Welcoming visitors to The Edible Acre at Oglesby Gardens, The Meadow Orchard transforms a once-overgrown corner of the front yard into a productive and beautiful edible landscape. With mature black walnut trees and challenging drainage conditions limiting suitable planting locations elsewhere on the property, Katie and Matt saw an opportunity to reimagine this underutilized space. Rather than planting traditional rows of fruit trees, they envisioned an orchard that would feel like a natural extension of the surrounding landscape.

A winding gravel pathway leads through 14 fruit trees, including apples, pears, peaches, and sweet and tart cherries, surrounded by ornamental grasses, flowering perennials, and native plants. The plantings follow a coordinated color palette, with varieties chosen to provide changing foliage, texture, and continuous waves of color from spring through fall. Low-growing meadow plantings allow the fruit trees to remain the focal point while creating a lush, layered landscape.

Beyond aesthetics, the planting design supports pollinators and beneficial insects, bringing ecological diversity into the orchard. The perennial selections include locally bred varieties developed by Brent Horvath of Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, adding another layer of regional expertise to the design. Together, these elements create an orchard that's as enjoyable to walk through and experience as it is to harvest.

Perhaps the most rewarding part has been watching how quickly this landscape has come to life. Even in its first year, the orchard has attracted an incredible diversity of native bees, bumblebees and other pollinators. At times, you can almost feel the garden humming with activity as you walk along the pathway.