Over these two years I have planted three dwarf size apple trees (a red delicious, a golden delicious, and a macintosh) in our potager. These dwarf varieties should not grow more than 8-10 feet tall. I have planted them far enough apart that (I hope) they won't throw a big clump of shade on the garden when they get more branches and leaves. Right now they don't cast much shade at all. They are right on the edge of the potager, on the east side, with veggies close by.

Probably you would do well to plant them on the west side of a bed, to eliminate shade being cast on your other plants altogether. (I should have done this!)

We haven't had any apples yet but eagerly look forward to that. The trees add a fun element to the garden, and even if we don't get that many apples it will be fine.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

I put 3 blueberry bushes (different varieties) in an island bed and surrounded them with herbs spaced 4' apart. I like how it looks, but....

I must say that I'm a bit disappointed with their performance. They hardly set any flowers and only have about 3 blueberries each. I need to do a bit of research to see what I did wrong with them. I also found that deer won't eat them so I can safely move them outside the fence and use the space for something that's a "deer delicacy."

I also have an ever expanding bed of strawberries. I also noticed that deer or other critters don't eat the ones that migrate outside the fence. So, I've been encouraging them to set runners in a 1' outside border I made after installing our new fence.

I always thought to try step-over espalier apples or apple cordons. Something short or something narrow shouldn't shade other plants too much.

We also have a small separate area for out "orchard." This is in our fenced backyard area. However, while on vacation, the deer managed to venture in (a branch weighed down the wire fence) and I'm back to having sticks instead of asian pears and cherries. Those poor trees.....

Oh, (and now this post is really long) I am trying ground cherries this season. They're supposed to make a nice jam as well as for fresh eating. Anyone have experience with these?

I'm interested in ground cherries too! I grew purple tomatillos last year - found them to be a bit too sweet for the salsa....but will try them again and pick earlier.

I dried a few in the dehydrator at the end of the season - and forgot about them, lol! Took the dehydrator out and there was some dried tomatillos there - they were chewy - like raisin - and very sweet like a fruit - so I'm anxious to try drying the ground cherries!

ali-b, did you do anything to make the soil acid for your blueberries? That could be the problem. We didn't either, I realized belatedly, so I'm trying to find out what I can do without having to lift them and replant them.

I followed the directions on the tag and dug a wide hole and replaced half the soil with peat moss. I didn't add any acidifier or anything at all this year. Maybe I should have.

ali, I planted blueberries two years ago. Had them at my other house and they were wonderful, but these are being slower to develop for some reason, though this year the tiny plants were loaded with fruit. I attended a seminar at our Ag Extension office and he said that blueberries need to be fertilized once each year in very early spring. I had always heard/read that they don't like to be fertilized, but I did it on his say so. He recommended Holly Tone, which makes sense: organic, so it's mild; balanced; and has a built in acidifier. If you put that much peat moss in the hole, your soil should be sufficiently acid. They like plenty/steady water too. ???

As to the original post. I have worked some fruit trees into my landscape. The blueberries, which are lovely ornamental shrubs, took the place of some monster ornamental grasses that are so hard to divide every 3 years. I put a fig tree into my privacy border along the driveway and love the bold foliage. And, I planted plum trees along the northern property border (they get southern sun). I also put two dwarf apple trees on the two western corners of the potager three springs ago. We have ONE Arkansas Black apple this year! I hope it's big enough to share. :)