LOL, either I mentioned this in a recent post, or else you have an amazing memory, NAF!

We already had an existing shelterbelt when we moved in 3 years ago of colorado spruce, some other mixed pines(which are not nearly as nice as the SP), lilac, green ash(which, contrary to most opinions, I HATE), a tiny bit of caragana, lots of the big bushy hybrid poplar and some siberian elm(grrr!) Some of the elm was about 100 years old, and partially dead, so we tore that all out, and what a job that was. I'm still continually mowing over elm root sprouts. I think I just need to spray them. Where the elm was, we planted 75 "old fashioned lilac" which is actually common lilac or syringa vulgaris. We had to buy those ones. Yes, they sucker, but we'll be mowing along them anyway, and they flower more and are more fragrant than the villosa lilac.

We did however put in another row of villosa lilac (50) in another part of the yard because they grow so well here, and we got them free through the pfra shelterbelt center. We also put in a row alongside those villosa lilacs of bur oak (20 I think) which we also had to pay for because they were unavailable last year from the pfra.

Then we put in 20 manitoba maples on the north side of our yard(pfra). They are mixed in with the poplars that were already planted...the people who planted them didn't plant replacements for those that died, so we have holes in our shelterbelt on that side. We also planted 2 rows of colorodo spruce on the north side of our yard ( I think it was 40 trees) to beef up the shelterbelt. Then we planted another 20 of the spruce in various parts of the old shelterbelt as replacments for ones that had died out.

Oh, and there are another 25 villosa lilac planted in a wide arc in front of our lagoon, which you can see from our house...the lilacs should be the right height to block out the view of the lagoon, but not the beautiful view of the valley that we have on the south side of our house.

As far as the numbers I've heard people say for planting a shelterbelt, these numbers are very small. BUT. We only have access to large farm machinery, we don't have a small acreage tractor or cultivator. So all the holes were dug by hand into the grass, which had been sprayed out just around where the trees were planted. The weeds have to be either hand pulled or sprayed, depending on how close to the trees they are growing. Also, we have a deer problem, so all the trees have to be painted with deer repellent a few times a year. And then there is watering. GAH. Where the hose can stretch, I use that...but a lot of the watering has to be done from a turtle tank in the back of our truck. It takes usually 3 afternoons a week to water everything, just because everything is all spread out in our enormouse yard.

So far they seem to be doing fairly well, definitely a few of the conifers died right away. I will be soooo glad when I'm done watering them. I think I'll have to water them for the next 2 years yet, but only every second week or so, rather than every week. It'll be worth it, eventually! I know we picked sort of boring species..but we wanted it to "flow" with the established shelterbelt.

Wow!! That's impressive!! Sure makes me rethink life on the farm that I would like to move to.........most days this double lot in the city is enough for me!

I should mention that when the "trees" come, they are only about 4-8 inch tall with about the same amount of roots...so the holes didn't have to be that big.(so digging by hand wasn't as huge of an ordeal as it may sound). Except for the oaks. Now I know why they don't recommend buying larger transplants! When they say oaks have a long tap root, they mean it! Most of the oaks that we got were 4-6 inch tall above ground, no taller. But they all had one long tap root, mostly 18-24 inches at least! So those were some long narrow holes, ha ha. Impressive little trees! Luckily, my lovely hubby did the digging for the oaks, thank goodness.

They are just newborns!

I have a whole yard full of Manitoba Maple volunteers that I just don't have the heart to pull. Lots of them are in old pots and just get watered along with everyting else in my yard. I'm pretty sure there are a couple of small oaks and a few poplar or weeping birch. The city finally cut down the weeping birch that was planted in front of the house in 1965. Maybe it left me a progeny. :) The elm trees leave babies ALL over the place and most of them I pull. One took root under my seasonal greenhouse 2 years ago and is now about 12 feet tall!

Amazing memory, I wish. Weeper, the reason I remember is we have friends who bought 50 acres (?) and will be planting trees. We also know of people who planted a lot of trees last year and lost most of them to flooding =:(

I don't think you picked boring species at all. Tried and true is the way to go. Those lilacs......when the wind blows you'll smell them about a 1/4 mile away. How great will that be? And the poplars. The leaves in the wind are one of my favourite things. Colorado spruce and pine trees I'd do almost anything to have.

I hope they all survive for you, and since you're so young, you have many many years to watch them grow. How awesome!

Lot of merit in buying a thousand foot spool of 1" poly pipe. Lay it once, and you have water along your shelterbelt. Put a tap in every 180 feet. Put a quick connector on each tap. Now you can lug one hose and do all your watering. Lay it flat on the ground, and pin it down with geotextile staples. Set the mower at 3 inches.

Or you can cut a groove for it by making a pass with a chisel plough with all but one chisel knocked off.

Tarp plastic, from any lumber store makes fair mulch. Easy to cut with a box knife. Fasten down with geotextile staples (6" x 1" wire staples. About 90 bucks for a box of 2000 at EMCO.) 5 staples per tree (1 centre + 4 corners) You cannot mow over this -- the mower sucks up the plastic.

Roundup twice the summer before to spot kill the weeds. Maybe again in the spring if you have a good seed bank.

After planting and watering, apply a granular pre-emergent herbicide, and sprinkle some more dirt on top. This gives the tree a bit of time to get established before the PE chemicals hit it. YOu may need to experiment with this one.

Another watering trick: 5 gallon bucket with a quarter inch hole stuffed with a chunk of sponge. Add a large rock to the bucket.

Now you can fill the bucket with a fast running hose, and it will drip out over a couple hours. The rock keeps the bucket there for the next time. The sponge in big hole is far more clog resistant than a single small hole.

Even planting by hand is a lot easier if you auger the holes. Hand planting for plugs isn't bad, but some of the PFRA stock has pretty big roots. -- they are 3-4 shovel holes. You can rent a groundhog for about 50 bucks a day. It's has an engine and pump on one end, and a hydraulic motor and bit on the other, and it's balanced on a two wheel teeter-totter. Easy to move around as long as you don't have too many pocket gopher holes.