Thank you both for your considered replies.
Joshua, I'm not sure they did a lot of followup. Money was not an object to them and though they cared for trees very much (one had planted his first tree at 15 years old, growing beautifully today), they had an agenda. You might say a liberal agenda ;). They wanted to offset their
carbon footprint from their annual overwintering in Brazil. That meant a lot of work for 2 guys, even fit and smart ones. Mostly they were planting
natives as far as i know. But your point is well taken: better I establish 100 trees than plant 350 with attrition. I will aim for your 50 target in my buying, because I have clay areas (but comparatively not compacted, logging here was selective and 20 years ago).
Mycorrhizae eh? In what region were you planting? I know the wisdom of its addition but everything here has mycelia, from my woodpile to my hat a few months after I lost it in the woods. Turn your back on organic material here and mold or mycelia get it before you can say My, Celia Cruz! I will ask at the
local farm store which mycorrhizae are adapted to the highly competitive environment. There are already tons of Frankia from the established alder; I see roots and nodes every time I break ground.
Pretty sure that if I cut those down and leave their stumps, the roots and Frankia will persist in the soil for some time, probably the AM fungi and bacteria will relocate to better adjacent pastures?
Thanks for your cautions on the winch, they're not amiss. I hope to have a "Dozen uses for a 10k Winch" post on here someday. It will include a similar caution. Work with what you have.
S Bengi, thank you for your itemized and meticulous response. I really can do most of those things without further capital outlay! Re crown size, that is an interesting calculation. I have to plan maximum crown size and placement. I think EDIBLE FOREST GARDENS has some great tables on that, if I can find my copy. I have 7 acres to work with (1 acre is Zone 0 and 1), plan on getting 2-300 trees and bushes this year, and interplanting them both to try the food forest model and to see which areas are best: suppose of the 30 asian pears, 10 die, 10 do ok and 10 thrive. Probably something is going right in that thriving area, so either transplant the 10 doing ok or double down with more in Thrivetown.
I am aiming for something like that 25% N-fixer mainly by starting with established Alnus rubra, thinned to 25%. Not sure how much if any I'll need to
boost it tree-wise but groundcover will need some too.
I have the materials to build a "jolly roger" TLUD for
biochar. I understand one of the best feedstocks is maple limb deadfall, of which i have a virtually unlimited supply. But given the time it takes to weld (and the small volumes and demand for DRY stock), it might be faster and produce more volume to do a trench burn. I also have 3 mountains of alder slash if I could do a conservation burn without igniting the whole world, which would involve the authorities b/c i do not have running water. Ugh, I've really been at a standstill on the biochar, and yet still so excited about it! But I WILL get some rockdust.
One more thing: how old does the 3' hole assume the trees are?