Bastin, Anna Kathleen.

This thesis examines the constraints and opportunities of incorporating fruit trees in public and semi-public urban land. Understanding how people perceive and use fruit trees on both public and semi-public land in the city will benefit designers and planners in a number of ways. First, it will substitute facts for myths about the problems and benefits associated with growing fruit trees. Second, it will help determine whether people use and harvest food owned by everybody (the public) and nobody (because no one knows what the rules are). Third, it will generate ideas for how to locate and maintain fruit trees for the benefit of communities.

The hypothesis underlying this research is that fruit trees are not commonly used in public landscapes for reasons both pragmatic and based in tradition. Fruit trees require management that is different from ornamental and native trees. There is also the question of who harvests the fruit and gets to take it home. Even though newer cultivars of fruit trees are hardy and require less attention, they still require unique care. In a large city with limited funds, the needs of an orchard are not likely to be at the top of the agenda.

In order to distinguish some of the myths from realities, a survey was done of public places which have actively fruiting trees on them. Six sites in Seattle were selected to be used in this study. To determine what criteria would be used to evaluate the sites, eleven people with different perspectives toward this topic were interviewed to uncover issues, problems, and benefits to growing food on public land. Rather than focus on success or failure, the evaluation focused on the qualities of each site to see if some combinations resulted in more appreciation of the trees or better care of the trees. These qualities included: history of the site and the trees; layout and size; surrounding uses; current uses; management and maintenance; ownership; harvest and distribution of the fruit.

This study found that conditions affecting the use and enjoyment of fruit trees on public lands are related to the surroundings, current forms of management, and the perceptions and expectations people have of public land. The most fundamental conclusion made is that fruit trees offer more positive benefits than negative problems. A list of guidelines for developing community orchards was created based on these conclusions.