As you may know, if you work in the Mediterranean climate, the Summer sun is a tough one and can have certain plants absolutely scorched by the Summer sun. Tomatoes are quite an example of that, and that happens with many nightshades and other summer vegetables. The same can happen to bushes and trees if planted in full sun. And for me this is one of the main reason I stick with syntropic agroforestry to this day. I've made observations of Summer crops planted in full sun vs between syntropic lines. And the difference can be massive sometimes. Not only are they protecting the crops from intense sunlight but as well from evaporation which is another consideration. So, it's why I want to share with you 5 of the emergent powerhouse trees that work quite well in the Mediterranean. The emergent strata/layer is key in the Mediterranean for our dappled sunlight trickling through our canopy layer and below. And I will share quick considerations about all 5 of them. You'll understand by the end of this article that these 5 different emergents are adapted to different conditions and there's always drawbacks in using any of them but also advantages that you can benefit from for your specific context Eucalyptus (camaldulensis/globulus) Everyone who's planted a syntropic system in the Mediterranean has tried planting eucalyptus. After all it's been referred to as "the king" for its fast growth and enormous biomass that it can offer. I've had many grow to 2m tall in 1 year with little irrigation. Now one consideration, eucalyptus trees grow much faster if they have access to underground water, but it is is still possible to grow them with driplines, after all these eucalyptus that grew 2m in one year did not have access to ground water. But for a very limited water supply they might not be your best bet. As well, it's important to discern eucalyptus growth in the subtropics from the semi-arid climate. In the subtropics you'd see many people taking their heads completely off. Same in Mediterranean plantations that have access to groundwater but if that's not your case, it's important to keep stubs and/or branches that have the potential to become new leaders rather than taking off 100% of its foliage.

I think before going on and planting your crop lines (on a bigger scale - more than a couple hundred meters) it is key to check out which species perform well and have them in the soil for about a year before choosing to use them again. Here I share my disapointment with tagasaste because of our soil conditions (heavy clay) and the fact it's a difficult plant to propagate, expensive and ect. Watch the video to see which plant I use as a replacement !