Fred Berg

I'd like to make a couch like that, only out of potato plants...

Nature at what period of time? That's the question I've been asking myself. Throughout natural history, pressures, whether human or otherwise,
have determined what species grow in an area. A clear example of that is in Southern New England where I live. Most of our "natural" forests
are actually farms that where abandoned starting in the early 1900's. Because maple trees are so prolific and grow so fast they have become the dominant
species of tree here. In many areas they shade out the understory to the point that not much else grows there. I'm hoping to purchase some "maple desert"
land in the next year or so and would like to restore it to it's natural pre-european-agriculture state. That was a long long time ago though, and I don't
know how to go about researching what the forests were like then. I don't even know if that state of nature would be supportive of the current wildlife in the
area. Pinning down what's "natural" becomes quite tricky when you start thinking about "when." Native Americans cultivated this land long before Europeans
came here. Should their impact be considered "natural?" If so then why not consider European's clear cutting and farming practices as "natural" as well? After all,
we're all just organisms acting on our environment, for better or for worse. Is the introduction of European plant species any less natural than the propagation of
plants by birds? The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that things are always in their "natural" state and all I can do is to change that state to suit my
objectives, whatever they may be.

I realize that that doesn't directly answer your question but your topic brought up something I've been wrestling with for a while now. I hope my rant adds to
the conversation.

I grew up on the shore of Long Island Sound, and we used to use our crabapple tree to remind us of when to start fishing for blackfish (tautog).
When the crabapple blossoms the blackfish start biting, so the folklore goes. Other than that it just made a mess and attracted yellow jackets.
We eventually replaced it with a calendar.

As a longer term solution are there any hedge laying societies in your location? I'm sure they'd know the best plants and techniques to use and might even provide some labour.

Like others are suggesting, I would first take a careful inventory of the mature trees in the lot and make note of the ones that are
damaged or diseased and slate them for removal. If you can rent a portable sawmill then you can add value to that wood and use the
proceeds to help fund your project. I also agree that it's important to leave some blow downs and standing deadwood as they provide
shelter for a lot of wildlife. It depends on what you want to do with this land, but for me it would be to enhance and diversify wildlife
habitat (we have a lot of "maple tree desert" here in CT), so I would be thinking of it as "tuning" the forest rather than reshaping it.
You might be surprised how much sunlight can be let in with each mature tree that is cut down, and with more sunlight comes more
options for understory plants.

If you get the time, please post a progress report. I'm unable to sell my place and make a move right now, but it sounds like what you're
doing is close to what I'd like to do, so I'm very interested in how you make out.

Great post, leila.

Regarding your bamboo containment concerns, have you considered trying an allelopathic plant like black walnut
or cedar to contain the spread of the bamboo? It'd be like a living fence for a living fence if it worked.

I don't yet have any land to work with but I have my eye on ~50 acres of mixed hardwood forest here in CT.
Varied soil types, but all are rocky, which is typical for New England, and very shady. I'd like to put in a living
fence if I do get this property, to keep out that most invasive species of all, people on dirt bikes and ATV's, but
I don't want to stop wildlife from passing through (deer, turkey, and black bear being the largest), so I'm watching this
thread with great interest.