NE-BC Rehab in a climate changing/permaculture world

I had the weeping birch having problems with yellow bellied sapsuckers. Evil little birds. :-)

I study too much, and I am good at math and computers, which leads to more work. I live 5 miles downwind of a 100+ MW wind farm, so I have wind. My farm is nominally on a north facing slope, which is not something that seems to have been solved way back when, when people were righting prescriptions for shelterbelts and what not.

But, all the shelterbelt prescriptions assume that climate is constant. I've noticed significant warming in my lifetime, and it supposedly isn't going to stop.

Woodlots on a farm ideally should provide wood for farm needs: fence posts, heating, cooking, furniture. Permaculture adds some things, like hugelkultur. Aspen and a bunch of kinds of willow are what I have, which are not useful for much of anything.

Before I had asked around to see if Burr Oak were growing in the Peace, I had noticed that with the warming that Burr Oak should now grow here. And people have been growing Burr Oak here for a couple of decades. Burr oak is not a tall tree in Manitoba (where it is native), and nominally that is what people are seeing here. But, the tree lives 250-400 years, so who knows what the ultimate height is?

My property is nominally 880 feet wide with respect to prevailing winds. Shelterbelt effects are nominally 7 or 8 to 1, so I am looking for trees capable of hitting 100 feet. More would be welcome in places where the power line isn't close. :-) So, I have a shopping list of tree varieties.

Snow is a good insulator, and I can do things to enhance snow deposition where I plant trees to be a shelterbelt. I can even be silly and put insulation on the ground at the beginning of winter. I can't put a blanket on the trees if it gets cold, and we get chinooks (foehn winds) which can last for variable lengths of time. We can get snow in July, and we can get a long enough lived chinook in January or February that trees think it is spring time.

So, I have a couple of questions.
1. What things should I try to do, to try and allow warmer climate plants (trees in this instance) to get started here (and not die prematurely)?
2. Genetics and environment. I can appreciate the argument that one should plant plants used to the environment (temperature). I also appreciate biodiversity. Carrots only live part of a season (before I eat them), but people don't only buy carrot seeds from Saskatoon where I live. Nor have I seen evidence for shrubs needing to come from Saskatoon.

If I look at nature, seeds are designed for travel. And while the probability of germination and other things come into play, most of the tree species I am looking at are not available in Canada as seed, nor as seedlings. So I am looking at seedsman Hudson in California having ounces (or more) of seed for a nominal cost, versus buying established plants from Hardy in Quebec.

I can work with buying a few established plants from Hardy, but is it really a waste of time to try seeds from California (or where ever)? Not necessarily now, but I am looking at planting a few hundred trees. At O($100) per tree, this is way more than I can afford. Oh, and a bunch of 7-8 foot tall hedges (2 miles?). I have blue honeysuckle (from Ag Canada, Beaverlodge) hedges (30+ years old) on the property, which are the granduncle of USask haskap.

 

My experience and now preference is to stay pretty close to my climate zone when selecting any trees or shrubs. I'm in USDA Zone 9b, and cherries will not survive here at all. Pushing the limits is cool as long as I'm prepared for the loss, so a couple of apple varieties may survive and fruit here. Literally two varieties only. I generally won't buy seeds or plants unless I know they have grown successfully in Florida. Of course, along with a huge number of plant varieties we also have a huge number of plant pathogens here, so resistance is not futile: it's recommended. If you buy from California, their experience won't address Chinook winds, won't address freeze and thaw, and certainly won't have moose resistance.

If they have conifer seeds of varieties you want, or acorns and other nuts, it might be a resource. Just be aware that no amount of nurturing will support almond or longleaf pine where you are. Although I don't know your tax structure in BC, but in FL we have agricultural benefits where we could actually plant totally inappropriate trees on a property and then pay reduced taxes, maybe even buy the seedlings from government sources.

Another possible source would be buying selected shrubs/trees from Saskatoon, and then propagating slips from them to increase your number. Or possibly collecting slips and seeds.nuts from nearby places and associates as tolerated. If you are willing to dig, you might find locals who would be happy to take young trees off their lots. Do that ten times and root slips from each and you've made a substantial dent in your plant needs.

Growing these plants from various sources to maturity is the challenge. Some, perhaps some spruce and mountain ash will survive without a lot of protection and nurturing. Many others might do well with a permaculture type spot composting, laying organic debris around the plant to add warmth and insulation through the winter and decrease water loss in summer. So Hugelkultur is a grand idea. Have to pay attention to rodents gnawing on tender stems under any mulch cover in winter though.

 

I can remember extended -40C or colder (same as -40F) periods in high school. Forty some years later, -30C for a day or two is unusual. As I understand climate change (I've done numerical modeling in engineering my entire life), changes close to the poles will be seen before changes near the equator. And I see scant articles on what we should be planting, in a changing climate. What I think I am preparing for, is warmer temperatures, less precipitation (and we are almost a desert now), but possibly more precipitation in spring/fall.

Some of what I want to plant, may not "fruit". Just getting the tree while its alive, and the wood would be enough. Honey Locust I can find uses for, and it should fix nitrogen (some debate on this). I don't know if I would go looking for uses for the seed pod (I currently ignore the carragana pods on the lawn). Black cherry seems to be too sour for most people, but the wood is useful. Black walnut (and maybe a walnut hybrid?) may not form nuts here, the wood from black walnut would be useful. I want to smoke meat, so having fruit woods (apple, pear) and maybe hickory would be nice. I have 2 apple trees which fruit to the point of damaging the tree, but like most are on dwarfing rootstock. So, I am looking at full sized apple and pear trees for the wood, windbreak and shade.

I have a friend in Manitoba collecting some Burr Oak acorns for me. I will look into unwanted young trees. I am already looking for yard sales, where people have dead printers (that I can get parts out of).

I am hoping to get a small tractor (30hp?) with a FEL, and a wood chipper for it. That will help in preparing holes to bury too many dead aspen and willow in, and dealing with various broken limbs (from wind and/or snow).

I don't know how long the land was worked before we got it in 1975, parts of it might not have ever been worked. But since we got it, there has been no fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide applied. It was mostly hay pasture, that was never hayed or grazed. Now I have 30 years of thatch, and wild roses growing everywhere (and the odd aspen and willow). I have tillage radish and crimson clover to work on small areas. But I need to set up an effective windbreak since my upwind neighbours are cutting their aspens.

 

For windbreaks, why don't you consider Lodgepole Pine or White Spruce? These are native to your area and should be a safe choice for something that needs to grow for a long time. Seeds and seedlings are readily available for these forestry species.

 

Thank you for your response vitog.

I am considering Lodgepole Pine. With the mountain pine beetle (MPB) incident, I have wondered about finding a spruce. Especially since the MPB incident seemed to show them changing their appetite.

But to suggest planting a native species (I'm not sure if white spruce is native, I will look), is to say that the climate in the future is going to be the same as now. Following Fred, who is following Barney, who is following ... is a reasonable response when things are constant. Back in the dirty 30's, shelterbelt research considered a lot of circumstances, and that is what everyone is supposed to follow. And is why the shelterbelt program was shut down because everything was known. But, everything isn't known. My dugout on a significant hill is not one of the things studied. Fine, I know a lot of computer stuff, and I am going to try to model surface winds. And as I am about 5 miles downwind of a 100+ MW windfarm, I think I might be able to get some good data to feed those models. Not everyone can expect that.

The engineer in me, wants the best answer. The autistic in me, makes me study everything to death. My experience goes into a bunch of biochemistry, and LOTS of numerical methods stuff. Can we leave transitioning to a different climate to government research? If I plant things on the hope that they might do well, I lose a couple of dollars and time.

If I take N Burr Oak acorns from trees in the vicinity of where the biggest Burr Oak known is located, and I take N Burr Oak acorns from Manitoba (which is native, but nowhere near the maximum size tree) and I plant them at various latitudes and elevations (paired T test), do I see evidence that planting the "local" seed is always better? What is the variance? If the variance is large enough, it is still worth me planting the maximum size acorn on my farm, just on a chance it does work.

I think climate is changing, and there is no way to stop it in the lifetime of people. In the lifetime of a Burr Oak, maybe. In the lifetime of the Sequoias or Bristlecone pines I've read about, I don't know if they will even notice this blip.

I want to take chances. I don't have a government's research budget. So, I want to start with seed. To do 1 trial for $100, or hundreds of trials for $5 (or so) is what I am looking at. But if there is zero chance of any of these seeds succeeding, I've just wasted time. Which is what I am trying to avoid. Well, I can't avoid it, so trying to minimize it.

 

Maybe I should put out a different approach.

Most of the area in any volume is in the periphery. Within the interior (of this 40 acres) I may decide to raise crops I would like to have (like barley or flax). I may decide to have pasture that would be useful to (a small number of) small cows like (Dexter) or sheep.

But, in the near term, I am willing to subject much of the periphery to experiments. I expect that none of these experiments will benefit me personally (I'm almost 57). It would be nice if some of these experiments benefit me.

I want the most bang for the buck (or hour of labour or ...).

Why I am asking such a stupid question? Or questions? I have autism and society will not give me a chance. I have land to try and produce a chance some other way (fabricating composites). The land I have has been ignored for a long time. Anything I do, will be an improvement. I want to do the best I can, for the minimal dollar budget I can afford. As society thinks I am worthless (because I am autistic), I can afford to throw time and research at things. But I still want the most bang for the buck!

 

Well, autism spectrum complicates things in some ways, but you seem to be approaching your great experiment with logic and thought for the future. Sure doesn't sound worthless to me.

I'm thinking that anyone who is as interested in botany as the participants on this forum will be aware of some degree of climate change. Where we might all differ is how much change, and what we might do about it.

Your plant selections may in some cases not work out. That's with any of us. You know not to plant palm trees, but want to take into consideration the climate changes and weather patterns for your area. Totally cool. Within a genus like Picea, the spruces, there could be those that are advised for warmer areas. My grandfather grew Colorado blue spruce on his Christmas tree farm when I was a child. That was in New Jersey, USDA zone 6, I think.

I'd bet spruce would be one of the better evergreens for a windbreak, too. My recollection is that they are always relatively expensive, even as seedlings. White pines and Douglas firs can provide pretty dense cover, too. Deciduous trees offer the advantage of falling leaves to help mulch your acreage. You already are going for burr oak, and I'd suggest you check out some maples too. There are a lot of understory plants that shelter the soil more, possibly providing utility for you, too. I've been in the subtropics too long and can no longer remember stuff we grew in Maine other than blueberries and potatoes!