How to stagger bustan plantings against root competition and shading?

beegirl

Read about bustan setups turning tiny urban lots into layered orchards and beds, and it clicked as a way to pack more flowering plants without taking over the whole space. Tried mixing in a couple dwarf fruit trees with my usual herbs and clover patches to pull in more bees, but the root competition is already crowding out the ground covers I rely on for steady nectar. Stuck on how to stagger the planting so nothing gets shaded out too soon.

upcycleaddict

Root crowding hits hard once those dwarf trees start spreading out. I’d check the soil depth around the bases first and see if sinking the trees in deeper containers or slight mounds gives the clover and herbs their own layer without fighting for every inch.

beegirl

Tried the mounds but the clover still got crowded out fast once roots hit the edges. Haven’t checked containers yet.