Okay I bought the woods behind my house. (Not bragging) They were supposed to build 6 houses behind me and the developer lost the land to not paying the property taxes. I have no interest in building anything on it. I grew up around where I live I used to played in the woods that are now behind my house when I was little. The snow has thawed enough today to walk the whole of it.
I really thought there would be some remint of what was back there left. It seems that the developer clear cut what I remember, dug out all the top soil to the clay, and sold all the top soil. Then they filled in with sand and the min amount of dirt for landscaping. My walk back there was filled with Asian lady bugs, stink bugs, Oriental bittersweet , some arborvitaes growing wild and this thick vine woody that is everywhere strangling the trees. A tree mold that is just omg killing everything! Its all over everything. The growth is less than 20years so all I have are soft woods like birch and they are snapping and falling because of that really thick vine as well as a tree fungus. As well as moles, and skunks.
All but 5 birch trees look in bad shape. I get I will have to cut most of it down treat for the Asian lady bug grubs and the stink bugs. (The arborist suggested Milky Spore.)Put nutrients down and then fill in with soil to try to make the dirt deep enough to support healthy trees.
So from there where do I go? I want a native woodland. (This was once a game trail, I still see the deer from time to time pass through. I want it back!) Once I have the ground back to a reasonable state where do I go? Has anyone ever designed their own forest before? Also there was a shallow pond in the back south corner. It must have been dug out. Is there anyway to put it back? How does one restart an ecosystem? I thought there would have been something to work with but all I have found so far are 5 trees in decent shape. Not great shape but if I treat them for all the things they will most likely survive.
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webmaster
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I live in a forested area too.
There's a lot a couple miles from me that was completely cleared five or six years ago but it never sold. Now the entire area is naturally filling back in with the local trees, nobody did anything. The birds and squirrels I guess brought the seeds and nuts over and restarted the forest in the cleared patch.
I'll try to upload a photo tomorrow of what it looks like.
There's a lot a couple miles from me that was completely cleared five or six years ago but it never sold. Now the entire area is naturally filling back in with the local trees, nobody did anything. The birds and squirrels I guess brought the seeds and nuts over and restarted the forest in the cleared patch.
I'll try to upload a photo tomorrow of what it looks like.
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I sure don’t have the expertise for your super cool project, but I do have passing interest in native plants.
Need to know whereabouts you live.
If northeast, look for Native Plants of the Northeast by Donald J. Leopold, Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy.
Look for Weeds of the Northeast by Uva, Neal, and DiTomaso.
If not Northeast, look for similar resources. Search for Native Plant societies and organizations in your area. Native Plant Sales should be starting soon — probably already started in southern states. Look for botanical gardens and wildflower / native plant reserves, state park programs, etc.
Look up the local regional plant guilds and plant families as well as regional geological soil compositions and regional plant guilds.
This will also help you locate the local waterways and streams and whether the pond may have been part of it and supplied, or maybe there had been a spring or a well.
I’ll post more later
Need to know whereabouts you live.
If northeast, look for Native Plants of the Northeast by Donald J. Leopold, Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy.
Look for Weeds of the Northeast by Uva, Neal, and DiTomaso.
If not Northeast, look for similar resources. Search for Native Plant societies and organizations in your area. Native Plant Sales should be starting soon — probably already started in southern states. Look for botanical gardens and wildflower / native plant reserves, state park programs, etc.
Look up the local regional plant guilds and plant families as well as regional geological soil compositions and regional plant guilds.
This will also help you locate the local waterways and streams and whether the pond may have been part of it and supplied, or maybe there had been a spring or a well.
I’ll post more later
Sorry I live in zone 6a. We are known for wild winters and a high water table. I basically live on prehistoric lake bed. Even when its dry here the ground still tends to be squishy.
As far as the land just bouncing back its not going to. There is a lot of erosion. The bittersweet killed off all the bushes and flowers and ground cover that would have kept the soil. So as far as I can tell I have about 5 inches of soil with about 8feet of sand and then clay. Which is why I only have river birch.
The arborist said I need hardwoods. The hardwoods when they break down will keep the fungus that help break down the leaves into dirt moist enough to survive. So I also have leaves that aren't breaking down into forest floor. I don't have enough of an ecosystem for the good bugs to live ,to break down the floor. But the land wont grow a hardwood because they tend to be slow growing and the winter winds will just push any tree that doesn't have a deep enough root system yet.
So I need to add enough dirt so the trees have something to grab onto. (Sand isn't good to hold onto.)Enough dirt so that if I still get a bit of erosion they roots don't become exposed. Considering adding a windbreak of native cedar too. Not to protect my house so much but this one area southeast just looks like the wind is tearing it apart.
My original plan was just to rip out the bittersweet to save the trees. And I would plant my layers around those trees. I know I need a canopy layer, lower canopy layer, a shrub layer, a wildflower layer and a fungi layer. I need something growing back there. It blocks the wind for my house ,it keeps the snow from drifting onto the roof, it keeps snow from drifting onto the back of the house so I don't get water intrusion. I would have just left it but the bittersweet doesn't grow high enough to block anything and its killed everything. And I need to bundle my new property with my house to save on taxes. It makes sense to, its behind my backyard. So I need a survey and inspection of the new property to get approval from the township. The property wont pass inspection as is. At the very least I have to regrade it. I can see just from the snow melting its causing some problems for a road it runs next to. So I also have to fix the runoff into the road problem. I don't want to get fined for flooding the county access road. And If I don't replant I leave room for this bittersweet to come back, then have the same problems.
I think my best option is to be proactive. But what is the best way to plant it? what is the best way to use the space? In other news in my exploring today as it was the last day of warmer weather. (Its going to dip back down to single digits tonight) I found a dump truck. Its plates expired in 2003. It still has the company logo on it and everything. Its surrounded by a ton of construction stuff too. Like those buckets for those CAT digger things. There are like 6 of them out there one is big enough to fit inside! Its all old and looks like its just been sitting there. This is obviously the last owners things, what do I do? I don't think it will start as there is a opossum nest in the hood. You can see the opossum tracks across the hood, going right into a rust hole. I'm not even sure you could tow it out. The land around it is really really soft . Like you sink just stepping on the ground around there and its squishy. Its not where the pond was. So I have no idea what is going on around it. Anything big enough to tow it out will most likely get stuck. And that's if it could make it through all the depressions and uneven terrain.
As far as the land just bouncing back its not going to. There is a lot of erosion. The bittersweet killed off all the bushes and flowers and ground cover that would have kept the soil. So as far as I can tell I have about 5 inches of soil with about 8feet of sand and then clay. Which is why I only have river birch.
The arborist said I need hardwoods. The hardwoods when they break down will keep the fungus that help break down the leaves into dirt moist enough to survive. So I also have leaves that aren't breaking down into forest floor. I don't have enough of an ecosystem for the good bugs to live ,to break down the floor. But the land wont grow a hardwood because they tend to be slow growing and the winter winds will just push any tree that doesn't have a deep enough root system yet.
So I need to add enough dirt so the trees have something to grab onto. (Sand isn't good to hold onto.)Enough dirt so that if I still get a bit of erosion they roots don't become exposed. Considering adding a windbreak of native cedar too. Not to protect my house so much but this one area southeast just looks like the wind is tearing it apart.
My original plan was just to rip out the bittersweet to save the trees. And I would plant my layers around those trees. I know I need a canopy layer, lower canopy layer, a shrub layer, a wildflower layer and a fungi layer. I need something growing back there. It blocks the wind for my house ,it keeps the snow from drifting onto the roof, it keeps snow from drifting onto the back of the house so I don't get water intrusion. I would have just left it but the bittersweet doesn't grow high enough to block anything and its killed everything. And I need to bundle my new property with my house to save on taxes. It makes sense to, its behind my backyard. So I need a survey and inspection of the new property to get approval from the township. The property wont pass inspection as is. At the very least I have to regrade it. I can see just from the snow melting its causing some problems for a road it runs next to. So I also have to fix the runoff into the road problem. I don't want to get fined for flooding the county access road. And If I don't replant I leave room for this bittersweet to come back, then have the same problems.
I think my best option is to be proactive. But what is the best way to plant it? what is the best way to use the space? In other news in my exploring today as it was the last day of warmer weather. (Its going to dip back down to single digits tonight) I found a dump truck. Its plates expired in 2003. It still has the company logo on it and everything. Its surrounded by a ton of construction stuff too. Like those buckets for those CAT digger things. There are like 6 of them out there one is big enough to fit inside! Its all old and looks like its just been sitting there. This is obviously the last owners things, what do I do? I don't think it will start as there is a opossum nest in the hood. You can see the opossum tracks across the hood, going right into a rust hole. I'm not even sure you could tow it out. The land around it is really really soft . Like you sink just stepping on the ground around there and its squishy. Its not where the pond was. So I have no idea what is going on around it. Anything big enough to tow it out will most likely get stuck. And that's if it could make it through all the depressions and uneven terrain.
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applestar
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- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Wow. REALLY Sounds like a serious project.
USDA Zone doesn’t help with the plant selection as much in this instance — so just go ahead and try googling (or whatever search engine) for “Plant Communities of ____” and plug in your state and/or county.
When I tried this for my area, I got back geological survey maps, soil layers and mineral compositions, typical plant communities — these info would get you many of those plant layers you mentioned that are suitable for the particular soil structures you have in your area, etc.
For example, I learned I live on clay subsoil Red Oak/Hickory/Red Juniper trees community with typical pioneer herbs including goldenrods and rudbeckia, sedge, etc. But my friend next town over live on deep sand with different set of native plant community, and another friend live in yet another of white oak, hickory and beech trees community.
For those vehicles/machinery, I guess first thought that comes to mind is try taking pictures and offering them on craigslist?
USDA Zone doesn’t help with the plant selection as much in this instance — so just go ahead and try googling (or whatever search engine) for “Plant Communities of ____” and plug in your state and/or county.
When I tried this for my area, I got back geological survey maps, soil layers and mineral compositions, typical plant communities — these info would get you many of those plant layers you mentioned that are suitable for the particular soil structures you have in your area, etc.
For example, I learned I live on clay subsoil Red Oak/Hickory/Red Juniper trees community with typical pioneer herbs including goldenrods and rudbeckia, sedge, etc. But my friend next town over live on deep sand with different set of native plant community, and another friend live in yet another of white oak, hickory and beech trees community.
For those vehicles/machinery, I guess first thought that comes to mind is try taking pictures and offering them on craigslist?
Great news! I found a nature center. It has lists of all the plants I need and trails with examples on them. They also suggested I contact the county about the dump truck and other things. I might be able to have the county remove it and charge who ever its registered to with the cost of removal for the dump truck. As for the digger buckets I can call the scrap man. He should take them and pay me by weight of the metal. I cant sell the dump truck as it most likely is or was registered to someone. I can sell the cat digger buckets because they do not have a registration. And no way of proving whos they are. Its a fine legal line to walk.
They also suggested that if I want to keep anything native that has grown on its own not to regrade the land. Just add drainage instead of regrading. So I got emails for people in land management and wildlife fish and game. They will come out for free and help me figure out which is best, drainage or regrading. It looks like they just dumped soil and left ,in some parts. Or maybe a combination of the two.
The best part is they showed me how to harvest wild milkweed seeds! I got 20 seeds to plant as I am in the middle of the monarch migratory path. I should see sprouts in 1-2weeks! (but they wont be ready to be planted until late April)And I have a plant for one part.
There is a square plateau about the size of a house away from where the neighbors feed the birds. The back half the soil has eroded away and is crumbling. The said things like elderberry, inkberry, chokeberry, arrowroot ect. should keep the sloping ground in place. So I plan to make a butterfly haven there for the monarchs.
It was also suggested to mulch the ground once I have cleared it with hard wood. (I might have to do it yearly until hardwood trees I pant mature.)That way I can mimic the forest floor layer. And mimic having hardwood trees. I could bounce the land back in 2-3 years . But I have to keep up on removing the bittersweet vine. The vine will take out everything and then start killing its self. It has a vast root system so all the mother plants of it have been ripping out are all connected to the same root system. So once everything is gone and its just the bittersweet Ill never get all the root system out of the dirt. It will remain dormant until something grows or I plant something. Then it will wake up kill the new growth then keep sprouting shoots and vines till it kills its self again. And this will keep happening until I remove all the dirt down the the clay and replace it. So the only way to save what is left is to be proactive and keep digging up the bittersweet and cutting it out. So I am doing the right thing at the right time. Its easy to spot in the early spring and fall. Although its easy to spot back there no matter what time of year it is as there are only the river birch left.
I'm going to keep posting updates so there is a guide for someone else. I have lots of pictures if I can figure out how to post them. And Ill keep taking pictures of all the steps.
They also suggested that if I want to keep anything native that has grown on its own not to regrade the land. Just add drainage instead of regrading. So I got emails for people in land management and wildlife fish and game. They will come out for free and help me figure out which is best, drainage or regrading. It looks like they just dumped soil and left ,in some parts. Or maybe a combination of the two.
The best part is they showed me how to harvest wild milkweed seeds! I got 20 seeds to plant as I am in the middle of the monarch migratory path. I should see sprouts in 1-2weeks! (but they wont be ready to be planted until late April)And I have a plant for one part.
There is a square plateau about the size of a house away from where the neighbors feed the birds. The back half the soil has eroded away and is crumbling. The said things like elderberry, inkberry, chokeberry, arrowroot ect. should keep the sloping ground in place. So I plan to make a butterfly haven there for the monarchs.
It was also suggested to mulch the ground once I have cleared it with hard wood. (I might have to do it yearly until hardwood trees I pant mature.)That way I can mimic the forest floor layer. And mimic having hardwood trees. I could bounce the land back in 2-3 years . But I have to keep up on removing the bittersweet vine. The vine will take out everything and then start killing its self. It has a vast root system so all the mother plants of it have been ripping out are all connected to the same root system. So once everything is gone and its just the bittersweet Ill never get all the root system out of the dirt. It will remain dormant until something grows or I plant something. Then it will wake up kill the new growth then keep sprouting shoots and vines till it kills its self again. And this will keep happening until I remove all the dirt down the the clay and replace it. So the only way to save what is left is to be proactive and keep digging up the bittersweet and cutting it out. So I am doing the right thing at the right time. Its easy to spot in the early spring and fall. Although its easy to spot back there no matter what time of year it is as there are only the river birch left.
I'm going to keep posting updates so there is a guide for someone else. I have lots of pictures if I can figure out how to post them. And Ill keep taking pictures of all the steps.
— you’re off to a good start!Oh OH I'm almost done clearing and I found well I'm pretty sure I found endangered trillium! I have 6 native species in my state and 5 are endangered. She doesn't have the common white frill trillium leaves so she must be one of the others. I wont know for sure until she blooms. I just spotted the green umbrella of leaves that they make before they flower.
The bittersweet was crushing it from above and wrapped around its tiny little stem. I have cleared the bittersweet ( I took 3hours just taking the vine off the stem.) And I have lots of deer that like to eat it so I put up a chicken wire fence 10ft out around it and dug a small trench to keep the vines roots from attacking it.
I know they have delicate root systems. They don't transplant well and I don't want to move an endangered species. But Trillium only like the shade. The Bittersweet has killed everything in what I thought was a natural meadow. There must have been trees there at one time.(So I was wrong.) So my Question: Does anyone know a native species Tree or bush (I don't care which)that trillium will grow well under to provide her shade? I have a wire basket over her so she is getting dappled sun like she likes but I need a more permeant solution.
I have also bought some cameras and some fencing for them because if people know they are here they will come dig them up. I know trillium are highly sought after here in my state. They are far from my house so I wouldn't here them do it either. I have also installed no trespassing signs about 12ft from them. I have made a trail around the trench so when I let my dogs out to patrol they can patrol that area as well. As I have already found people digging up my wild columbine in another area.(No they were not my neighbors) I admit I was a cranky lady and let my dogs chase them off the property.
The bittersweet was crushing it from above and wrapped around its tiny little stem. I have cleared the bittersweet ( I took 3hours just taking the vine off the stem.) And I have lots of deer that like to eat it so I put up a chicken wire fence 10ft out around it and dug a small trench to keep the vines roots from attacking it.
I know they have delicate root systems. They don't transplant well and I don't want to move an endangered species. But Trillium only like the shade. The Bittersweet has killed everything in what I thought was a natural meadow. There must have been trees there at one time.(So I was wrong.) So my Question: Does anyone know a native species Tree or bush (I don't care which)that trillium will grow well under to provide her shade? I have a wire basket over her so she is getting dappled sun like she likes but I need a more permeant solution.
I have also bought some cameras and some fencing for them because if people know they are here they will come dig them up. I know trillium are highly sought after here in my state. They are far from my house so I wouldn't here them do it either. I have also installed no trespassing signs about 12ft from them. I have made a trail around the trench so when I let my dogs out to patrol they can patrol that area as well. As I have already found people digging up my wild columbine in another area.(No they were not my neighbors) I admit I was a cranky lady and let my dogs chase them off the property.
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