The most essential thing for new plantings is water. Bare root plants (no soil) should be watered immediatley after planting, and weekly after that until established. A plug seedling…a plant grown in a column of peat need watering every three days at the base for three weeks to ensure the plug roots knit into the
Category: General Updates
Lilacs
It is hard to miss the spectacular blossom of lilacs every spring. There are only a few options for hedges and shelterbelts for around a garden or around an entire yard that have a beautiful blossom, grow 12 feet high, essentially insect and disease free, and are hardy for prairie winters. Check out our website
Black Hills Spruce
Black Hills Spruce is a seed source selection of white spruce. Extremely hardy. Its best feature is a much more dense and better shape than the northern white spruce. We grow these in the nursery for the landscape market and they do not require any shaping. They normally look full and perfectly shaped.
Ussurian or Siberian Pear
This is a much underused, extremely hardy plant. With juvenile pruning it grows to a perfect lollipop shape and is covered with white blossoms in spring. Birds love them and they grow 30 feet high.
Siberian Larch
This tree misses many peoples radar. It is a conifer yet has beautiful golden fall color and drops its needles in late fall. In spring it is the first plant to get needles. The best part is the extremely fast rate of growth and that conical spruce type look. The tree is super hardy and
Chokecherry
There is nothing like chokecherry syrup or chokecherry jelly on pancakes, waffles, or toast. The heaviest fruiting chokecherry is Robert’s Chokecherry. We have collected seed from these and offer them on our website. Many leaf out green and turn purple with the heat of summer. They fruit so heavy one can pick a 20 liter
Crabapples
In this case I am referring to crabapple seedlings. Where the crabs are ornamental only, the wildlife love them. The blossoms are outstanding and attract bees and birds. Plant a grove or a row to attract wildlife.
Scots Pine
Many soil locations are very light land. While spruce do well on light land, they do require that light land to be moist. However, Scots Pine seem to thrive and grow quickly (once established) with less water than spruce. There is a farm west of our farm where the pine have seeded themselves onto the
Maples
There are two medium-sized maple that do very well on the Canadian Prairies. Tatarian Maple is the largest growing of them, growing up to 20ft. Tatarian Maple fall color ranges from orange to red. It is extremely hardy and generally grows multi-stem. Amur Maple has a crimson fall color and grows to 15ft. It is
Shelterbelt Layout
When designing the layout for your shelterbelt remember how wide the tree(s) grow. Large poplars grow 40′ wide. Spruce grow 30′ wide. Caragana and lilac grow 15′ wide. And remember, nothing will do well on the north side of poplar. They quickly block the sun.