg beds and an adjacent pollinator garden. As soon as I post this I'm going to go on the hunt for two small apple trees that will do well in our area. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to joining you and Maiju on your journey. Cheers!🍎

@ofrecentvintage

4 ай бұрын

Zone 3B--wow! How did your first fruit tree guilds go?

@sharidecterhirst1879

4 ай бұрын

@@ofrecentvintage picked my spot last year and found old tree roots that need to come out- tree is long gone. so this year it's back to site prep. but lots of hardy fruit trees- apple and pear that are bred to thrive in 3B. also putting in a berry bed nearby with raspberries and saskatoons. Going to be great!

@ofrecentvintage

4 ай бұрын

@@sharidecterhirst1879 Your plans sound absolutely delicious! 🍎 🍐

@rickysens597

4 ай бұрын

Evans Cherry tree will do great in zone 3...

@sharidecterhirst1879

4 ай бұрын

@@rickysens597 thanks. I'll add it to the list.

That was a wonderful video Niall 🥰 so excited for you. The trees already look like they belong there and knowing your immense plant knowledge - you will have some beautiful combinations by the end 💚 Thank you for the summer clips, it has brought a smile to my face 🥰 all these positive vibes are needed while the spring colours haven't started to appear yet, all is dull and brown still. Best wishes from Co. Kerry 😘🐶

Such a pleasure your candor and authenticity. PLUS your enthusiasm! Thx for the great video and success with the guilds👍😉

Wonderful idea! I've been thinking of this myself. Love your enthusiasm, Niall ❤️

Thanks for bringing us along! Here everything is covered in snow, but watching you dig gives a minute of relief from the longing. This is going to be so lovely in every way!

There’s something so special about planting fruit trees! Great video! I’ve subscribed to see more 💚

I’m really interested in fruit guilds and permaculture but have been struggling to wrap my head around the concepts. Hopefully your series will help me to understand 😊

I knew you were going to do the fruit tree guild,you got so excited when you visited Miau's garden. They will be a great addition to your garden. I have a plum tree in my back garden,with a fish pond underneath,I scatter wild flower seeds below the tree,and have small hanging baskets with strawberries and flower around it,with other flowers around,and a bush( don't know the name) it has long bell looking flowers. Niall have you ever grown comfrey,the bees love the purple flowers, can be invasive,so can plant in a large pot. I just distributed split rooting to others in the allotment. Niall I look forward to the ongoing results. Thanks for sharing.

Hello from across the pond! I am in Michigan, USA. 19:17 I am so glad that you are doing this series on fruit guilds!!! I was so inspired when you did your first video with Maiju. I designing a small fruit guild for my yard. Look forward to your upcoming posts!

This concept is truly wonderful. Thanks for sharing the start of a spectacular journey Niall 😃

Look forward to seeing how your fruit tree guild performs over time Niall 😃Nice to see Maiju again, I remember your first video with her and thought her place was incredible! When do you expect your first apple harvests from the new plantings?

What a wonderful video Niall. Your calm, happy and fun outlook on life and gardening is so lovely to watch. You were made for YT! First found you via Liz Zorabs channel and you have both inspired me to try and do so many new things in the garden and plant different varieties I'd never known before. Thank you! Keep on keeping on! 😁

Planting beds look amazing. Love the fruit tree guild concept. Have a wonderful day in the garden.

I appreciate your enthousiasm, Niall ! Its gonna look beautiful and be productive !

Very interesting! Thank you! I’m going to try it. You have an amazing garden!

@niallgardens

5 ай бұрын

Thanks so much!

Fabulous Niall, I'm so excited with you. I have plans to do this too. Followed your video last year and I have big plans for a circular area in the garden that has a rhododendron tree that has been cut back and tailed to allow other plants to thrive 😀

Love this idea! I've just planted 4 fruit trees at my allotment and I wanted to put flowers around them. I love the permaculture principle of this and I'll definitely be watching for more tips. I also wanted a herb bed and after watching this I think I'll be combining the two. One of my trees is a James Grieve. We had 2 in the garden when I was little and they gave lovely fruit. They're a bit of a dual purpose apple - earlier on they make delicious pies and crumbles, then they sweeten to a super eater. I've also put in a Howgate Wonder - something I've wanted for a long time, a Beurre Hardy pear just because I like them, and a Nashi pear (Koshui) because my father-in-law loves eating firm pears while I like to wait until they've developed their juicy sweetness so this last one is for him. Good luck with yours!

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Hi Abigail! That's so cool that it's given you some ideas for your own allotment. That's the inspiration that I got from Maiju's garden. Glad to hear that James Grieve is a good choice!! I have Beurre Hardy on my list for next year because I have so many things to plant that I need to stop buying more for a while!

@whatsontheplot

Жыл бұрын

I know what you mean. I have to set myself limits when i get near a nursery! I thought it would be nice to share progress with you as we go - this is my allotment. The video was only intended as an update for my family but it'll give you an idea of where I'm starting from. Abigail 🌳kzread.info/dash/bejne/gJ2m0LJseLHRhbQ.html

I was so looking forward to hearing what fruit tree guilds were! I didn't bother to ask, I knew that you would get around to explaining it. Turns out I have done almost that thing in my garden, with three espalier fruit trees and three pillar apple trees with underplantings. I look forward to seeing what you choose and why. :) Following Maiju!

You are an inspiration! I planted three apple trees last year and they did just okay adjusting. You’ve given me the idea of helping them thrive more with guild companion plants. Thank you!

Greetings, Niall, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 🌞 🇺🇸 What a wonderful idea. I can't wait to see your future Fruit tree Guild.💚 Take care, My Friend 💕👍👩‍🌾

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Hi Peggy! Happy weekend from Ireland! 🇮🇪 I'm really looking forward to seeing how the guilds develop and I think it'll be nice to share the journey together. Hope you're keeping well!

Good morning Niall and everyone, will catch up later, church time, beautiful sunny morning here in Sheffield, some clouds and bit of a breeze, had an hour in garden yesterday afternoon,tidied and weeded the borders, the spring bulbs are coming out lovely, snowdrops and crocus, very pretty. I'll see you later bye for now,take care happy gardening 🥰

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Morning Hazel! Have a lovely morning at church. What you're doing in the garden sounds very much like what I'm doing at the minute - a bit of tidying and a bit of just appreciating what's coming up!

We're heading into summer weather in Northern California, USA but I'm already looking forward to next year & planning fruit tree guilds for my veg garden. I've spent the last couple years focusing on the ornamental front garden. Next year will be dedicated to working on the back garden, starting with new veg beds & fruit tree guilds at the north end of each bed.

Oh my, I too was inspired by Mayu’s video. So much so that I have just prepared a no dig bed around two apple trees on my allotment. Ok so it’s a bit rough and ready, not as gorgeous as yours but I think it will work. Someone told me last year that planting chives and borage under apple trees helped with better crops and I was already planning on doing that when I saw Mayu’s video and realised that’s where the idea must have originated. Sleepiness nights are being spent planting calendula, borages, chives, achilleas - it looks beautiful in my mind!

Great video - I am suitably inspired! I just planted three fruit trees in a strip at the back of my allotment plot. I now definitely want to create a fruit tree guild. Thank you for sharing.

I am so psyched for this series. 🎆

Hi Niall. I’m excited to see you begin your fruit tree guild journey. I remember when you featured the idea a little while ago. Here’s to everything turning out well. We’ll be watching. 😊 Take care and I look forward to another great video. Hey Kenny. 👍🏽

Great video Niall,bet it will look great when established, i do love your gardening footage, I've got my dad's old apple tree in an old black dustbin at bottom of the garden,I brought it to mine when he passed away, 22 years ago,I don't do anything with it,it was full of lovely pink blossom and loads of little apples, they're very tasty, don't even know what they're called but it's a memory of my dad I treasure, thanks again take care till next time x

My apple trees I grow in the sunniest spot of the yard. Nearby I grow Blackcurrant, Gooseberry, Blueberry, and a Strawberry patch. Very little maintenance or costs.

this is exactly what my garden needs

Souds like a formal food forest with lots of old-world charm. I know little of this style which makes me look forward to seeing it evolve. I will say the healthiest soil in New England seems to be under old fruit trees.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and courage! I’m now in Vermont coming from California (USA). Totally different growing areas. My favorite plant nursery is in New York (only 10 miles away) owned by an Aussie! Will be planting a bare root cherry tree in honor of my parents. And enjoyed by local birds and me, of course. Just subscribed to Spuds and Roses! Carolyn/Vermont Cat Lady

What a lovely video. I'm definitely gonna make a fruit tree guild since I'm all into peraculture.

The area my fruit trees are planted in is still being developed so I don’t have anything too established yet, but there are strawberries under a pear tree, rhubarb and blackberry under an almond tree. It’s one step at a time and hopefully in the future, it will look beautiful too. Good luck.

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Ah lovely! I've got a rhubarb that will be going into the bed. Totally agree with you about it being 'one step at a time'. Thanks Louise, have a lovely week!

Great video I have patio fruit trees but they are in pots, apples trees are in bright yellow pots and the cherry tree is placed in the pot between my herb troughs.

So beautiful ,tell me what is that heage around your garden

I love apples, but I don't really have the space for a tree. I'll have to live vicariously through your channel, and the updates on these new bed setups.

@sbffsbrarbrr

Жыл бұрын

You could look for one grafted on to dwarf stock or train as an espalier on a fence, wall or trellis. I don't think I would have the patience but the look is lovely and apparently quite productive. Went to an apple orchard once and they had two small apple trees growing in large terra cotta planters. Don't know if they can stay in the containers indefinitely but they certainly looked cute at the entrance of the the gift shop 😁

Love this idea, I have just planted some apple trees at our community centre which I look after and wished I had done this. So maybe I will have to create the perennial flowers around them a bit like reverse. Thanks for sharing love your videos

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Glad that you like the idea - I think it's not too late and you could still plant some flowers etc around the bases of them to give the same effect and benefits?

great idea and look forward to seeing these mature! will you keep them smallish apple trees? probably got enough fruit trees in our orchard so probably wont be doing this however an area we have which used to have an old fruit cage that had so many tay berry plant but slowly been digging those out and putting raised beds in to put some veggies and my onions but also purchased red currants and blueberries to grow amongst them but there is an apple tree growing in that area too!

Great video! BTW, are you worried about the shade that they will cast on the vegetables growing below? is this something i need to worry about?

What an inspired plan! It raises a question (for me)about shade - with the combination of the hedge and tree canopy, will the vegetables be getting enough sunlight? Trying to place my own vegetable garden and wonder also if the length of your vegetable garden faces North-South or East-West? Thanks Niall

Niall Gardens, can I plant pillar fruit trees in pots with a few small complementary plants around the edges. If so what plants will i put in. I'm looking at a pillar apple and a pear because I have a small concrete back garden with plenty of hanging baskets and wall planters and just recently I'm putting 2 raised beds in 8 foot by 3 foot for veg and salads but they not ready to plant yet. I've 2 blue Berry bushes in pots a rhubarb in a pot, strawberries in pots the runners are running and rooting in other pots I have left beside them so this can happen. Sweet peas in pots for the peas and some in hanging baskets and wall planters for their flowers. I've also got a beef tomato plant a small bushy cherry tomatoes plant a d a green and red pepper altogether in a plastic raised bed with legs. I'm new to growing food, well I did a diet on a much smaller scale when my children were babies and toddlers I did have a dwarf apple but never got many apples from it.

Brilliant! Would it work with a nut tree such as Hazel?

Let us know how digging out the lovage goes. I once had to dig one out of a community garden bed. This thing had roots that went two feet down, and spread to every corner of a 4 X 6 raised bed. It was a nightmare. I don't know if there are different varieties that are less invasive, but for what we get here in Alberta, the recommendation is to plant them in garden spot where they're surrounded by concrete walkways or some other way to contain them, or they spread everywhere.

Please can you say what root stock your apple trees are. I have been wanting to start my own guild for a while but there is such conflicting advice about on root stocks.

TIL rootstocks can control the plant size. 😸

Love this!! Have you thought of incorporating mushrooms with the beneficial flowers/herbs around the trees?

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

Ooooh! Interesting idea - truthfully I hadn't thought of it yet but now I'm going to!

Hi Niall,could you tell me where you get these arches from please?

It looks like a good idea but are you sure about apple tree!? In my experience they need some treatmeants in order to have fruits without worms and treatments will prevent you from using anything around it for about a week or two.

I think you nearly tripped over that piece of wood as you walked in to the video with the tree in its pot and will do so sometime soon if you don’t move it!

@niallgardens

Жыл бұрын

😂 It's my trap to snare unwelcome visitors trying to get into my vegetable garden!

@jackstone4291

Жыл бұрын

@@niallgardens Love it !

I've never heard of a fruit tree guild. It seems to me that the trees would create too much shade for the rest of the garden to grow well. (from USA)

Not like this.