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Apologies if this isn't the right forum/heading for this subject, this was just a best guess.
Here's the situation:
Working with a client who wants to build a house on an 8.5-acre wooded parcel. Catskill mountains, New York, zone 6a, 42 degrees N. The parcel they purchased is second- or third-growth forest with some 100-year-old hardwoods - mostly oak and red maple - pine and hemlock. There are some understory species, like trout lily, that we'd like to preserve. Their budget is limited, and they have no idea what they're doing, so my goal is just to guide them into better decisions. They want to grow food, have a teenager who wants goats or sheep, etc. Tree canopy height on the land is about 60-70 feet, dominated by hardwoods.
Main question is, how much land needs to be cleared for a reasonable amount of passive solar and a moderate garden area? I'm figuring a minimum 100' radius from the south wall, just for the passive solar, but that doesn't fully take into account the angle of early morning light, and doesn't give much room for a garden (figuring they'll want to grow standard US garden veggies and perennials that need 6-8+ hours of sunlight/day; they're interested in cultivating mushrooms etc, but will want some full-sun crops as well). How do y'all calculate this? Do you just take solar pathfinder readings and mark the trees that need to be cut, or is there a formula that works? Thanks for any and all thoughts.
Here's the situation:
Working with a client who wants to build a house on an 8.5-acre wooded parcel. Catskill mountains, New York, zone 6a, 42 degrees N. The parcel they purchased is second- or third-growth forest with some 100-year-old hardwoods - mostly oak and red maple - pine and hemlock. There are some understory species, like trout lily, that we'd like to preserve. Their budget is limited, and they have no idea what they're doing, so my goal is just to guide them into better decisions. They want to grow food, have a teenager who wants goats or sheep, etc. Tree canopy height on the land is about 60-70 feet, dominated by hardwoods.
Main question is, how much land needs to be cleared for a reasonable amount of passive solar and a moderate garden area? I'm figuring a minimum 100' radius from the south wall, just for the passive solar, but that doesn't fully take into account the angle of early morning light, and doesn't give much room for a garden (figuring they'll want to grow standard US garden veggies and perennials that need 6-8+ hours of sunlight/day; they're interested in cultivating mushrooms etc, but will want some full-sun crops as well). How do y'all calculate this? Do you just take solar pathfinder readings and mark the trees that need to be cut, or is there a formula that works? Thanks for any and all thoughts.
