UNDERSTORY AND GUILD PLANTS FOR MEDITERRANEAN FOOD FORESTS

Linda Buzzell-Saltzman
Once our fruit trees are planted in their water-saving basins in a budding Mediterranean food forest,
it's now time to think about what else to plant in these usually-moist wells and swales. Or up the
trees? Or nearby? We need these companion plants to increase our food and medicine yield, and
also to enrich the soil, provide habitat, pull up minerals and other nutrients from deep in the earth,
draw nitrogen from the air and bring it into the soil, attract beneficial insects to control pests, create
shade for delicate roots -- and to provide beauty, a critical psychological and spiritual yield in every
garden.
Thanks to the members of the Permaculture Guild of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Organic Garden Club for
their ideas and input. Additions and corrections are welcome. Please email lbuzzell@aol.com Especially welcome
would be input on what plants do best under specific fruit trees - so far I don't have much information on that.
BERRIES
Blueberry. To grow well here, they need acid soil, so a container is often the best solution, since Santa Barbara
soil and water tend to be alkaline. One gardener we know waters hers with a very dilute solution of white
vinegar, plus puts pine needles, coffee grounds around the plant. Best in Mediterranean climates are the lowchill varieties like 'Misty,''O'Neal,' 'Sharpblue'
Cane berries. Upright cane berries are fun to pop in here and there as understory plants and they take some
shade. But we found out the hard way that you probably dont want to put in sprawling, thorny berries
(especially blackberry) that sucker underground they pop up all over the yard and are hard to eradicate.
When we buy new berries we limit ourselves to thornless varieties and our current favorites are 'Navajo' and
'Apache,' although the thorny varieties that still linger in our garden - and will probably be there for hundreds
of years as they're ineradicable - taste best. So we live with them and enjoy the berries.
Elderberry. Shrub. There is a California native variety. Produces edible fragrant white flowers (used to make
elderberry syrup and wine) and edible small blue berries that the birds love. Ripe berries are safe to eat but
leaves, twigs, branches, seeds and roots are toxic. Has medicinal uses. We use our elderberry as a sacrificial
plant attracting birds away from other fruit trees.
Lemonade Berry (native). Rhus integrifolia. Can also control erosion.
BULBS AND ROOT CROPS
Placement of these may take special care, as you don't want to plant them too close to delicate tree roots.
Carrots
Edible canna. Canna edulis Achira. Flowers are smaller than most cannas and the root is edible, can be chopped
and sauteed like potato.
Onions
Potato and sweet potato
EDIBLE FLOWERS (note: most fruit trees, veggies and herbs also have edible flowers. Always triple check the
safety of any flower before eating!)
Daylilies. Hemerocallis species. Buds are used in Chinese stir fry, Petals in salad.
Nasturtium (flowers, young leaves and buds that may be pickled like capers) Let the plants die back in place.
They will reseed and form a straw mulch.
Roses (yield petals for salads, sandwiches, syrups, desserts; rose hips for tea, syrups, jam)
Scarlet runner bean
Scented geranium
HERBS (most have edible flowers in addition to other uses)
Borage
Chili peppers, including tree chili
Cilantro
Garlic
Italian parsley
Lavender

Lemon balm
Lemon verbena. A drought tolerant shrub with delicious leaves for tea.
Mint. Some fear its vigorous, spreading roots, but we welcome it into dryer areas as ground cover, autumn
bee food and a source of fresh leaves for cooking and tea.
Mustard (young leaves can be stir fried, flowers are edible, plus seeds for making mustard)
Pineapple sage (leaves and flowers make delicious herbal tea)
Oregano
Rosemary
Sage
SHRUBS/Understory trees
Guava. Psidium Tropical shrubs native to Mexico, Central and South America that yield white, yellow or pink
fruit. Not to be confused with Pineapple Guava (Feijoa) Psidium guajava (apple guava) is one tasty variety. Also
try lemon guava and strawberry guava.
VEGGIES (there's no way to name them all - it's fun to experiment to see what likes the soil under and around your
fruit trees. Our favorites are those that overwinter and/or reseed themselves)
Artichokes. Plant away from tree roots, in baskets as the gophers love them.
Brassicas like broccoli, kale, collard greens.
Chard.
Dandelions. Leaves are great in salads and so good for us. Small birds like the seed heads.
Fava beans and other beans.
New Zealand spinach.
VINES
We often forget about vertical space in the garden, but it's nice to increase your yield by growing edible vines up fruit
trees, on walls and over arbors, fences and hedges.
Grapes. Note: the Permaculture Guild of Santa Barbara has a separate list of recommended table and wine
grapes for our area. Contact lbuzzell@aol.com for details
Passion Fruit. A garden member says mine is simply rampant, productive and trouble free; gets little to no
supplemental water. The juice can be used to make a spectacular salad dressing (served at Los Arroyos on Coast
Village Road in their tropical salad).
MISCELLANEOUS
Bamboo. Use clumping instead of running kinds to avoid it taking over your garden. Bamboo shoots are a
delicacy in Asia.
Pepino melon
Sacrificial plants. In permaculture designs we often plant trees, shrubs and other plants that are nitrogenaccumulators, "nurse" plants or fruit-providers for animals that might otherwise eat our crops. When they have
performed their function, we "chop and drop" them around our fruit trees as a nutritious mulch.
Yucca. Weve read that yucca yields edible fruit and flower buds. Anyone have more info on this?
BENEFICIAL ATTRACTORS AND NUTRIENT ACCUMULATORS
Ceanothus. Shrubs and ground covers that fix nitrogen in the soil.
Salvia, ornamental. These are treasures in the Mediterranean forest garden.
Tagetes lemmonii. Golden color is lovely in fall.
GROUND COVER
Easy-to-grow succulents can provide temporary ground cover for delicate roots. They can act as a living mulch until
other plants take over that function. This crop is often free, as gardeners who have ground-cover sedums always have
too many and are glad to share. Pelargoniums and lantana are other easy, colorful ground cover that can be removed as
needed..