Apple’s newest California campus is on the hunt for fruit trees

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A rendering of Apple’s new wheel-shaped campus. Photo: Apple and City of CupertinoA rendering of Apple’s new wheel-shaped campus.
Photo: Apple and City of Cupertino

Apple’s newest campus called Apple Park in Cupertino, California, is rumored to feature a nature preserve on the structure’s top, and is set to open to employees later this month.

Once this campus is completed, it is reported that 80 percent of it will feature landscaping, which is set to include 9,000 trees. The new structure spans about a mile in circumference and is a single ring.

Since the break of the droughts in California, landscaping has begun to make a comeback, but the industry is currently still competitive. With the amount of landscaping companies and independent landscapers vying for access to trees in local nurseries, many are wondering how Apple plans to acquire the amount of trees it seeks for this new campus.

This detailed schematic shows where all the greenery and fruit trees are planned to go. Photo: Apple and City of CupertinoThis detailed schematic shows where all the greenery and fruit trees are planned to go.
Photo: Apple and City of Cupertino

It was reported that Apple is currently competing with The Transbay Transit Center, a bus terminal estimated at $2.3 billion that is under construction in San Francisco, to buy up trees from nurseries located all across the Pacific Northwest. According to Business Insider, it is said that after completion, a 5.4-acre park with footpaths and botanical gardens will top the terminal.

Currently, it seems that Apple is searching for fruit trees to adorn its campus, while the terminal is in search of non-fruit bearing trees. According to a report done by Wired in 2013, late Apple CEO Steve Jobs once said that he wanted the campus to remind him of what it was like growing up in California. The company told Wired the goal for this newest campus was to make it “a serene environment reflecting Apple’s brand values of innovation, ease of use and beauty.”

The campus will offer employees the chance to grab fruit from cherry groves, apricot, plum and persimmon trees, which are said to be located inside the office building’s center ring, and they can also snag some snacks from an apple tree located at the center. To prevent outsiders from looking in, a dense surrounding of oak trees encircles the structure.

Every tree has already been plotted, Apple’s senior arborist David Muffly told Wired, and employees are scheduled to begin moving in this month. It is said that it will take until the end of the year to fill completely, and the campus will house approximately 12,000 employees and additional greenery.

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