Prairie Shepherd
Member
My sheep need shade! I love birds! I want to grow trees and shrubs to help with both, but haven't had great success getting woody plants to grow here in northcentral Montana. I would like to establish site-adapted shrubs and trees that eventually won't require supplemental water (11" precip zone) or winter protection (zone 3), and that can tolerate our high pH soil. Chokecherry, buffaloberry, wild plum, hawthorn, serviceberry and golden currant do well here, as does the introduced leguminous shrub caragana. I want to establish the woody vegetation not out on the prairie grasslands where trees can cause issues for wildlife, but in draws and out in meadows that historically would have had those native shrubs and more besides.
I ordered a bunch of seedlings for planting in the spring and I could use some advice on how to boost their establishment. Better to plant in well-spaced clumps, or in long rows? Amend the soil with my excellent homemade compost or not? Drip irrigation or some type of irrigation aimed at developing deep roots? Weed barrier cloth, mulch or nothing on the surface?
Juniper grows well here but I've read that it hosts a rust that damages apple-family trees. Does anyone have experience with that? I want healthy hawthorns more than I want junipers, but having some scattered porcupine-resistant conifers would be good too.
Thank you for any help you can provide.
I ordered a bunch of seedlings for planting in the spring and I could use some advice on how to boost their establishment. Better to plant in well-spaced clumps, or in long rows? Amend the soil with my excellent homemade compost or not? Drip irrigation or some type of irrigation aimed at developing deep roots? Weed barrier cloth, mulch or nothing on the surface?
Juniper grows well here but I've read that it hosts a rust that damages apple-family trees. Does anyone have experience with that? I want healthy hawthorns more than I want junipers, but having some scattered porcupine-resistant conifers would be good too.
Thank you for any help you can provide.