I'm in Cashmere WA -- a little microclimate with people growing things that "should not" grow in this area of E.WA. I just bought a house and have some spaces to fill, very exciting! I don't know all the fancy latin names but please feel free to tell me which variety of these is best if you have opinion? We get lovely spring, VERY hot summer but I have endless irrigation district water, sun 300 days a year, dry soil that doesn't always drain well, and hard winters, down to 10 and occasionally lower. But for perspective, there are pear and cherry orchards all around me, and we're in a somewhat sheltered valley, and not far from river. warmer than many surrounding areas. I want to try: Ginko Magnolia Mimosa Empress (Palownia) Cypress Peanut Butter (don't know real name) Black Walnut Apricot (what variety is really tangy and juicy, short season?) Fig Some controllable bamboo? Maple that gets huge with very dark, large leaves? Snowbell?

If you end up planting just half of the suggestions that have been offered, you will have a tree collection, not a forest. Perhaps that's what you're after, in which case, go for it. But honestly, diversity is a good thing but at that point, you would have FAR more diversity than typically occurs in a temperate zone forest. Two acres is a nice sized lot, but it's two acres. I'm surprised that most respondents felt compelled to give you their lists of favorite trees. Why not do some editing instead of expansion of the list? Take your favorite oak, your favorite maple, your favorite spruce-like conifer, etc. That way, you'll have all of your main bases covered, but will end up with something that at least aproximates a natural N. temperate zone setting. If it were me, I'd also not get too caught up in the native versus non-native issue. I like sycamore better than London plane. That's why I'd opt for the sycamore. Norway maple is a fine tree, but really does have disastrous potential to supplant native species, therefor sugar maple is a better choice. And such things as yellow birch and hemlock are some of my favorite trees, but I'd not think them reasonable choices for a wide open sunny site. I guess it all depends on what you are trying to do. If it is to trial as many species as possible, like an arboretum, than yes, plant one or two of every tree suggested. If it's to end up with something that looks like a natural grove, pare that list down! +oM

I've so enjoyed reading through this tread. My thanks to all who contributed and who take time to plant for the wildlife. Sherry, couldn't help but relate to your story regarding your blackberry canes. I, too, have been fighting the spread of Blackberry canes. I don't know if they were planted by the prior owner or by the neighbor behind me but even with me cutting each cane over and over during the growing season, they had spread so badly they were even beginning to show up all over my small grassy area in the backyard, not to mention the garden beds. Strong canes with terrible thorns that catch at fabric and skin, no matter how carefully the canes are handled. Last year I could see I was losing the battle so I purchased brush killer and carefully sprayed in the spring with the first spring flush of growth, everywhere I could spray without hitting other plants (I used a tall hollow cone to try and contain the spray to each cane). I managed to set back the growth somewhat but couldn't eliminate everything and managed to also kill spots in my lawn. Didn't want to attempt that process again but with this spring's blackberry cane again sprouting all over, I decided to try something new. I cut each growing cane I could reach down to about 6 inches above ground, soaked a cotton ball in full strength brush killer, placed the cotton ball on top of the fresh cut, covered it with a plastic sandwich baggie and used a rubber band to hold all in place. I am proud to say the cane's are dying, even the ones growing up into my neighbors flower beds, where I couldn't place cotton balls. I'm hopeful that with a season of doing this, I can get rid of the underground roots that spread so far and wide. Blackberries are wonderful but for a small city lot, some can be terribly invasive and destructive. Of course, I would not place these covered, soaked cotton balls in an area where pets or small animals might roam. I don't know if wild animals would sense the danger but I doubt if domesticated pets would know to leave them alone. I've wondered if an inverted flower pot placed over each cut cane, with a heavy rock on top, would be enough of a deterrent to keep animals from investigating? My hope is this season will see the end of the blackberry canes on my property! :-) Mary

9-12-2023: There's a story behind these two newer Tsuga c. ;-) This all started in Sept 2018 when I collected seed from (at the time) what was the Minnesota state champion tsuga c. I never grew much from seed before and by Sept 2019, the 3 or 4 little seedlings were barely an inch tall. I put them into the cold frame for the winter and got them to start growing better the first months of 2020 (april-may?) after I brought them into the house. At the same time, I started more seeds I collected somewhere out in northern New Hampshire. When the growing season began, end of May, I planted two of the best State Champ seedlings outside in the ground, in two sperate areas. My vision was a spot that might provide more protection from sun and wind during the winter (I was already struggling with a larger tree that sunburned every winter I didn't cover it). First area: State Champ tree #1. I figured the red pine would keep late winter/early spring sun off the tree, even though it might take a few more years for them to mature. Snow accumulates more in this end of the yard also. Second area: State champion tree #2. It doesn't show in the picture but the small shed is just right of the new tree. To the left is a red pine that I'll someday sacrifice when the tsuga is ready. Stupidly, I simply watered these without any fertilizer at all and by middle of summer, they didn't look good at all. Not wanting to keep messing with these struggling trees, I pulled them and sometime in midsummer of 2020, planted the last two Tsuga c. I had, that I had kept in pots and were growing quite well on the plant table under controlled conditions. One was a MN State Champ seedling and the other was from the New Hampshire seedlings. So, with more experience and a garden hose to get through the dry spells, they pretty much look like they do pictured above in my last post. Below shows the NH tree better in its sheltered location. I may have to sunshade it a year or two yet. This is a better shot of State champ tree (left center) on the SE corner of the yard. :-)