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understory trees for estate woodland
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Posted by rupertbirkin (My Page) on Wed, Jan 31, 07 at 20:24
| I live on an old estate in New York's Hudson River Valley (6B) that was planted as an arboretum in the 1850s. Sometime in the mid 1950s a few Norway maples were introduced as a way to harvest maple syrup (ignorance and wealth are often soulmates). So of course the maples took over the understory and kept all the large specimen trees from propagating. I've lived on the land for ten years and have systematically cut down as many mapple as possible. Now I have sight-line issue with views of neighboring properties that I would rather not see. So I need to plant a nice indigenous mix of understory trees to fill the mid level that can take medium shade. Dogwoods are fine, but a liitle loose (branch habit not promiscuity)...any suggestions? Would love something that would mix in well with an old woodland and provide some privacy. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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| Check out the recent thread on suitable understory trees and shrubs for shade. For fast growth in your area you can plant tulip trees and sassafras trees. However, they grow to be quite large eventually and both have brittle wood. |
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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- Posted by kwoods Cold z7 Long Is (My Page) on
Thu, Feb 1, 07 at 13:12
Redbud,
spicebush,
serviceberry/shad blow,
inkberry,
american holly,
eastern red cedar,
northern white cedar,
sweet pepper bush,
winter berry,
viburnum (maple leaf, black haw, nannyberry, high bush cranberry)
rosebay,
buttonbush,
mountain laurel,
pinxter azalea,
swamp azalea,
atlantic azalea,
canada yew,
iron wood,
black gum,
black cherry,
pagoda dogwood,
silky dogwood,
witch hazel (virginiana/vernalis) That's a start. Check your conditions against these trees/shrubs requirements. Deer? Good luck getting any understory beyond their reach. |
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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| Kwoods,Thats my wish list too,good luck finding the suppliers though.RB,if you don't have your property fenced off,I suggest you fence each shrub individually,Otherwise you'll wind up,like I did,buying a whole lot of expensive deer fodder.Again,great list. |
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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Redbud,
spicebush,
serviceberry/shad blow,
inkberry,
american holly,
eastern red cedar,
northern white cedar,
sweet pepper bush,
winter berry,
viburnum (maple leaf, black haw, nannyberry, high bush cranberry)
rosebay,
buttonbush,
mountain laurel,
pinxter azalea,
swamp azalea,
atlantic azalea,
canada yew,
iron wood, [By this I presume either hornbeam or hophornbeam?]
black gum,
black cherry,
pagoda dogwood,
silky dogwood,
witch hazel (virginiana/vernalis) If you don't mind starting with small saplings, Musser Forests sells the bolded species above for a reasonable price if you buy 5 or 10 or more of each. For example, black cherry (Prunus serotina) 5 @ $10.95 for 1-year seedlings 3-6" high. Once again, very small trees. But if you want to go for volume on a limited budget, and particularly if you're not looking for specific cultivars, they can be a good source. And, for some species they do sell older / larger specimens (for more money, of course). In my experience, what they sell is healthy. http://www.musserforests.com (If someone is going to respond that these are actually bad prices, I'd appreciate getting some URLs to the cheaper suppliers to the general public!) Forest Farm ( htpp://www.forestfarm.com ) is likely to carry some of the other species. --Steve |
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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| The Putnam County Soil and Water Conservation District has an annual sale of many plants, trees and shrubs. Many are native, some are not. Their prices are reasonable. |
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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| For screening I suggest Eastern Hemlock and American Holly. Both are evergreens that do well in shade. The Hemlock eventually gets very large, but that will take quite some time. Most other understory trees tend to have a loose, open habit in the shade, and it would take a lot of them to provide decent screening, although many of them are otherwise a nice addition to the woodland. If you want screening closer to ground level then Mountain Laurel and Great Rhododendron are nice native shrubs that are evergreen. The rare American Yew would be a neat addition as well, but it is a favorite of deer so it might be hard to keep alive. |
RE: understory trees for estate woodland
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- Posted by kwoods Cold z7 Long Is (My Page) on
Mon, Feb 5, 07 at 15:59
| "I suggest Eastern Hemlock" In Hudson Valley (as well as Hudson Highlands and most of Southern NYState) expect to spray hemlock annually due to rampant wooly adelgid. I know folks who have planted a Japanese/American hemlock hybrid that was supposed to be adelgid resistant to replace adelgid killed native stands.... never found out if that would have worked, the deer loved them. |
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