Sarah Thicket

Help! My darling geese girdled a few of my apple and pear saplings above the rabbit guards (I had two of them on there protecting about 2.5-3’up the trunk). Should I wait to see if they leaf out this spring or cut the saplings below the girdle now?

Sarah Thicket wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:

Sarah Thicket wrote: I am concerned about the spruces not being particularly native here as this should be oak forest (most lawns here are predominantly all grass with a spruce hedge for privacy), shading out the fruit and nut trees, passing disease, or needing to be removed later, which would result in heavy damage to other plantings. I see that my first post on Permies is a bit of a disaster!

What part of the world are you in that the spruce is not a native tree?

Southwest Ohio. They grow well enough here which is why they are very commonly used in artificial landscaping (fast growing privacy screens), but it is unusual to find a conifer stand in the woodlands. I actually consider spruce to be part of the monoculture problem in our area. I am curious whether it gets cold enough here to properly stratify the seeds for natural reproduction?

Here is some additional information about natural forests/spruce in Ohio.

Anne Miller wrote:

Sarah Thicket wrote: I am concerned about the spruces not being particularly native here as this should be oak forest (most lawns here are predominantly all grass with a spruce hedge for privacy), shading out the fruit and nut trees, passing disease, or needing to be removed later, which would result in heavy damage to other plantings. I see that my first post on Permies is a bit of a disaster!

What part of the world are you in that the spruce is not a native tree?

Southwest Ohio. They grow well enough here which is why they are very commonly used in artificial landscaping (fast growing privacy screens), but it is unusual to find a conifer stand in the woodlands. I actually consider spruce to be part of the monoculture problem in our area. I am curious whether it gets cold enough here to properly stratify the seeds for natural reproduction?

John F Dean wrote:Hi Sarah,

Welcome to Permies.

I would work very hard to find a way to keep the trees.

Thank you! I am trying very hard to justify keeping them (understanding how they could benefit the design) which is why I posted. I personally think thereare better trees to put in their place, but I am listening…

We just bought an acre and a half on the south facing slope in zone 6A. We are planning our big changes to the land (earthworks and large tree removal). I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to remove a line of spruce trees on the south side of our property. They are HUGE (80+ feet tall?)and beautiful. They provide privacy from our only close neighbor BUT they also take up about a fourth of the footage north to south on the lot and shade out all of the northern parts of the lot in the winter. But cutting them down seems pretty extreme! Would you cut them down? What usefulness are spruce besides spruce tea and eating the new spring growth (which I can’t see my moderately large family doing unless we are starving)? What types of trees might you replace these with to provide privacy while allowing sun filtration?