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| I'm currently reforesting 1/4 acre of my yard (in central Maryland) and have planted many smaller trees/bushes (redbuds, service berries,dogwoods, witch hazel, red choke berry, highland blueberries,spice bushes, eastern red junipers, etc). Now I want to plant some larger canopy trees. The list of trees that grow wild in my area is large so I'm not sure which ones to choose.
Here's a list of trees I spot easily in the forests around here: (the ones with * are ones in other parts of my yard. The others can all be found within 5 min of my house) Tulip Popular trees* Red*, Silver*, Sugar*, Maples Southern & Northern* Red Oaks Pin Oaks, Swamp White Oaks, White Oaks*, Willow Oaks Shag bark hickory trees* Sweet Gum Trees* American Hollies* Loblolly*, Virginia* & White Pines* Sassafras Trees* Sycamores Black Cherry trees* Black Walnuts* Eastern Hemlock* (I have one with wooly adelgid so not best choice here) The list seems endless! I'm right on the border between the coastal plains and the Piedmont region. Many northern plants dip south to my area and many southern plants come north to my area also. I love the variety of choices I have but I'm not sure which ones to choose since I cannot choose them all! I want a yard that will attract wildlife while also serving brilliant fall color and winter & summer interest. Thanks for any advice!
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Thu, Nov 24, 11 at 10:42
| how many large forest trees do you want to plant on 1/4 acre???? IMHO.. as a shade gardener.. ALL maple will adversely effect all other plants.. on one quarter acre ... it might take 10 to 20 years ... but they will ... is your full garden 1/4 acre... or is that the slice you want to reforest????? ken |
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| My full yard is a little more than 2 acres. About 1 of those is already forested. I want to forest another 1/4 so I have 1.5 acres forested and a half an acre for my yard/garden. How many large forest trees do I want? I'm not really sure how many can fit! It seems in the forests there are huge trees right next to each other but in gardens, trees are often planted far apart. I'm not sure which looks more natural or is better. So maples are out of the question, how about the other choices? Happy Thanksgiving! |
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- Posted by toronado3800 Z6 St. Louis (My Page) on Thu, Nov 24, 11 at 13:15
| Silver maple and a sycamore in front for fast growth and neat winter bark. Planting twenty feet apart will give you more natural/thinner trees....white oak in the center, tulip on the south side where it will reatain some lower branches so you can see some flowers and perhaps a hickory on the north? Five trees that way. You can elininate the shorter lived silver maple and sycamore if either becomes too much trouble. |
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- Posted by wisconsitom 4/5 WI (My Page) on Thu, Nov 24, 11 at 17:40
| Karate, one thing to keep in mind, when you are looking at a majestic stand of tall timber, very likely they started out following a fire, windstorm, logging operation, or other land-clearing event. And odds are, they came up very thickly following such disturbance. That's a part of the reason that such majestic stands often have trees with clear trunks a considerable way up. Individual weaker trees died off along the timeline, but before doing so, they helped to force the crowns of all other adjacent trees higher. So what I'm getting at is, you may wish to follow actual reforestation recommendations, which especially in the case of hardwoods, call for quite close spacing, with intentional, or natural thinning taking place later. Just depends on what you're after. +oM |
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| Given your requirements and choice list, I would choose white oak and willow oak. I like deciduous trees with scattered evergreens for winter interest, but you already seem to have a scattering of evergreens, so I would choose the oaks above, one with red leaves and the other with muted yellow. Both are excellent large canopy shade trees with acorns sought after by wildlife. |
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| One additional point: best to grow local sourced plants, don't buy in commercially produced plants which might be from distant sources not adapted to your climate. Resin |
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