Do you think it is going to become shady under your tree/s? In the wild here, paw-paw forms little groves within the woods and it is shady. However, the only time I have seen it grown in a home yard, it was single trees that were limbed up amd did not even seem to be producing suckers. It was sunny under those trees.

If not too shady, you might get pole beans or squash to scramle up the tree. A long time ago I was able to do that with an ash tree about the size of a mature paw-paw. Some sort of onion or garlic added in seems practical. Perhaps one whose leaves you would use, rather than the bulb, so that you would not have to disturb the tree roots too much.

Would you be interested in "spring beauties/fairy spuds?" Sunny or shady they could go underneath the paw-paw since they complete their growing cycle mostly before paw-paw leafs out. They producee an edible tuber no bigger than the end of my thumb (usually smaller), but their early spring blooms mark where to dig them. They will persist and spread n the soil as long as you like.

I don't know if your summers are hot, but here, I've been told gooseberries like a bit of shade in summer, so maybe you might try gooseberries a few feet away, on the northeast-ish side of the tree/s.

Alexander, what are you thinking are the challenges to be met planting paw-paw with other things?

Thanks for the post, Clare.

I don't have any specific challenges or difficulties in mind, but rather asking if anyone had experiences with paw paw tree companions.

I'm planning on buying named varieties of paw paw, which I believe are all grafted, so I will not allow any suckers to grow. The plan is for them to be trees in shape, not bushes or thickets, so there will be some sun under them, or at least not dense all day shade.

More specifically, I am in the early stages of planning a smallish forest garden, and the paw paws will be the top layer. The back of the garden will be a shallow U, or crescent, with the paw paws in the middle, and elderberry bushes flanking them, like this:

...... P........P
E....................E

(I had to add the periods for spacing, they don't represent anything)
The plants for the middle and front of the garden have not yet been determined, but there will likely be some Eleagnus in there.

Anyhow, just looking for ideas....the spring beauties sound pretty good!

Alex