Suggestions for wet pasture trees, cold climate
 

I'm making a shopping list for sourcing trees to plant in the pasture for shade/a source of feed(fruit) and windbreak between pastures.
I'm concerned about poisonous leaves (wild cherries etc) as I will have a large assortment of animals in due time.

The pasture is wet with no high points. The obvious is weeping willow however I dislike how weak it can break, especially if near a fence. I'm sure I'll put in 1-3, but will keep them low.

I know some people don't like pasture trees, but my Gene Logsdon book on pasture farming got me hooked on the idea.
Quite a few conifers (spruce/fir/pines) do well in the area which I was surprised with. The neighbors have little else to try though. Birch can't take the heavy snow and wind here. Poplars send up too many suckers!

I'm thinking crabapples as they like water and most animals love the fruit.
I'd love to hear any ideas people have.

And yup- I'll be protecting everything with wire cages and whatever else is needed. I even get the odd beaver so it's mandatory whatever I choose! Thanks.

I don't know where you are located, but I'm just going to throw this out: cottonwood. I know, no fruit. They seem to grow along creeks and would make good shade.

Crabapples and pear trees would probably do OK and grow pretty fast if you don't have a deer problem. Out of 8 fruit trees I planted I have two left so far. For shade, maybe cottonwoods? You see alot of them on the prairies along dry washes. They get pretty big for shade, and grow quick. You see a lot of silver poplars for windbreaks out west too, but I didnt know about a lot of shoots.

Bugstabber:
I musta been posting while you were. I grew up in SD, so that's where the cottonwood idea came from. :)

Pears would do great too, for me and the animals.
Around here cottonwoods grow really really fast- and break in half within 20 years. I was at a friends a couple months back watching his horses when one (60' tall?) snapped and fell right over 2 horses- which instinctively jumped just in time! I think there are different types though. The poplars (closely related) handle wind/heavy snow better so I'll see what other are out there. I do like that rapid growth as there are no trees right now.

dont think i would plant trees in a pasture for livestock, once they get big enough to to shade if you have livestock and lighting storms your just asking for trouble. have seen a neighbor loose as many as 30 cows killed by it while resting under a shade tree during a summer storm by lighting. would reccommend a shed or barn for them to get into for shade. trees are pretty but lighting likes to strike them,before anything else and what ever is under the tree is gonna be dead it will reach out as far as the roots on the tree go. dont think trees are gonna soak up enough water to dry your ground, i think ditches or tile would be a better idea.

what zone or what part of what state of province do you live in? That might be some help to give better suggestions.
If you are near zone 3 arboreal I know cedar, alder will grow having wet feet. Balsam poplar can stand less drying. Don't try too many pines, but again, that may differ depending where you are. white spruce and especially black spruce in zone 3 will grow as will tamarack in low lying areas, for example.

;) Southern Minnesota has a lot of cottonwoods too. I've seen HUGE cottonwood trunks, so they can't all break after 20 years!

Any type of willow!!!!
Good forage for critters, hardy as heck and it will surely grow!! Great windbreak too.

Any type of willow!!!!
Good forage for critters, hardy as heck and it will surely grow!! Great windbreak too.
Black willow, white willow, weepers and even pussy willows!!
The populars are in the same family as so are the aspens! I love quaking aspen, its just music to my ears.

All cold hardy and wet loving!

Thanks for the ideas! Need to look up those 2 willows, but I was planning to use pussy willows/red osier dogwood for erosion control along parts of the ditch. Nothing wrong with them getting chewed on, would keep them nice and low for me.

I believe it's zone 4, in BC, we get freezing winters and hot summers, with plenty of wind but very little lightning. However JS mentioned something I will now consider- having tall trees away from the grazing areas so nothing gets electricuted! The neighbors have tall trees so that'd deflect most hits
I have had dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) survive as well as ginkgo seedlings. Dawn redwood is a great tree for any wet-spot people to try out. I'm curious if they get those knotty 'knee-like' root systems that pop up everywhere like what I think is Taxodium distichum (?) for you to trip on or damage/get in the way of your tractor. Also a good water lover but those roots are unbearable.

I have several huge oaks, a few cedars, and some elm in my pastures. There's some crabapples out behind the barn. I don't know where the apples go, but they disappear every year. Something must be eating them. Also some postoak, and some pine. There's a huge cottonwood right outside my back door. Sure hope that thing doesn't take a dive on the house one of these days! :eek: I also have apple and peach trees. Had pear and plum trees until DH decided to prune them one year (he kills everything he prunes). I like having a good variety of trees. I don't get snow and/or ice very often so these types might or might not work where you are. The prettiest tree on the place is where 3 trees were planted together. They grew up to look like a single thick and healthy tree. Who'd thunk it? :shrug: I'd love to have some weaping willows out by the pond, but only have mimosias out there. In my yard are some caltapa's and mimosia, also a big elm. The mimosia grows fast and the goats love eating them. Once they are established, almost nothing will kill them, and they are pretty when they flower (but they make a mess out of the yard!).

I've kept horses, cattle, and goats in my pasture at various times. None of these trees have caused any animal problems. Hope this has given you some ideas.

I would suggest Black Locust. They do well in the mountains here. They can infact get ripped up by snow and Ice and spring right back to life. The seeds/leaves they make are edible to the stock. They grow quickly but make a great fence building wood. The old farmers saying was that a Black locast fence will last one year longer than stone.

They will sucker from the roots. But if in a pasture they will be eaten by the stock.

Locust trees, also elderberry, highbush cranberry bushes. If you have a shelter, the animals will probably go in there if there's a storm rather than under a tree. Trees are great for shade though, better than a structure.

Black ash seems very water tolerant and makes beautiful lumber. If you plant enough trees you will dry up the pasture since each large tree can transpirate up to 300 gallons of water per day.

If you're planning to have horses in your pasture, I'd skip the fruit trees. Too much fruit, of any kind, can cause colic.

Stacy

Thanks everybody. You've added plants I hadn't thought of, I'm glad I asked here!
Stacy, I didn't know fruit caused colic. Good to know. I'm making up to 8 smaller zones- some pasture some not, I'll make sure to be extra careful with the grazers. I also don't want tons of autumn leaves smothering their pasture or thinning it through shade, etc etc. Fruit would be a lot better in the poultry yards that's for sure.

those 3 weeping willows, when they mature, can transpire upwards of 900 gallons of water per day during the growing season. even just one tree in the wettest spots will help. i have a few black willows. they like to grow right on a stream's bank. i think the blacks will be a sturdier tree than the weeping willows. i think i would add a few oaks to the mix as well. i have two chestnut oaks growing next to a spring in a pasture that have been mature as long as i can remember. they are huge.

i don't know what would help in the dormant months. maybe you would need a few evergreens to use the water in the winter.

if you plan on using trees as windbreaks on the fencerows, i would try to make them several trees thick so they can gain strength from each other.

Our SD farm has cottonwood and Russian olive- whatever that actually is- growing on the banks of (or in) our slough/lake. Don't get very tall though- more wind break than shade.

Are oaks (Quercus?) safe for livestock? I have read both yes and no, not sure who to believe!!

What are "black willow"? I searched in my three gardening encyclopedias- nothing with that name. Sounds great too- sturdy, unlike the other willows!

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrol...heet.cfm?ID=86

here is a link.


need cuttings?

The name says it all! Thanks MELOC! I'd love cuttings but they aren't allowed to be shipped cross border anymore. I do think they are rare out here, but will look. A small grove of them would be perfect.