Conservation Edition

Restoration and conservation plantings are a significant part of the overall nursery industry that require a different plant palette than many home or commercial landscapes. Plants are selected primarily for functional characteristics, such as drought hardiness or alkaline tolerance, or for their natural range when restoring a landscape with native species. Projects include windbreaks, bank stabilization, riparian buffers, noise barriers, disturbed site reclamation, wildlife plantings, and carbon sequestration. Lawyer Nursery provides a large number of species that are appropriate for these applications in sizes, quantities and prices that suit large scale planting or the backyard wildlife sanctuaries. Our spring shipping season has started and will continue into mid June. We’ve included lists and charts that may be helpful in selecting the right plant material for your use.

Conservation Plantings Provide Many Benefits Old windbreak design included only a single row of trees or shrubs, often the tall and narrow form of Lombardy poplar (Populus x nigra ‘Italica’) was repeatedly used in older homesteads. It has now been demonstrated that a single row planting can be ineffective at decreasing wind speed, or at worst, it can increase the turbulence of the wind near the area you are attempting to shelter. The new design usually include three to eight rows of plant material. A shrub or hedgerow, a row of conifers, a canopy tree and an understory tree are usually incorporated for maximum effectiveness. It will be important to look at the whole of your residence that will be affected by this windbreak. A windbreak planted too close to homes and structures can create more problems than it solves, such as snow accumulation or stagnant air in summer. In general, building should be no closer than 100' from the windward row. Windbreaks can serve many other beneficial purposes. In more recent years, an additional purpose of providing shelter for wildlife has been incorporated into windbreak technology. Plants bearing fruits or nuts for food or forming thickets for cover have been identified to provide this secondary usage for our wild friends.

An Example of the Effects of a Windbreak on Wind Speed.

Aesthetic enhancement is another benefit. Many flowering shrubs or trees such as lilacs, seedling roses or crabapples provide spring color. Fall color from Rhus spp. or winter color from conifers, Salix spp. or Cornus spp. add attractiveness to planting A recent nearby development can be strategically blocked from view by designing windbreak plantings properly. You can also reduce the noise and sight of a nearby road or highway with plants from your windbreak. The same principles that slow the wind around your home will also reduce the effects of snow and dust.

Some of the more popular plants selected for windbreaks are chosen for their ability to withstand extreme cold, poor soils and periods of drought. Add in wildlife and aesthetic benefits and they can be great selections to enhance your homestead. Plants that are the most cold and wind resistant should be planted on the windward side, and more sensitive fruit or nut trees should be planted on the leeward side of the row.

Your best protection from wind will be determined by the mature height of your windbreak. If your tallest tree is 50' tall, this measurement is your x factor. Maximum protection occurs at a distance of 2x the height of this tallest tree to 5x the height for good protection. Anything beyond 500' or 10x the height will receive little or no protection (see diagram).

Recommended for Windbreaks

Transplanting Bareroot Stock

Bareroot stock provides many advantages including cost savings, ease of planting and faster root growth into existing soil structure. Since roots are exposed during the handling of stock is imperative. Before planting your stock, roots should be soaked a minimum of 4 to 6 hours to ensure proper to soak roots while transplanting. Do not soak longer than overnight. Plants should be transplanted within 24 to 48 hours of receiving them. If you must store your plants prior to planting, be sure the selected storage area maintains cool temperatures, has good ventilation and plants will be protected from sun, drying out, heating or freezing.

Remove the plants from their boxes plants dry. Do not store stock near fresh produce or cut flowers, both of which release ethylene gas which is deadly to live plant material. For broadleaf evergreens, remove or clip off most leaves prior to transplanting. This may seem severe, as the plants are often purchased for their foliage. Removal of leaves will help survival by reducing transpiration.

As stock begins new root growth, new leaf buds will push and grow. Process and plant these species immediately. Do not attempt to store them for more than 36 hours. Keep plants cool, moist and shaded until ready to plant. The first 2 weeks after planting will be the most crucial to survival, so keep your plant material properly irrigated. Additional shade and wind protection may benefit certain species.

Spacing of Trees and Rows

• 1 foot - Caragana
  
• 3 feet - Buffaloberry, Chokecherry, Lilac, Sea Buckthorn
  
• 8 feet - Ash, Maple, Poplar, Elm and Willow
  
• 10 feet - Spruce and Pine.

All rows should be at least 16' apart and evergreens should be 20'.

Planting Riparian Areas

Planting shrubs and trees along streams, rivers and lakes provides many benefits. It can improve water quality by filtering run off, increase wildlife by providing food, cover and shade, stabilize and increase the recreational value of the waterway and adjacent land. To be successful
the riparian plantings must follow the same rule of thumb as in landscape plantings “right plant … right place”. Nearest the water flood tolerance and bank stabilization are key elements.

The bank zone and the overbank zone flood frequently with spring run-off or heavy rains.. Poplars (Populus spp.) and Willows (Salix spp.), either tree or shrub form, can withstand frequent periods of flooding and provide shade to moderate water temperature for the benefit of fish and other aquatic life. Shrubs that spread by suckering or layering, such as Cornus sericea or Symphoricarpos spp., can quickly stabilize bank areas.

The transition zone between the stream bank and the upland zone is an excellent place to plant trees and shrubs used by wildlife. A mixture of species provides a varied food source that is available throughout the year. The plants nearest the overbank zone should be those with some flood tolerance for the occasional high water. The transition zone slows and filters run off from the upland zone reducing water pollution. Recommended distance from water's edge to outer edge of the buffer zone is a minimum 35-150 wide depending on the size of the waterway. Additional area may be needed to support wildlife species.

The upland zone may be forest, agricultural ground, suburban backyards or urban buildings and streets, but in each case the quality of the waterway, the riparian areas and the upland area is improved by proper care and planting of the riparian zones.

Wet Site Species

Riparian habitats frequently experience flooded conditions. Tolerance to standing water is therefore an important aspect in plant selection. The following plants will withstand flooded conditions for a week or more:

• Acer negundo
• Acer platanoides
• Alnus rugosa
• Cornus alba ‘Siberica’
• Elaeagnus commutata
• Larix spp.
• Metasequoia glyptostroboides
• Populus spp. (except P. tremuloides)
• Prunus padus
• Prunus virginiana
• Rhus trilobata
• Salix spp.
• Syringa vulgaris
• Taxodium distichum

Planting a Sound Barrier

Vegetation can be used to barrier the effects many problems including noise pollution. As with plantings for wind or visual barriers, the selection and arrangement of the plant material is key to a successful outcome.

Noise reduction is achieved by either deflection or absorption of the noise or a combination of the two. Most hardscape barriers work by deflecting sound (example 1). To be effective they should be close to the source of the noise as safety allows. With these barriers vegetation serves to soften the visual effect of the barrier and reduce the reverberation of sound. Earthen berms are often used in combination with trees and shrubs to deflect and absorb sound when the available space is limited (example 2).

Vegetation alone can be used where adequate space is available. To be effective the planting must be multiple rows to about 40-75' in depth. Care also must be taken to plant the first row at 50' from a roadway or any area that should not be subject to extra snow deposits. Conifers or evergreen broadleaf plants will naturally provide the best yeararound noise reduction. Deciduous trees and shrubs can be added to the planting for variety and added summer noise reduction (example 3).

Vegetation should be selected for site conditions with special attention to issues of air pollution and salt spray if used near busy roadways. See urban tolerance chart. It is also important to incorporate fast growing plants and long lived plants for a quick and long lasting barrier.

Shrubs: Plant in rows closest to the sound. Chose dense or thicket forming shrubs that tolerate salt or deicing chemicals and air pollutants.

• Caragana arborescens
• Philadelphus spp.
• Potentilla fruticosa
• Rhus trilobata
• Rhus typhina
• Ribes alpinum
• Rosa rugosa
• Symphoricarpos spp.
• Aesculus hippocastanum

• Abies concolor
• Juniperus spp.
• Larix decudua
• Picea pungens
• Pinus banksiana
• Pinus mughus
• Pinus nigra
• Pinus sylvestris
• Pinus thunbergii
• Acer platanoides
• Acer saccharinum
• Aesculus hippocastanum

Deciduous trees: Taller trees should be selected for the center of the vegetative barrier. Fast growth rate can be considered to provide a more effective barrier more quickly. Smaller trees especially those with attractive flowering and form work well on the inside of the barrier for both visual and sound effect.

• Eleagnus angustifolium
• Fraxinus americana
• Gleditsia triacanthos and its varieties
• Juglans nigra
• Malus species (for inside rows as flowering sensitive to high levels of air pollutants)
• Populus spp.
• Prunus spp.
• Robinia pseudoacacia
• Salix spp.

Plants for Under the Wires

A landscape situation that requires specific plant selections are areas under power lines. In order to avoid having a mature tree unbecomingly pruned to fit around power lines, why not plant trees that will fit under them without pruning? Small trees and large shrubs can be used for landscape interest and screening. Many of these also have excellent flowering and fall color.Here’s a list of some species that will work great for power line planting.

Sweating of Nursery Stock

Most broadleaf deciduous tree and shrub species can be stored bareroot all winter under refrigeration and develop normally once transplanted out in the spring season. For a few species, buds become extremely dormant during long periods of refrigerated storage.
These must be forced into breaking bud before they are planted, or they will remain dormant in the ground and eventually die. The process to force species out of dormancy and into bud break before planting is called "sweating".

The main goal is to increase the humidity and temperature surrounding stock to force buds to swell. This process may take a few days to several weeks. There are three methods commonly used:

Method 1 – Place the plants in a warm (60-70F), humid (90% RH) environment as in a greenhouse or polyhouse until they start to break bud. If you do not have access to such a facility, the following methods are equally effective:

Method 2 – Place one or two layers of moist burlap, straw or similar material on the floor of a building that can be maintained at a temperature between 60- 70°F. Even a shady location outside can be used if the proper temperature range can be maintained. Lay the plants side by side on the burlap or straw and moisten them if they appear dry. Avoid letting the plants become too wet. Completely cover the bundles with several layers of damp burlap, straw or similar material and moisten the covering with water. Check the plants daily to see if they have broken bud. Also check to see that the covering is kept moist and that no mold has developed. (If mold develops, rinse off with clear water, shake off excess moisture.)

Method 3 – Use the shipping box your plants arrived in. Unpack order upon arrival, saving moist packing material and the poly sheet used to line the box. Soak roots of the species requiring sweating in water overnight. Hold the sweating box in an area protected from sun, wind, heating and freezing, ideally with temperatures between 60°F and 70°F. Place the poly sheet back in the box, remoisten packing material and place in box. Shake excess water off plants and place them on top of wet packing material. Secure poly sheet over the plants to hold moisture in, close box and check every day. Keep the packing material moist and watch for bud swell and mold formation. If surface mold begins to form, rinse off with clear water, shake off excess water and return plants to box.

Plant stock when buds begin to swell or after about 14 to 21 days depending on temperatures (lower temps delay bud break). Sweating plants before planting is relatively easy and usually only takes a few days. Far more important to the plants survival is when to begin sweating. Sweating forces new growth, after which the plants may be vulnerable to frost damage and to drying out. Species requiring sweating should be kept refrigerated until the danger of frost has passed and adequate irrigation is available in the field. If sweated plants are transplanted too early or when it is too dry, all the care taken to break their buds may be wasted as the new growth freezes or dries. Please keep in mind that plants may be partially or completely sweated during shipment if temperatures are warm while stock is in transit. If buds have begun to swell on arrival, indicating that plants have broken dormancy, further sweating is not required.

Species that may need Sweating:

Care When Field Planting for Bareroot Conifers

Conifers respond favorably to a well-timed field planting; an alternate plan may be necessary if planting conditions are inappropriate. Cool, cloudy days and morning or evening planting times are ideal. Newly planted conifers tend to lose moisture through their needles, and are more affected than deciduous stock to excessive moisture loss occurring in the middle of the day. Protection from wind and shading from hot afternoon sun reduce the water stress and increase transplant success.

Scheduling of your conifer shipment should coincide with your ‘rainy’ season if irrigation is not available. Dry, hot weather will result in less survival if supplemental water is not provided. Have your site prepared ahead of time, but be prepared to ‘heel-in’ stock in a sheltered area or seed bed if planting conditions deteriorate. Ideally, conifers should be planted within 24 to 48 hours after you receive them or stored loosely (cut bundles open) at 34-38ºF with roots and tops kept moist and shaded. Preparing fields by removing competing vegetation will offer the best to your young plants.

Weeds can grow quickly and take moisture, nutrients, and sunlight from your newly planted stock stock. Many transplanting ‘How-to’ lists state that you should soak roots of bareroot plants before planting. Conifers tend to prefer being ‘dipped’ in water or a hydrated starch gel such as Terra Sorb instead. If you feel you must soak the roots, do so for no more than 4 hours and keep all tops out of the water.

While planting in the field, protect stock at all times from drying out. Cover plants with damp burlap or another method, but do protect them. Winds, even if they are not hot, can cause roots to dry out in short time. If you are on irrigated land, water your plants in well after transplanting and continue a watering schedule during all warm, dry weather Mulch if you can to conserve moisture.

Planting Conifers for Wildlife

Planting Broadleaf for Wildlife

Benefits of Fruit

When selecting plant material for erosion control, conservation or windbreaks, why not pick something that can provide additional benefits? In nature’s version of a two-for-one special, species with edible fruit are versatile plants for your landscape and conservation needs. Widely used as windbreaks and screens, these species also provide food for birds and mammals. For industrious individuals, the fruit may also be used in preserves, syrup, wine or eaten fresh.

Most of our commercial fruit crops were brought by the European settlers from the Eurasian continent where, in most cases, thousands of years of selecting the best plants for replanting had taken place. Apples, cherries, plums, pears, the list is seemingly endless... all came to North America as comparatively well developed fruit crops. Malus species (seedling crabapples or apples) provide a wildlife food source, beautiful blooms in spring, as well as, windbreak or stabilization benefits. Select the species you want by the mature height or fruit and flower characteristics. Zone 2-6. Prunus armeniaca ‘Mandshurica’, native to Korea and Manchuria, is a fast growing small tree (to 15') with a spreading habit. It's white to pink clusters of flowers bloom in April, turning to yellow fruit with an attractive red blush. Providing nesting areas for birds, this tree provides yellow to orange fall color. Zone 4-5.

Native Americans had a diet rich in native fruits to which the European settlers largely failed to adapt. To get an appreciation of the extent of native plants in the diet of the Western Indian tribes, one should read the journals of Lewis and Clark. Captain Lewis was a trained and accomplished botanist. Lewis described many fruit plants and their use. We have at our disposal a rich resource in our native fruits. Prunus virginiana is a native, deciduous shrub or small tree that reaches up to 20' in height. Blooming from April to July, it produces long, dense clusters of fragrant white flowers. The fruit turn from red to black as it ripens from August to September, finding an appreciative audience in birds. Chokecherries yield excellent quality products such as jams, jellies, syrups and wines.

Chokecherries are a true cherry, closely related to our domesticated varieties of cherries, plums, peaches and apricots. Chokecherries were one of the most important Native American foods. They occur from the Yukon to New Mexico and from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Prunus virginiana is self-fruitful and has a 40 year lifespan. The fruit is easy to harvest. Bright yellow to orange fall color makes it an attractive addition. Please note that the stems, leaves and seeds of Prunus virginana contain