Western hemlock in northern Utah?
jim_ogden_utah
9 years ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
9 years agojim_ogden_utah
9 years agoRelated Discussions
My plans for fruit growing in Moab Utah
Comments (30)I just found your posting from Oct. Hope I'm not too late to weigh in some notes. I lived in Colorado for 39 years, mostly in the Denver area, where I successfully grew peaches and apricots organically in a home garden without any protection. Equally as relevant, however, is I did lots of geology field work for decades in the Moab, Paonia, Palisade and other areas of the Four Corners states, and part of my job was evaluating potential wilderness areas. After a big back packing trip, I'd rest up in Capitol Reef,car camping next to the orchards. Yes, it was a hard job but someone had to do it. Sounds like you have already discovered the peach and apples. Apricots around Palisade and Montrose are incredible. Inspirational! Sweet cherries, too, and pie cherries in Paonia, on the North Fork of the Gunnison. Not only is having water rights essential, but also be sure to check the water quality. Much of it can be alkaline and high dissolved solids, so steps must be taken. Best of luck on both the fruit growing and the hiking....See More2 sites: hemlock, spruce, fir, or . . . Capitata yews?
Comments (6)ziggy, thanks for the very thorough response. The thing that was confusing me was that my local nursery's web site, a "Native trees of SE Michigan" pamphlet, and a Midwest landscaping book all say the Canadian hemlock requires moist, well-drained soil. So my "speed bump" hill of sandy soil is only moist if it rains, and 10' down where the water table is. And the wetlands isn't "well-drained". I also had the landscape guy who was out to discuss our boulder retaining wall tell me hemlocks are hard to grow here, although they certainly sell them in every nursery I've been to. My "Native trees of SE MI" hemlock info also says, it "needs moist or wet acidic soils...is rare in SE Mi...is very sensitive to hot, dry conditions so be sure to plant this tree only in cool, moist locations." But maybe your "needs less moisture when shaded" comment is what makes the difference. Also, the nursery site says it needs to be planted in a winter protected area, which the "hill" isn't. A couple of years ago after hearing an arborist speak, I asked him about which tree to use here and mentioned that I didn't think a hemlock would work since it needed to be winter protected (I'd looked at the nursery info then, also). He looked at me like I was nuts, and said, "They're grown in Canada!" I'd read about the black spruce in my "Trees of Michigan and the Upper Great Lakes" book. Thanks for the suggestion, but I'd ruled this tree out because it said it "has a shallow root system that in swamps and bogs is easily uprooted by strong winds" and "the lower branches persist for many years after dying, making the tree unattractive for ornamental use." And there's a picture showing an unattractive black spruce with the dead branches half way up. So, based on what you both say, I'm wondering if the higher altitude in PA and the more northern WI location make a critical difference in the temperature factor. Hemlock is native to Michigan, but apparently in the northern part. I'm not trying to be difficult here. It's just that I spent 30 years in a condo with very little garden space, where I only could plant a few bushes and perennials. Now I have over an acre with lots of possibilities, but I have no experience with trees, and don't want to goof on these expensive plantings! So I'm trying to understand what my margin of safety is on these trees before I buy any! If, based on what I've added here, you think I'd still be reasonably safe with the hemlock, then I'll go ahead with them, since perhaps the amount of shade may end up being a bigger problem, which is why I am considering the yews for the hill if I don't use the hemlock. It sounds like the most logical place to try the hemlock would be the E location near the wetlands. The other wetlands location gets the W sun and winter winds. Thank you so much for your input! Anne...See MoreLush, but arid Western US cities
Comments (14)Tornado, you might find this interesting: http://ecowatch.com/2015/04/21/california-drought-colorado-river/ I've actually been thinking about this and googling for the past 15 minutes...I really ought not to spend time of this, given I have other things to do. It will never fly in California, but I had a crazy moment of thinking "WWCD". NO, not what would California do, we already know too little too late - what would China do! We just don't think big enough in this country! What about damming the ENTIRE Central Valley! Sure you might have to relocate some rare California Delta Snail to another area...as well as the entire city of Sacramento, but think of the benefits. All that rain that is lost in the wet years by flowing out to the ocean could be saved! You'd have the biggest artificial lake in the world, and agriculture could continue along its shores. Which generally happens now anyhow with certain crops, they typically grow things like oranges on the ridges anyhow, because they avoid inversion freezes that way. It would take a few years to fill of course, during which time we'd all have to buy our broccoli grown elsewhere. Lake Volta in Africa is 3200 sq. miles and is the largest reservoir in the world; the Central Valley's land area is listed as 22,000 sq. miles but of course you probably wouldn't make the lake nearly that big. Surely if they could dam 3200 sq. miles in Africa decades ago, we could manage 16,000?...See MoreTropics in the desert state of Utah
Comments (2)So these are growing in your yard? I've recently started dabbling with a few pots of Cannas and Elephant Ears, but yours appear to be planted in the ground. How do they overwinter here? Or do you dig them all out and store them? There's so many, I can't imagine you dig them out every year. I'm worried about being able to overwinter the few I have, which is nothing close to all I see in your pics. Whatever you do, they're all looking very good! As much as I like all the plants we can grow here in Utah, it's nice to have something that looks so different and unusual doing so well. You must get a lot of comments from "Wow!" to bewildered when people see your gardens. :-)...See Morejim_ogden_utah
9 years agojim_ogden_utah
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