planting Trees

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by monkeywrenching

thanks for all the replies and suggestion, I am looking into it and talk to the next door neighbor too. he has ben here in Wyoming way longer than I have and will heed his advice.

contact your local county extension office for their advice on the trees to plant for your purpose.

you may also be able to get tree purchase and planting assistance from NRCS or State of Wyoming grant programs. These are targeted to shelter belts, but you may be able to get something started which will allow you to better plant and start the larger acreage you have.

functional delivery of water in a timely manner for enough years to get the trees established will be a huge obstacle to getting the trees established and able to survive the winters of your area. Your domestic well cannot be used for more than one acre of "landscaping".

functionally, if your land doesn't already have natural stands of trees on it, it's a guideline which you need to observe. There's reasons why trees didn't establish and grow there already, and you'll have to overcome those natural forces to get trees to grow there.

Most of the faster growing trees in this region require copious amounts of water to get established. Watering a few hundred acres even with a truck mounted water tank will be more than a full time job.

Don't forget we're seeing pine beetles in the area now, and you'll need to be very aggressive about protecting against these. Along with the Elm and Ash insects now showing up, it's a lot of work and expense.

Good luck with your project.

[ABQConvict]

The only thing that will work is whatever grows there naturally. If you are on the plains, trying to start a woodlot would require watering. Watering a fuelwood supply is... nuts.

The traditional fuel of choice in plains and steppe regions is cow patties.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

OP, if you are planting a forest for wood lot, I suggest that you sprinkle in a few apple trees around the edges, or in clearings. They bring in the deer, if you are interested in either hunting for meat or wildlife observation. They will also provide some nice food for your family, plus a good day out, apple picking.

I recommend an Antonovka rootstock for the best cold weather hardiness. That is a full size tree and will give you a very large apple tree.

An M-111 rootstock provides excellent anchorage and is also cold hardy, That is a semi-dwarf rootstock.

You'll need to sort through apple varieties and pick out both cold hardy and early ripening. I've had really good luck with Golden Delicious and Gala. Neither of those taste anything like store bought when they are home raised and tree ripened.

Zestar was excellent for me this year. Excellent flavor and early ripening.

Moonglow pears gave a good crop this year and they are early (for pears). If deep freeze is late enough, you can get Bosc pears. They aren't early, but survive light freezes.