clearing a small woodland border

13 years ago

I finally figured out how to post pics here. Yeah.

We have removed lots of junk invasives. Dozens of truck loads. Wild multiflora rose, huge grapevines, extensive poison ivy, lots of sapling pear tree, an area of 6'+ pokeberries, and assorted weeds.

We found a few volunteer treasures. I have recently posted pics of various unknowns for indentification at "name that plant" forum. So far ... magnolia (4), pagoda dogwood (3), arrowwood viburnam (1), cherry saplings (numerous), black cherry, tulip poplar saplings (lots), sassafras saplings (lots), catalpa saplings (lots), oak and maple saplings, holly (3), and holly.

You will also see volunteer autrian and scotch pine trees on the hillside. The plan is to edit those and keep the remainder at least temporarily until a plan is developed for the hillside.

The downside neighbor has an 8' retaining wall directly below those woods. You can see the remainder of spindly black cherries which will stay. Already planted at various times is white pines, hemlocks, viburnums. 3 spruces will be removed and replaced with hemlocks for screening out the neighbors roof. Far end of photo is mature old scotch pine and austrian pine, a stand of beech? or poplar?, a large oak and sassafras. The area bas been a nightmare to keep cleared of junk. Working on a permanent plan for it now.

Part of the back hillside. It is steep for 20' and level at the top for another 20'. The large spruce belongs to the neighbor behind me. From that point back is lots of real junky stuff (wood piles, tires) that I want to screen out with more hemlocks. Again, you can see the volunteer pines that are not native. There are about 6 young white pine volunteers though. Keepers. You can also see the old pine trunks at the top of the hill. Over the years we removed lots of those and storms brought more down. What is left is really not on my property now.

More of the hillside. You can see the neighbors property behind us. We visually own it. 5 acres of mature red and white oak. Pulling up our drive? that 5 acres is the dominant view. (Zoned for 2 or 3 additional septic systems, however - meaning homes could be built back there at some time.)

Found this nice volunteer maple on the side yard woodland.

Hillside from top right to left. You can see another neighbors roof where I will plant a few more hemlock to screen the roof line. Then you see a large wild black cherry trunk, a nice wild sweet cherry tree (no cherries though), and a fairly large hickoy. Some of the property on top of the hill is not mine but I try to maintain it and will plant up there past the lot line. It's useless land to the neighbor below, and he doesn't care what I do with it.

More of the side yard woodland. Nice volunteer pagoda dogwood. Not sure if we will keep the volunteer spruce. It's a nice speciman. But it's not native, and it also sits directly under the canopy of a large Catalpa tree. Eventually, it won't work out.

Top of the hillside again. Those old pine trunks bother me some. The only green branches are way up at the top. But there's not much else mature up there. I am advised to let them be. ??? That's a 2nd house behind the first house. They face different streets. The 2nd house was built into the hill and so it also has a high retaining wall there and no back yard to speak of. Just a deck, the retaining wall, and the property at the top of the hill that they ignore. I don't mind so long as I can do as I please up there. It's a very visible area from our own yard. So the hillside and top of hillside will be treated as though they are one property. The plan anyway.

Found this small volunteer pagoda dogwood on the hillside. Neat. The junipers will be removed.

Top of the hill again and a volunteer arrowwood viburnum in center of pic.

Here's the hillside sloping down to the side yard woodland. See the large catalpa? More pine trunks in the background. Large black cherry to the left rear.

Hillside again. Junipers will be removed. Young volunteer pines will be edited until a plan is developed for the hill. This was a wild thicket until cleared. A big job that is almost done.

Hillside sloping to side yard woodland area again. Side yard woodland area was also an overgrown thicket.

Distance view of center of hillside. Good perspective on it. 2nd neighbor's house is behind and below the hillside.

Side yard woodland area again showing a found volunteer cherry tree? 1st neighbor behind and below the side yard woodland area. Hopefully hemlocks will screen him out of view. I have 10 6' to 8' hemlocks on hold now. These just came into the nursery and there is nothing smaller available.

Side yard woodland area again. Those spruces will be removed and replaced with the hemlocks. We will most probably lower the ground elevation where the grass is - making it more level to the woodland area. Lots of fill was dumped in the grass area. Taking it back to original grade for a nicer transition to the side woodland area. Then probably bringing a pathway of grass between those 2 large white pines? from the front yard to the side yard.

This long post was mostly intended for the fellow who was also clearing a woodland area. He lived across the street from a federal forest? I forget his screen name now and don't want to lose this post by looking for him right now.

Any comments and suggestions are most welcome.

I have also most likely lost the man who has done the clearing. He may have found employment. That's good. But there is another 40 hours or so of removal work yet to do. I have poison ivy now pretty bad, and so I have hired the remainder of that job out, too.

I think these areas will always be a work in progress. Hopefully, it will be more enjoyable to work with the area now. Fun thinking about it anyway. It's been a handfull for many years. But this is nice progress, I think.

Thanks for looking.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (14)

linda_schreiber
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wonderful work! I don't have much in the way of design advice, but I do have a couple of possible warnings....

Your volunteer maple looks like a Norway maple. Identify the maple species for absolutely sure. If it is a Norway maple, dig it out now. If it gets large enough to flower and set seed, you will have billions and billions of same.

Ditto your volunteer cherry, for the same reason. Couldn't id it well enough from the picture, but from what I could see, it is likely one of the really weedy cherries, rather than one of the more desirable ones.

You're working so hard on this woodland area. I would hate to let you nurture 'weeds' without throwing out a warning. I have also welcomed many volunteers, most of which have been truly welcome.

But I've also been excited by 'it's some kind of [whatever]', and later learning that, well, there are good 'whatevers' but also really weedy unwelcome 'whatevers' that I then have to go to war with for some years....
lethean46
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Oh boy. Thank you for pointing that out. I'll be sure to check on the maple volunteers this week when a certified tree man is here. There are 2 huge Norway Maples across the street. So what you suggest is very possible.

Ditto the cherry tree saplings. There are loads of them. I'll try to get a better ID on those. The tree man has identified one mature wild sweet cherry (no cherries though). Wild black cherry is everywhere.

There just is not much in the way of large nice trees. I think our intent is to pull the woodland down from the top of the hill to the hillside - over time. The trick is to keep it under control year to year.

We will start this fall with 10 hemlock and 10 maxima rhodo to begin the background planting and screening. I don't want solid screening though. Where it is possible I'd like some depth of view into the adjacent woods.

This part of the yard has been a nightmare. Poison ivy in particular. It pulls easily but the roots are nearly a solid mass under the surface in many area. Multiple big root stalks running 50' up the black cherry, etc. It's nearly gone now, and I'll follow up next year with RoundUp on any that comes back.

Thanks very much for the heads up re my found treasures. I'll be sure to inquire further whether they are in fact treasures or merely more junk.

ML
Related Discussions
Roses for a partly shady woodland border?
Q
Comments (12)
Thanks for all the replies! I was definitely thinking along the lines of species and near species roses, once bloomers who won't need any deadheading are perfect for the back fence. My main concern is that I would like to put in an irrigation line for the plants when they are new, but then wean them off of supplemental water once they are established. I know that there are roses who can survive without summer water, I was just hoping for ones that would be able to thrive. Lady Banks is a great idea, the year I fell in love with roses it was Lady Banks Lutea who caught my eye and then my heart. I've been wanting to plant one for years but haven't had the right spot, until now ;o) I also have several hybrid musks in my collection already, but I'm concerned about their ability to withstand drought. Has anyone tried growing these au natural in California? What about Placerville White Noisette? I have one of those in my collection as well and the back story makes me think it might be a winner in these conditions. Madam Alfred Carriere is on my wishlist and I'd love to plant her somewhere along the fence, possibly next to the big shed so she can be trained onto the pergola once it's built. Once again, any experience growing her with minimal water? Since I'm only a few miles away from Sebastapol I was thinking of asking to pick up my order in person, that way I might be able to get a bit of last minute advice and perhaps an extra rose or two. I know everyone is super busy over there now so I don't want to email them a bunch of questions, instead I will pester the kind folks at the Rose forums until I'm ready to make my *sniffle sniffle* last Vintage order. Thanks again, everyone!
...See More
clearing a bit of woodland
Q
Comments (9)
Leaves will rot. You may think a couple of feet is there, but I found that a spot where I used to dump fall leaves (for about 10 years), when I wanted to plant hostas in there, the leaves were only a few inches thick and the soil was wonderful. Over the years I probably dumped 10' of leaves in there, couple feet at a time. They turn to that wonderful, woodsy soil that grows beautful wildflowers. I cleaned out a small patch of woods over a space of 15 years or so, a little at a time, cutting out catbriar, wild blackberries, all kinds of saplings and a thick growth of honeysuckle. I hauled away the brush, cleaned out rusty car parts, glass, and broken skeet targets, and planted wildflowers, ferns, hostas, dogwoods, Japanese maples, redbuds, viburnums, and lots of other shade grden plants. I made paths, built brush-wood and gabion fences, stacked a brush pile for the wild critters, a small pond in the hole where a big tree fell, a dry creek; and I'm still working on it! It isn't an easy job or one you can do in a year or so, but I love my little woods now! Sandy
...See More
Help me love my woodland back yard
Q
Comments (10)
I think the easiest way to maintain a large area is to create a woodland environment. Separate the 'woodland' from the 'yard' perhaps with the wall in the picture, or by some sort of border like logs or simply the edge of the lawn, and don't worry too much about maintaining the woods. I am sure you've seen yards that border the woods, and some of them look perfectly manicured despite the fact that nothing is done to maintain the woods. So, it is partly attitude ('those are the woods, this is the yard') and partly a good border between the two that makes your life easier. I would start by by mulching and planting large clumps of a few types of shrubs or small trees. Pick out perhaps three to five types of native woodland shrubs. Get perhaps three to five plants of each type. Plant each type of plant in an informal clump. The clumps should be arranged to look nice, frame in your yard and woodland path, and to not interfere with each other too much (give them the room they need). In general, put taller ones toward the back, smaller ones in front. Mulch the whole area. You can buy shredded bark or find a local tree trimmer or the municipality who shreds branches (power company crews, road maintenance crews etc.) and sometimes get the chips for free. i would use the most natural-looking mulch you can find, so that the woods look as woodsy as possible. in the future, simply leave the leaves that fall. You should probably mulch again in future years to help build ip the soil and supress weeds. I would probably remove a lot of the small plants that are there now. I see a yellow-green groundcover that is probably a sedum, some weeds, I think, and some grass. none of these really fit in a natural woodland, so I wouldn't keep them. As the shrubs grow, the spaces in between you can plant with wildflowers, ferns, etc. Once you get the shrubs growing and a good mulch on the soil, you can take your time (years, if you want) planting wildflowers, and I think you'll enjoy it. I would start with several Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) scattered through the woods. I would plant clumps of Cranberry viburnum (tall, put it near the back), American Holly (Also tall), Maybe Gray Dogwood in the sunnier parts of the front, Blueberries (highbush type- most of the blueberries grown for fruit are 'highbush' blueberries that will get four or five feet tall, at least), and perhaps Red chokeberry, or maybe Inkberry holly, which is evergreen. I would make each clump something like 10 ft by ten feet, but an irregular shape. This will fill a lot of space, you'll like the look of the shrubs, and there will be no maintenance - you can simply let them grow once they are planted and watered for the first few months. I think evergreen groundcovers are a pain - weeds often grow through them, it is hard to get leaves out of them, and unless they grow really thick, the look like a poorly maintained planting. Woods, on the other hand, aren't supposed to be maintained and so look fine full of leaves and sticks. Just maintain a path through them and you are fine.
...See More
Turning a small field into woodland
Q
Comments (39)
Interesting running commentary here. Eric: you've got an exciting project ahead of you. Let's hope your kids inherit your passion for land stewardship. lkz5ia: your posted history of investigating vigorous non-native species may cause these sentences to blow off with the prairie winds, but maybe you could consider them "invasive comments" and try sowing them as a simple experiment >%-D Resolving the issue of an undesirable gully situation is likely going to take much more than planting bamboo species, vigorous or not, native or not. You may have already researched stream dynamics; if so, then this will be a limited primer for those who haven't yet. Above, it was mentioned that these images represent a former wetland. Due to past land use practices (assuming Iowa, assuming field agriculture, assuming grazing/cattle, assuming tiling/drainage "improvements", assuming land division irrespective of natural systems) there may not be any chance to recreate that condition. Neighbors upstream are your biggest allies in your endeavor, or maybe your worst enemies. Slow down the water flow, if you want to stabilize and improve the gullying situation. As far as I know, Iowa has relatively low gradients when it comes to topography. It also has few canyons. To get gullies like you are showing here, with rapid advancement upstream, you have an increased flow situation combined with lack of normal vegetation for the site (that formerly held soils in place). Normal vegetation for Iowa includes quite a few woody riparian species (you've mentioned many in your posts, with vigorous root systems ideally evolved to hold soils together in this kind of situation) as well as many herbaceous species (prairie style) with very deep root systems. I think this is where the gap occurs. Bamboo plants (in my limited use experience) aren't necessarily known for depth of rooting, more so for vigorous spreading in horizontal directions. In an erosive condition as you've illustrated, soils will likely wash away underneath and the support systems fail. Deeper rooted species, adapted to YOUR site, combined with some structural (engineered) stabilization offer a better scenario. Yes, this can be a costly solution, but isn't always. Usually, some "toe-of-slope" stabilizer must be installed to hold the base of the bank in place while the organic (plant matter) component is getting growing and extending roots throughout the soil profile that you want to hold together. This can be stone, logs, stumps, brush, or other things; one must understand the dynamics enough to know what sort of application to make. Filling behind the stabilizer and planting (sometimes with a stabilization or erosion control fabric, natural material or inorganic) comes next. Here's where you have the opportunity to be frugal. Species you've mentioned (willow, cottonwood, sycamore, etc.) are all great to use as LIVE STAKES, meaning you cut live branches/parts in the dormant season and simply drive them into the ground. Doubles as staking for erosion control fabrics, too. This is a way to "forest" a creek bank without prohibitive costs, and stay ahead of the hoofed and webbed-foot browsers. Apply the technique mentioned by Chester_Grant in the Trees forum to keep out deer (creating a raised grid of fallen timber, maybe some of the excess Ailanthus you are raising, or Pyrus) to extend the establishment time of the live stakes. There are many other species that work in this regard, especially shrubby species that are copious fruiters, so that you'll be supporting several system restoration components simultaneously (hydrology, soil stabilization, and faunal habitat). Concurrent with the attempt to stem the advance of the gully, slowing water down upstream through several efforts will pay dividends in the stabilization and enhancement of the system and habitant. Using the same type of riparian species (live staked or whole plants) in the watershed above the gully will slow down water flow, and trap sediments. Additionally, placement of weir structures (soil berming, stone, logs, stumps, brush, etc.; I've used newspaper bales) to "dam" the flow periodically will reduce the rate of runoff and reduce the rate of erosion in the gullying area. Yes, this will raise the temporary water table or surface impoundment, and that's where I was going with the "neighbors upstream" comment. If this is unfavorable to their land management practices or concerns, then you may not be able to implement this range of alternatives. Drop-down pipes solve short-term issues on site, and pass them on rapidly downstream to whomever's property comes next. You don't say how large/small a property you manage, or how big the watershed is that feeds it hydrology, but the management principles apply anyway. Slowing the water down higher up in the system pays dividends throughout, so working on the smaller "ditches" first that feed the larger stream maybe be the best approach. Whew! Probably lost some readers in that slow-moving train of thoughts. FWIW. Good luck in the project; we will all learn something from the efforts related here.
...See More
karate626
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Great yard! It's always nice to find surpise plants! A few weeks ago I found a shagbark hickory sapling. I agree with Linda about the maple. The way I check to see if it is a norway vs sugar maple it to pluck a leaf and if you see white sap it is norway and if there is clear sap then it is sugar. I'm not sure if that is true but I have found it on multiple sources on google.

TJ
linda_schreiber
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You're doing a great design job. It's going to be terrific over time! The grunge work is the hardest part....

Black cherries can be seed throwers, but at least they are often nice trees. I suspect that the volunteer cherry in the photo (I'm too tired and lazy to hunt up species names tonite) is some sort of 'pin cherry' or 'bird cherry'. Even weedier, and neither much attractive or useful when grown.

Karate, I envy you the shagbark hickory! Really nice tree. I don't know if the 'sap test' works at this time of year. May be a spring thing. But lethean's tree pro will be able to tell from the leaf shape and trunk whether it is a Norway or another maple. He'll have a really good search-image for a Norway maple.....
lethean46
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
linda and karate

I have posted on the "name that plant" forum with the title "crabapple or what?" There has been some disagreement as to whether this is a crabapple or a cherry. I just posted a fruit cut in half over there showing more than one seed and also posted a picture showing 2 types of leaves on one branch which is common on all these volunteer trees. Both indications seem to point to crabapple and not cherry.

If these are crabapples, do you think I should keep a few? There are 3 pretty nice young trees with good form. I can pull the saplings each year as they come up.

I guess my question is - are crabapples not a good woodland tree? - and not appropriate for a mixed woodland either? I like native but don't have to be strict about it.

Would I be better off biting the bullet on the crab and getting serviceberry, etc., going? I will need some intermediate understory type trees. Dogwood and eastern redbud come immediately to mind.

Maybe I can postpone the decision and see what the flowers look like next spring on these crabapples? And take it from there?

Thanks a lot.

ML
fatamorgana2121
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
At this point, I would definitely enjoy the spring time blossoms and decide after that. Crabs and other malus trees put on a wonderful spring time show. I have a large, old crabapple with sprawling limbs that I have a woodland wildflower garden under. The shade and organic material it provides in copious amounts makes a perfect place for a shady, woodland garden.

It appears as though you have plenty of places to add service berries, witch hazel, spicebush, dogwood, and any number of other native understory trees without needing to remove all the crabs. You can always remove them later should you decide you don't like them. They are not huge trees even when fully grown.

FataMorgana
lethean46
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
FatamoMorgana

OK then. That makes sense to me.

Two of the volunteer crabapples will need to be moved. One is growing 2' from a good sized planted dogwwod. Another is growing 2' from an established planted viburnum. I think we can pull them both out with a truck -leaving roots in tact. So far things are pulling out pretty easily - excepting the dang pear trees. Monster roots on those.

Do you suppose the crabs can survive a transplant. They are all about 8'. Regardless, the 2 can't stay where they are so I will have to give it a try.

This is so great to have input on this project.

Thank you.

ML
linda_schreiber
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Re the crabs, if you have to move them, try giving them a deep root-cut right now, [abt 8 ft tall.... thinking], about 2 1/2 to 3 feet away from the trunk. There's still time while the weather is still pretty good.

In late April, give them another root cut, just a little closer in to the trunk.

Should have a better chance of moving them successfully in may/early June.
lethean46
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
More changes this week and last. Wow. The landscaper came in and planted the background. Hemlocks, Maxima rhodos, Green Mountain Maples, various viburnums (Alleghenys, Chicago Lusters, Blue Muffin, Winterthurs), chokeberries, beautyberries (American?, I hope), dogwoods, and redbuds (transplanted).

The big FUN news? There was a rain at night during the planting time. And guess what? Deer tracks were found in the wet dirt. Wow. I've seen one deer here in 21 years! ... and one fox. Finding the deer tracks? ... I can't help it. I'm excited and thrilled. How in the world can they survive in suburbia? Amazing.

I had been thinking of a pondless water stream on the hillside for several years. Plans were drawn up, twice. This past summer? ... like an omen? ... a pair of mallards visited the backyard, for weeks. I had never seen them here before.

Well, when the background planting was finished today on the woodland right side of the house and on the top of the woodland hillside and continuing to the rear of the property? It just seemed like a poor time to stop. The hillside itself is still bare (volunteer Austrian and Scotch have been scuttled).

Bottom line? We are going to keep going on this project. This is off season in the nursery business. That's a benefit to me as regards cost and the designers attention, I hope.

What a rough business, landscaping. With seasonal laborers, that I like a lot ... So, I am stimulating the local economy while hopefully getting a little additional bang for the buck. The decision feels really great after vacillating about it for several years.

More work should begin in about a week, depending on when the sandstone can be quarried.

I'll post pics of what has transpired to date, i.e., the background planting. Pretty neat.

And I can't help but wonder if the mallards will find us again next spring? And the deer? ... I'll happily feed them (or, IT) my new plant material. Ha.

Anyway, we are now officially ... a WORK IN PROGRESS. Sort of exciting ....

ML
ravenh2001
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Dont feed the deer. If you do they will stay and all your neighbors with flowers and shrubs will hate you.dear will forage and come back enough. If fed they will over populate. I have had to shoot many in the last 10 years trying to establish an orchard. that is in combination with deerbgone and electric fence. some of the neighbors feed so at least the ones I shoot are good and fat.
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hey lethean46, sorry I hadn't seen this post before. Nice work so far, but it seems you want to use hemlocks everywhere you want to block a view. I'd caution against that even though I love hemlocks (I'm a junkie, you know). Throw in some Picea omorica or Picea orientalis 'Aureospicata' or even an Abies koreana or concolor just to diversify. That way if a disease or pest (Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is not far away) that kills hemlocks comes along you wont lose all your trees.

tj

Here is a link that might be useful: Wooly Adelgid Spread
carolinamary
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Lethean,

Your pictures look fantastic; it's a joy to imagine fooling around with different designs in your yard. No wonder you're enjoying yourself working on your yard!

Everyone has different ideas as to what is junk and what isn't, so you might want to just get a feel for what you like to see day by day and ignore the labels of others. But I'll give you mine, for whatever it's worth.

Native black cherries are most unwelcome here. Our woodsy yard is filled with them, and every year we take out as many as we can. They don't display anything attractive once they're filled with pest cobwebs, which they almost always are. All those cobby webs spoil any possibility the tree might ever have for attractiveness, which isn't much. To call them junk is putting it mildly.

We have a large variety of hardwood trees, most of which are attractive, but have worked to get rid of the shagbark hickories. They're quite nice trees until you want to grow other things anywhere in the vicinity of their canopy. There's a substance that the roots of nut trees, including hickory trees, exude that make it hard for other plants to compete for life in the same soil. You'd be much better off with oak trees, ash trees, maple trees, birch trees, sycamore trees... anything but nut trees if you want to have good luck with things like rhododendrons. There are many different varieties of rhododendrons you might consider.

If you can purchase some fast-growing hardwood trees that can get tall, consider red maple trees. They are gorgeous in the fall, and their coloring looks good with sugar maples and also oak trees, especially red oaks.

For an understory, dogwoods need some watering to get through a severe drought but the horizontal lines of the branches are something very, very special. For the slightly sunnier areas of the border areas, river birches would have the shagbark textured bark that you like and would look spectacular.

Unless you want only native plants, you might see which Japanese maples are hardy enough for your area. Those are beautiful, beautiful trees that you'll never tire of looking at; we have three different kinds at three different heights. They are the last trees to lose their leaves in the fall and the first to get new leaves in the spring.

Best wishes,
Mary
lethean46
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the comments this past winter. I didn't see them.

Well ... the project looks a lot different now. A 60' pondless water stream is on the hillside with several terraces build with sandstone. It is about 90% complete.

Trees went in as the terraces were built. It was the easiest way. The trees are a nice red oak, a couple of green mountain maple, a red maple, 3 serviceberries, and several cloud 9 dogwoods. There are no shrubs, perennials, or groundcover yet.

At this point, I need to call the landscaper to come in and finish up. Reinstall the pump, finish the with the sandstone work, and repair the yard. From there on out I'm going to try to do my own plantings, over time.

I'll try to post some pics of this work in progress. Right now? I don't know what to think. Dumb idea to do it at all? Maybe I had a brain fart.

I cannot quibble with the work the landscaper did. I KNOW that they gave me the best job that they could do. And so, what more can you ask than that? My "job" that I self imposed was to stay out of their way. Ya know?

I know that they were very pleased with the result. They said that each pondless stream project takes on a personality of its own. They like this project a LOT.

I plan to use local nurseries, rare find nursery (online), saved volunteers, ground layer propogation, and starts from friends going forward.

Oh. And the white pine volunteers? turns out they were red pine. Also a native pine. Who knew? We moved it into the woods on the neighbors property. The rest were lost. So, I'll be looking for more red pine volunteers.

I thought we had destroyed a very little stand of jack in the pulpits. I couldn't find them in the fall to save them. And low and behold, I saw one a few yards away today. Yeah.

I will try to post some pics soon. I've forgotten exactly how to do that now. But I'll figure that out or make a phone call.

Re all the hemlock? Yes. There are about 15 in the background planting. To diversify? I could use some more white pine or red pine if more are needed. I'd really like to stick with natives re pines.

Re black cherries. Yes. I know that they are not desirable trees. Many have been removed over the years as well as many other junk trees. The black cherry at the top of the hill though? almost has to stay. At least, it's away from the house. And, it's mature with a decent trunk and shape.

ML
jcalhoun
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
When you get around to shrubs, some mountain laurels and witch hazels would look good. Maybe some redbuds too.

clearing a small woodland border

Comments (14)

linda_schreiber

lethean46
Original Author

Related Discussions

karate626

linda_schreiber

lethean46
Original Author

fatamorgana2121

lethean46
Original Author

linda_schreiber

lethean46
Original Author

ravenh2001

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱

carolinamary

lethean46
Original Author

jcalhoun

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

clearing a small woodland border

Comments (14)

lethean46Original Author

Related Discussions

lethean46Original Author

lethean46Original Author

lethean46Original Author

lethean46Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

lethean46
Original Author

lethean46
Original Author

lethean46
Original Author

lethean46
Original Author

lethean46
Original Author