Dietetic Internship
Summer 2015
Week 3 - Culinary Camp
Permaculture: Orchard Design, Row 3
June 19, 2015
Erin Lindhorst, Abigail Lowe, Dustin Solomon, Verona Somarriba
The SLU garden orchard was designated as a stone fruit orchard in which Cherry,
Apple, Plum, Peaches, Apricots, and tree nuts including hazel nut trees were planted.
The garden program has focused on establishing an organic and sustainable approach to
gardening. Natural and chemical-free solutions are always being explored in order to
minimize chemical exposure to produce, and to attract pollinating insects, which benefit
the garden.
An important aspect of organic gardening is implementing permaculture.
Permaculture is a creative design process based on whole-systems thinking that uses
ethics and design principles. It guides us to mimic the patterns and relationships we can
find in nature and can be applied to all aspects of human habitation, from agriculture to
ecological building, from appropriate technology to education and even economics.1 In
regards to the orchard, permaculture will refer to the use of introducing companion
plants alongside the stone fruit trees in order invite beneficial pollinators and repel
harmful pests.
Pollination
The permaculture design for the garden will include the Orchard Mason Bee.
This is the common name of a nonsocial native bee (Osmia lignaria ssp.) that pollinates
our spring fruit trees, flowers and vegetables. This gentle, blue-black metallic bee does
not live in hives. In nature it nests within hollow stems, woodpecker drillings and insect
holes found in trees or wood. Sometimes there may be dense collections of individual
nest holes, but these bees neither connect or share nests, nor help provision or protect
each other’s young. Also, they are active for only a short period of the year. They are not
aggressive and one may observe them at very close range without fear of being stung,
which makes them excellent for enhancing our yards and gardens. They add beauty,
activity and pollination to our plantings. However, they do not produce honey.2
Purchasing Mason Bees
Orchard Mason Bees can be ordered from Crown Bees, the gentle bee company.
www.crownbees.com. They can also be found locally at Isabee's is located at 315 Lemay
Ferry Road, St. Louis, MO 63125, (314) 894-8737.
In order to maintain the bees in the orchard the program should create a shelter
for the bees to settle in to. This following proposal describes one proven method that
has shown successful integration of the bees into an orchard.
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Dietetic Internship
Summer 2015
Mason Bee Proposal
Function:
 Help pollinate plums, cherries, apricots, nectarines, apples, peaches, pears, kiwis,
blueberries, walnuts, hazelnuts.
 Annual will have more seeds to reproduce for the following year.
Facts:
 Each female owns her own hole: will gather pollen and nectar, lay an egg, and
then seal that chamber with gathered mud.
Supplies:
 Spring pollen for food: from fruit trees, most spring perennials.
 HOUSING:
o House placement:
 on a sunny warm morning wall and under an overhang if possible,
and about 5-6 feet above ground.
 Mud nearby
o Fall cocoon harvest:
 Collect the nests in the fall to reduce the pests.
o Supplies:
 Use EasyTear Tubes or Reeds
 Wooden house or structure.
 House should slope downward to allow water to drain.
o Directions:
 Pick a structure either a wood box, or pot or other hollow
structure.
 Fill with reeds or easy tear tubes: these should have an overhand
of 2-3 inches.
 Between some tubes place sticks to create space.
 Place Bee attractant (such as blue cloth).
 Find a location to hang where house can slope slightly downward
to allow water to drain.
 Mason Bees:
o About 5-7 nesting females can pollinate one blossoming fruits.3
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Dietetic Internship
Summer 2015
Examples of Mason Bee Houses:
Stone fruit trees are prone to a variety of pest which include:
 Oriental Fruit Moths
 Plum Curculio
 Peachtree Borers
 Cherry Fruit Flies
 Peach Silver Mites
 Green June Beetle
 Drought
 Drowning and Edema
Companion plants are an aspect of permaculture which are meant to
compliment these trees by attracting friends and repelling foes in a sustainable manner.
These companion plants will also ensure that no unwanted harmful weeds grow around
the trees and crowd the root, which would deprive the tree of much needed oxygen.
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Dietetic Internship
Summer 2015
Recommendations
Stone Fruit Tree and Nut Tree Companion Plants
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1.Daffodils, 2. Comfrey, 3. Borage, 4. Lilac Bushes, 5. Lavender, 6. Southernwood, 7. Marigold, 8.
Horseradish, 9. Buddleia (Butterfly Bush)
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Daffodils: This plant is often referred to Narcissus, named after a mythological
boy who loved to admire his own beauty. The daffodil consists of two parts, the
perianth (petal) and the corona (the cup). This plant should be placed in the
ground in late fall before the first frost. The cold temperature promotes proper
root development.
Comfrey: Considered a “dynamic accumulator,” comfrey has deep tap roots that
mine the subsoil for minerals which it makes available to the tree when its leaves
die or are slashed periodically throughout the growing season. Comfrey is a
“must-have” for every permaculture garden or orchard. It is useful for herbal
salves, a wonderful high-protein animal fodder, and attracts beneficial
insects. Its leaves are high in nitrogen, and it is used by many organic gardeners
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Dietetic Internship
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Summer 2015
as a compost activator. Planted in a ring around a young fruit tree, comfrey
grows vigorously, spreads by clumping out and keeps out weeds when full sun is
available under the tree (a living mulch). It will gradually die back as the tree gets
bigger and casts more shade.
Borage: This plant, also known as the starflower, is one of the best plants to
attract pollinators. The use of the Borage is to repel harmful insects, attract
pollinators, and help to increase resistance to pests and disease.
Persian Lilac Bushes: The lilac shrub is a native plant to the olive family. These
plants come in many colors and are excellent pollinator attractors. This type of
lilas was selected for its typical height for it’s maximum height of four feet, which
will compliment the trees very nicely.
Lavender: A flowering plant in the mint family. Lavender is useful around fruit
tress due to its repellant qualities, many insects and animals find it repulsive.
Lavender will also benefit many other plants due to its ability to attract
pollinators. 9
Southern Wood: A flowering plant native to Europe. Southern wood is beneficial
for fruit trees due to its ability to repel fruit tree moths when grown in a orchard.
African Marigolds: A bright orange flower that provides a natural pest deterrent.
Marigolds have traditionally been used to deter beetles, rabbits and other
harmful insects or pests.
Horseradish: This plant is part of the perennial family and will not be harvested,
it will be used as a perennial. When this plant is in the ground, it produces no
odor, but when harvested and cut in to it puts off an irritating odor. This plant is
especially helpful to cherry trees and has minimal maintenance. It dredges
subsoil minerals from the soil making them available for uptake by the fruit
trees.5
Buddleia: summer lilac/butterfly bush, attracts hummingbirds, attracts
beneficials, deer resistant. The butterfly bush as aptly named. It is a magnet for
butterflies, hummingbirds and all sorts of beneficial insects that flock to this
plant in late summer and fall when it’s in full bloom. This sun-lover provides
great color and stature in the garden often growing from ground level to up to 8
feet tall in one growing season.
All recommended plants can be planted within the same row, without having
any allopathic reactions.
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Dietetic Internship
Summer 2015
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Comfrey
Hazelnut Tree
Southernwood
Asian Pear Tree
Horseradish
Hazelnut Tree
Southernwood
Peach Tree
Persian Lilac bushes
Reliance Peach Tree
Borage
Redhaven Peach Tree
Lavender
Proposal: Asian Pear
Budelia
Design Plan for implementing both permaculture in Row 3 of SLU garden
Orchard.
* Bracket the row with African Marigolds and Zinnia
References
1. Permaculture Principles. http://permacultureprinciples.com
2. Mason Bee Houses. http://www.mclendons.com/files/u1/An-Intuitive-Guide-tothe-Gentle-Mason-Bee.pdf
3. Ornamentals and Turf.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Other/note109/note109.html
4. Stallings, Ben. "Does Comfrey Really Improve Soil?". Permaculture News.
Permaculture Research Institute. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
5. Plant Guilds.
https://midwestpermaculture.com/eBook/Plant%20Guilds%20eBooklet%20%20Midwest%20Permaculture
6. Philips, Michael. The Holistic Orchard: Tree Fruits and Berries the Biological Way
7. Green C, Hemenway T. Gaia’s Garden. Chelsea Green Publishing, White River
Junction Vermont. 2009.
8. St. Louis Audobon Society. Bring Conservative Home, Site Visit Report. NonNative Invasive Plants, Naturescaping. August 2, 2013.
9. University of Missouri Extension. http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G6830
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