• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • r ranson
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • John F Dean
  • Jay Angler
  • paul wheaton
stewards:
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Burra Maluca
  • Joseph Lofthouse
master gardeners:
  • Timothy Norton
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • Jeremy VanGelder
  • Maieshe Ljin
  • Nina Surya

Trees for pasture PNW

 
Posts: 8
Location: Gig Harbor, United States
1
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hi all, I have a half acre or so of field that I'm wanting to make a little more bio diverse and aestheticly pleasing.  

So I was thinking of sprinkling a few trees in there, maybe service berry since they are native and drought tolerant, have white flowers, berries, etc.

Any other suggestions?

Overall goal is just to make it more Meadow ish, I've been planting camas and other bulbs to add more color interest and  more pollinators.  So bulb ideas welcome too 😀
 
pollinator
Posts: 294
Location: Virginia,USA zone 6
28
forest garden hunting trees solar greening the desert
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Consider Hazelnuts, Chinkapin (Castanea pumila),  Sand cherry, American and or Chickasaw plums.  All natives and edible to go with the juneberries.
 
pollinator
Posts: 1518
Location: Southern Oregon
464
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Bulbs native to the PNW include Erythronium (fawn lily), Camassia which you already are doing, and Brodiaea. They all come in a variety of styles and colors. I buy my bulbs from John Scheepers. They have a nice selection and plenty of good information like which bulbs are deer and rodent resistant. Also, bulk buying discounts and naturalizing mixes.

I second hazelnuts and if you don't have them any local oaks. I love my oak trees.
 
gardener
Posts: 1175
Location: Western Washington
333
duck forest garden personal care rabbit bee homestead
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I agree with the above and would add blue elderberry and pacific crabapple. I would strongly advocate some mulberries and standard pear and apple trees as well. They can even be seedlings like antonovka and Bartlett seedlings. Livestock and wildlife will eat the fruit, you can make tree hay, and they're good for pollinators. Also very tough, long lived, and drought tolerant once established
 
master steward
Posts: 13108
Location: Pacific Wet Coast
7559
duck books chicken cooking food preservation ungarbage
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Stacy suggested Erythronium (fawn lily). I just learned that apparently the bulbs are edible, but I haven't tried them yet as they're currently blooming in my area.

If you have a shady area or north slope, you could try Gaultheria shallon (Salal). The berries are supposed to be very nutritious and I've used them in baking.
 
Pete Matting
Posts: 8
Location: Gig Harbor, United States
1
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Thank you all for the thoughtful replies so far! Lots of good ideas.  Looking forward to doing some research on them 😀
 
pollinator
Posts: 1508
Location: NW California, 1500-1800ft,
461
2
hugelkultur dog forest garden solar wood heat homestead
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Few things are more beautiful to me than Oregon white oaks amid rolling golden grasslands.
 
pollinator
Posts: 239
Location: North Central Kentucky
63
dog trees chicken cooking sheep
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
In the PNW, I had great success with Korean Mountain Ash.  Pretty blooms in spring, and it makes red berries that last into winter that the birds seem to enjoy.  

And I'm not sure if it's the goal, but I love an broadleaf evergreen.  We had a Portuguese Laurel at our old place that grew pretty quickly (I pruned it to only a few leaders and limbed it up to encourage vertical growth so it looked like a tree) and the flowers smell like grape soda.  
 
He got surgery to replace his foot with a pig. He said it was because of this tiny ad:
market garden playing cards e-book download
https://permies.com/wiki/177924/market-garden-playing-cards-book
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic