And anyone else interplanting perennials under fruit trees to save water and build soil for a more resilient orchard? In a 10-tree apple block (zone 8b), a clover-yarrow-garlic chive mix cut irrigation about 30% last summer and spiked pollinator traffic; I’m after winter-hardy additions that don’t harbor voles and keep the nutrient loop tight…
I’ve had good luck with a tight daffodil ring right around each trunk — planted 8–10 bulbs about a foot out, they give late-winter nectar, die back early, need almost no water, and the alkaloids have kept voles off the bark; on a 12-tree block (8b) that alone let me trim irrigation another about 10% with no girdling last winter. Skip taller varieties in mower paths; ‘Carlton’ and ‘Ice Follies’ stayed tidy for us. @OP have you tried bulbs as the near-trunk layer?
Add salad burnet between the clover, yarrow, and garlic chives; in 8b it stays mostly evergreen, sips water, and the open crowns don’t shelter voles — broadcast now and give a light clip pre-bloom for chop-and-drop. Are you keeping a bare 6–8 inch collar at the trunks to discourage vole runways? If you already ‘cut irrigation about 30%’, burnet should let you push that a bit more without sacrificing pollinator traffic.