Draft 1 - Balanced Food Forest

A West side of the front yard, adjacent to the driveway

Brief: Street-facing ornamental fruit tree(s) backed by a deer-resistant berry shrub border.

Owner's instruction: One, maybe two, fruit trees can go here (maybe one by the street and one by the house) surrounded by deer resistant berry bushes - or have a sufficient deer resistant border to prevent / reduce browsing. The street-facing size of Zone A should be ornamental, the north side of Zone A facing the house does not need to be ornamental; possibly an Asian pear could go on the south side of Zone A in at least one of the design drafts.

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: high · 30 plants

B Front yard immediately to the east side of the stairs that lead towards the house

Brief: One showpiece shrub ringed by drought-tolerant, deer-resistant ornamentals.

Owner's instruction: Ornamental section with some nice flowers and maybe one show piece of a shrub, possibly a goumi berry, carolina allspice or something else; needs to stand up to deer pressure; can have lots of ornamental, drought tolerant, deer resistant companion plants around a main bush/shrub.

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: high · 28 plants

C Adjacent to the front porch, parked between the walkway to the front door and Zone A

Brief: Kitchen-adjacent berry bushes with culinary herbs and ornamentals within easy reach of the porch.

Owner's instruction: This should be ornamental and deer resistant with a berry bush or two in the middle, surrounded by ornamental companion plants and culinary herbs (since it's close to the house and easy to reach).

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: high · 26 plants

D Adjacent to the front of the house

Brief: Long-bloom ornamental border along the house face; one 10-12 ft feature plant between the windows and a small ornamental tree at the east end.

Owner's instruction: This should be ornamental with an extended bloom season when taken as a whole; some shrubs/bushes can be tucked behind a row(s) of deer resistant companion plants, herbs, and/or flowers. Possibly, there can be one 10-12' or so plant between the two windows (could a Chicago Hardy Fig go here?); the furthest east part of this zone could also have a small tree, maybe a serviceberry or something else not too big, but ornate.

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: high · 39 plants

Draft note: Butterfly bush at the back of the border is the one soft-growth plant in this zone: it needs the temporary fence (or a wire cage) around it until the stems harden, because deer browse the new growth.

E Adjacent to the east side of the house

Brief: Thorny gooseberry row plus partial-shade woodland perennials and groundcovers.

Owner's instruction: Maybe a row of gooseberries (thorns) could go here; doesn't matter if it's ornamental; perhaps this is partial sun; any other plants that thrive in partial sun could be considered in this zone.

Sun: Partial sun · Deer resistance priority: high · 31 plants

F North-east backyard (behind and east of the house, near the pool's east side)

Brief: 2-3 full-size fruit trees (15-25 ft) in the north-east backyard.

Owner's instruction: Plant 2-3 fruit bearing trees (15-25' height) in this spot - assume the two large backyard trees are removed.

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: medium · 19 plants

G Rear (north) boundary of the property

Brief: Lowest-priority rear boundary: optional asparagus bed / perennial strip, otherwise left as lawn.

Owner's instruction: Lowest priority zone; currently grass. Possibly asparagus here, otherwise can remain lawn.

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: medium · 0 plants

No plantings in this draft — the zone is left as it is.

Draft note: Left as lawn, as the owner allowed. Marked here so it can be switched to the asparagus bed in Draft 2 without redrawing the plan.

H North-west backyard (behind and west of the house, near the pool's west side)

Brief: 2-3 full-size fruit trees (15-25 ft) in the north-west backyard.

Owner's instruction: Plant 2-3 fruit bearing trees (15-25' height) in this spot - assume the two large backyard trees are removed.

Sun: Full sun unless blocked by a tree · Deer resistance priority: medium · 10 plants