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Hi fellow green thumbers, the big move is on and I am hoping to hear from anyone with eastern Mt gardening advice. Now I know I can grow wheat! but should I stay to the annuals due to the over wintering conditions, also I have wind and high temps, short growing season. I am coming from a zone 5-6 temperate rain forest PNW. I know, could not have moved to a more different climate! Beautiful skies here, go on forever, and more stars than I have seen in an entire lifetime. Looking around at others the low growing junipers seem to make it. Conifers seem to lose too much moisture due to the wind. thanks, and I will look forward to any advice.
I was in wyoming. We had a great garden. You should grow short season stuff. But we had okra,watermelon,cantalope, ect. Just be sure you start in the house about two months before you set them out. And be prepared to cover it. As wyo and mt is notorious for late frosts. We used old sheets and blankets. Keep close track of weather in the spring. When they call for frosts, cover. Toward the end of our living there we used row crop covers. And just put them up out of the weather and sun. When we were done for the spring. And they will make the fall season longer, too. You can let the root crops stay in the garden longer if you cover them in the fall with straw or a couple inches of leaves. Just be sure to put some wire on it, so the wind won't blow it away. We had a good garden almost every year. The wind can suck the moisture out of the plants in one afternoon,so watch for that. Keep everything watered.
A good place for trees of all kinds is Lawyer Nursery in MT. They have good products and the fruit and berry stuff is no. 1. I have starts of orchards in every place we lived in wyoming. Hope it helps.
Last edited by shadowwalker; 01-26-2008 at 08:06 AM..
Reason: mispelled words
If you are in Eastern Montana you need to have a good windbreak. Some ideas would include:
Eastern Cedar
White Pine
Norway Spruce
Blue Spruce
Austrian Pine
If you keep them watered by using drip irrigation or other forms of irrigation it generally helps those trees get a good start.
I was in wyoming. We had a great garden. You should grow short season stuff. But we had okra,watermelon,cantalope, ect. Just be sure you start in the house about two months before you set them out. And be prepared to cover it. As wyo and mt is notorious for late frosts. We used old sheets and blankets. Keep close track of weather in the spring. When they call for frosts, cover. Toward the end of our living there we used row crop covers. And just put them up out of the weather and sun. When we were done for the spring. And they will make the fall season longer, too. You can let the root crops stay in the garden longer if you cover them in the fall with straw or a couple inches of leaves. Just be sure to put some wire on it, so the wind won't blow it away. We had a good garden almost every year. The wind can suck the moisture out of the plants in one afternoon,so watch for that. Keep everything watered.
A good place for trees of all kinds is Lawyer Nursery in MT. They have good products and the fruit and berry stuff is no. 1. I have starts of orchards in every place we lived in wyoming. Hope it helps.
If you are in Eastern Montana you need to have a good windbreak. Some ideas would include:
Eastern Cedar
White Pine
Norway Spruce
Blue Spruce
Austrian Pine
If you keep them watered by using drip irrigation or other forms of irrigation it generally helps those trees get a good start.
Thank you, I have taken note of the breaks here and what seems to do well. I am suprised at the amount of moisture the wind takes, I have very rugged cottonwood around the house but a touch of evergreen would be nice. I am a big beliver in drip watering so you do not lose moisture to evaporation. Hey looking forward to actual red tomatoes
Thank you, I have taken note of the breaks here and what seems to do well. I am suprised at the amount of moisture the wind takes, I have very rugged cottonwood around the house but a touch of evergreen would be nice. I am a big beliver in drip watering so you do not lose moisture to evaporation. Hey looking forward to actual red tomatoes
What variety of pine or spruce did you choose? I am not sure when the growing season starts in E Montana, but would assume it would be May. Also, you might think about adding some good black topsoil if you have a lot of clay. Drip irrigation would be a great idea considering your area has strong winds during all seasons.
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but should I stay to the annuals due to the over wintering conditions, also I have wind and high temps, short growing season. I am coming from a zone 5-6 temperate rain forest PNW. I know, could not have moved to a more different climate! Beautiful skies here, go on forever, and more stars than I have seen in an entire lifetime. Looking around at others the low growing junipers seem to make it. Conifers seem to lose too much moisture due to the wind. thanks, and I will look forward to any advice. 
