guildfordcycads

In my excitement to expand my food forest to a new area, I got several 1 yr seedlings before realizing that I really should prepare the new area first. So, my trees need a gap year to grow a little on their own first before settling in.

How can I make a smaller scale nursery bed to house the trees until spring or next fall?

If it was just a few weeks, I know I could heel them in. But if I want to buy them more time, what’s a good setup?

My plan right now is to prepare a bed like how I would prepare a new garden bed. Reserve a row, loosen the soil (it’s clay), mix in leaf compost, and mound it up maybe a foot to make it easier to pull out next year. Then mulch with plenty of wood chips to mitigate the higher heat loss over winter from the raised aspect. (Zone 5, winters can get pretty cold here.) Then, plant the trees maybe about a foot apart.

And next time be more patient.

Any alternatives or other suggestions? Thanks.

Hello. I’m in North Carolina looking to get some trees to plant this fall. I want a variety of fruit trees and also some nitrogen fixers. They must be bare root. Does anybody know where I can purchase this? I’m not having any luck in my area.

Working on a property right now (not mine), in the early planning stages. Most of my experience is in trails and gardening- pretty green to landscaping. I’ve been brought in to make trails and eventually help out with planting.

The property is in western WA along the shore. You enter from the west along the side of a ridge, and land in a relatively dry grassy wetland on a 0-10 degree slope. At the end of this wetland, there are large swathes of salmonberries, alders, oaks, mostly on 10 degree slope with muddy, clay soil. The salmonberries are pretty overcrowded and unhealthy. They end at a sudden 20-30 degree slope running about 10 feet. This transitional area becomes a 20-40ft barrier of pines along the coastal eastern edge of the property. There are spots to the north and south of this salmonberry/alder/oak swathe that are drier with different species, but are pretty close to a ravine and also a stream. Plenty of rain and shade throughout, with less shade in the salmonberry patches.

Its a stunning piece of land, we’re leaving almost all of it alone except for some simple trails, a small garden, and eventually a very small house. There is also a zone extending from the stream, the ravine, and the coastline, where afaik we cannot legally plant anything anyway. Problem is, the area where we are allowed to plant is mostly muddy clay, with an eroding coastline. Not ideal, too much erosion going on.

It would be great to redirect some of the water to mitigate the erosion, and firm up the soil. One idea is to try to change the soil in some areas with bark and mulch, then plant trees that can soak up more of the water coming downhill from the wetland. I’m thinking it’s a good idea to do some digging to redirect more of the water coming from uphill. What do you guys recommend for resolving drainage issues on large expanses of clay hillside? What would you plant?