The list of candidate plants for this kind of landscape design is too extensive to list them all here, but we can share some resource lists and ideas to get you started. Site conditions will greatly impact what plants you choose, and remember that it's always simplest to select plants based on existing site conditions rather than trying to alter site conditions to suit certain plants. (For example, in an area with less-than-ideal soil drainage, look for plants that handle wet or compacted soils well.) Native plants as a group have a reputation of being easier-care and lower-maintenance choices than non-native plants, but this is not universally true, though matching them to suitable site conditions goes a long way in supporting their long-term health and productivity.

Site conditions to take into account include how much summer sun plants will receive (granted, some will be eventually shaded by the maturing woodland), how moist or dry the soil tends to be and how well-drained it is, and how much space each plant has to mature without too much crowding (while natural for plants to grow close to each other, this can reduce their harvest yield and growth rate). If deer pass through the yard, plants will either need protection (fencing is the most reliable, at the very least to protect the trunk from antler rubbing) or selection for species generally unpalatable to them, which are relatively few.

If you perform a laboratory soil test to learn what the current nutrient profile and organic matter content is like, this will also tell you the soil acidity level (pH), which would be useful to know for certain plant that are picky about soil acidity (like blueberries). Soil test results from the lab can guide you as to how to alter acidity if needed, though as with the notes above, it's much easier to go with what you have as-is. Lab soil testing is also recommended any time you are growing your own food, to screen for heavy metals, though it's more applicable to vegetables and root crops than tree fruits whose edible portions are high off the soil and less likely to get contaminated by tainted soil.

Here are a few ideas for native trees and shrubs that produce edible fruits or nuts:

• American Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
• Pawpaw (Asimina triloba)
• Serviceberry (Amelanchier, several species and hybrids)
• Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa)
• Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
• Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)
• American Plum (Prunus americana)
• Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia)
• Blueberry (Vaccinium, several species and hybrids)
• Black Huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata)
• cultivars of Blackberry and black Raspberry plants (all Rubus) can be hybrids, but tend to involve at least one parent species native in or close to the mid-Atlantic
• American Hazelnut (Corylus americana)
• several species of wild grape vines occur in Maryland, but Fox Grape (Vitis labrusca) is the parent species of many modern cultivars (like 'Concord')

Several publications listing plants native to Maryland or the mid-Atlantic region exist (though not with an edible focus), but below are some we share with clients most often (there will of course be lots of species overlap between them). You can also use them to choose some companion plants that will boost biodiversity and beneficial insect abundance to help naturally manage plant pests. A diverse range of flowering plants supports an equally-diverse array of pollinators (which will also help pollinate any fruiting plants) and beneficial insects.

• Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Native Plants of Maryland by UMD Extension
• Landscaping with Native Plants by the Maryland Native Plant Society
• Native Plants for Northern Virginia (still applicable here)

In case you want design help, there are probably multiple area businesses that offer permaculture and/or food forest landscape design or consultation services, though we do not maintain a database of them, nor does Extension recommend particular businesses. Given the program’s focus on sustainable horticulture and the use of native plants, you might find assistance from a person certified as a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional. (Use the “find a pro” search tool on their website.)

Non-native food plants that grow sufficiently well in Maryland's weather include apple, pear, peach, nectarine, cherry, and plum. Your location might be mild enough for the hardier cultivars of fig, Asian persimmon, and pecan (native, but not to our area), though these groups are more cold-sensitive as a whole. Currant and gooseberry will probably fare decently well but overall they thrive in climates with cooler summers. Strawberries can make a good groundcover, and modern varieties tend to be hybrids that have at least one ancestor native to North America. Most of these fruits have cultivation tips within our fruit web pages. (Sometime in the next few months we intend to overhaul the fruit section of the website, but at that point it will still contain the same information, just clarified or expanded.)

When planning to grow fruit and nuts, research what the pollination needs are for any species you intend to grow. Some species or particular cultivars are self-pollinating, but many are not. Some only bear female flowers (and thus are capable of fruiting) on certain individual plants, since male flowers are produced on separate plants (male plants can't fruit). For example, pawpaw flowers always contain both male and female parts, but they do not self-pollinate, so another pawpaw tree is needed for cross-pollination. Persimmon trees generally produce either only male or only female flowers on a single tree (the term being dioecious), so a lone female tree won't fruit unless pollen from a wild male tree in nearby woods is brought over by foraging bees, or unless you include a male in the planting.

Given the space large-growing fruit/nut trees use when mature (especially canopy trees like pecan), planning for this use of space at the beginning of the landscape design process is important. At least some of the large plants, like pecan, can still support lots of wildlife even if they don't crop reliably well each year, depending on weather. Several species of their hickory cousins grow wild in Maryland and are great forest trees for supporting biodiversity. The only trade-off is that they grow pretty slowly for such a tall-growing tree, and can be hard to find at retail nurseries beyond sapling stage. (Given that they have a deep tap root when very young, planting as young a tree as you can get is probably ideal anyway to avoid damaging it. They will catch up to an older tree that is installed larger but with more transplant shock.)

We have little information online pertaining to edible native vegetables, but if you're growing some of the more conventional non-native vegetables, we have web information about those as well. Some will tolerate light shade, but most require or thrive in full sun (6-8 or more hours of direct summer sun). Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) is not locally native, growing wild in central North America, but it might be one vegetable option for a vigorous edible tuber that also produces blooms for pollinators and seeds for birds. Be advised that it can be quite rambunctious, though, and take over less-vigorous neighbors as it forms a colony, so give it plenty of room or pair it with equally-aggressive native wildflowers to keep it in bounds.

Miri

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