Neighborhood Tree Planters
September 27th, 2023
What if there was someone on every street corner or neighborhood who knew how to plant and propagate trees? What if every neighborhood had native, hardy and edible seedlings onhand to replant, diversify and strengthen the resilience of our neighborhoods? Imagine if there was always a surplus of important tree, shrub, and perennial edibles seedlings for replanting after extreme weather like drought, a tornado, a fire, or a flood... Oooh, I WANT to be one of them, don't you?
The right type of plant placed well can do wonders for a landscape: for stability, soil building, ecology, earth repair, and resilience. Roots stretch deep, even in deserts, to hold onto water and support life and build soil. They slow water down in floods or drought and halt erosion in drought-prone or degraded landscapes. What if we had tree planters ALL around us? What if we had cultural knowledge on every street corner of how to plant, propagate and use these important species for humans and wildlife alike?
Believe it or not, the fall season is an AMAZING time of year to plant. Many species are dropping fruits, nuts, and all manner of tasty things. With that lovely harvest comes the opportunity to plant! And did you know that you can propagate several tree seedlings in as little as one square foot of space?!
A micro fruit or nut nursery in your backyard?! Even your shady or overgrown or paved-over backyard?
YES!
Young chestnut seedlings that show blight resistance. Chestnuts used to be mainstays in many of our forests, providing a nut crop consistently every year instead of "masting" or producing a big crop every other or every few years. IMAGINE the impact on wildlife of more reliable and consistent food sources every winter?
Growing and propagating your own plants is such a pleasure. I got into planting edible and native plants as I realized how many incredible species are missing from our landscapes for one reason or another. Native species that ONCE were here in much greater numbers like butternuts, pawpaws, chestnuts, spicebush, hackberry, even the mighty oak! These native species support an incredible array of wildlife in both their fruit and nuts, but also in the leaves themselves which certain insect species in North America have evolved to eat. Insects are a healthy protein source that support untold numbers of wildlife, especially essential for migrating songbirds! If our landscape has insect-supporting trees and plants, then we support WAY MORE biodiverse ecosystems!
Plus these plants hold flavors, fibers, fuels, and even medicines that we've simply forgotten! They unlock a whole new range of culinary possibilities and nutrient-dense foods to nourish us deeply in the kitchen as well as in the wild!
And this is the exciting part... YOU can play a role in NOTICING and bringing back species of high quality to our landscapes!!
Step 1: Collect your species:
First collect what you want to propagate. Here's some traits I look out for when collecting species.
Bounteous crabapples (left), some black cherry seeds (upper middle), the surprisingly tasty hackberry berries (lower middle) and spicebush (right). I will smoosh the seeds out of the spicebush and dry and grind the red outsides for using like a spice while planting the seeds inside.
Look for disease-resistance! One example is that of the Butternut also known as the White Walnut. Once quite common, many trees have succumbed to a fungal canker (introduced by accident decades ago...) that has killed up to 80% of Butternut trees. These amazing, high protein nuts are SO unique and sadly have largely disappeared. However, some trees do show resistance. Finding healthy, large and resistant trees is essential to propagating this species into the future. Foraging expert Samuel Thayer commented on butternuts, saying that he noticed butternuts growing on the edges of woodlands where they get more sunlight, seem less prone to succumb to canker. If you find one, especially a resilient one (and a good way to see if any are in your area is to check the free app iNaturalist.org to see if any have been spotted near you), then take some of the best nuts, keep them moist and PLANT!
The elusive Butternut (aka White Walnut)
Look for excellent size and productivity! An example I encountered recently was that of a Black Walnut with exceptionally large nuts. The nuts were TWICE the size of the others I collected and abundant. Black Walnut takes a LONG time to grow and is an excellent timber tree. In the past many of the largest, hardiest and strongest trees in our landscapes were selectively cut for timber leaving our forests with the smaller, weaker trees. It was perhaps unintentional, but the effect has decreased quality and quantity of food in the landscape. By keeping an eye out for exceptional size or branches LOADED with absurd quantities of fruits or nuts, we can select for productivity and quality that we help bring back to our landscapes.
Check out the size difference between these two Black Walnuts! Choose the best for propagating.
Look for exceptional flavor! Every tree will taste a little different. Beach plums, grapes, pawpaws, crabapples, wild cherry and mulberries are just a few plants that taste dramatically different from tree to tree. Seek out and collect plants of EXCEPTIONAL flavor to propagate and plant. Even the plants - like crabapples - which don't always produce exactly the same variety from their seed... saving the genetics of excellent producers with great flavor and picking the strongest seedlings is a great way to enhance our landscapes!
My favorite way to eat a pawpaw: Slice through the skin with a knife lengthwise and twist open. Use a spood to eat out the tasty inside. The seeds are big and black not edible so I eat around them. Then I save the seeds in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator (wash them if you want, but that is optional)
Know your native plant communities! What are the dominant trees in your landscape, backyard or woods? Sometimes you can even google "plant communities of (insert your state or city name here)" and you can often get a list of the dominant species native (aka: will naturally grow well growing) to your region. For instance, I live near some woods that are predominantly tulip poplar (tuliptree) with some beech, maple, and a sprinkling of oaks and black walnuts. And low and behold there is actually a named plant community in Pennsylvania called the "tuliptree-maple-beech" plant community! This could be a good place to start to see what other trees, understory plants and other trees grow well in my region and soil types... meaning these species would be more likely to be successful if I planted them in my backyard! Cool, right? It's not required, but knowing who grows well together is SUPER helpful to set you up for success and also to give you a glimpse of some amazing wild edibles or other important species that might be missing.
Fall can be a great time to identify trees. Tree ID takes time and is like learning a language. Some characteristics I look for are leaf shape, bark texture, branch and overall structure and the color the leaves turn in fall... all of which can give you clues to what type of tree it is!
Step 2: Plant and Propagate
So... now you are on the lookout for AWESOME plants. What next? Here's just one way to propagate fruits and nuts from seed that I learned from Akiva Silver at Twisted Tree Farm. One thing I LOVE about this technique is that you truly need only a small amount of space as in as little as a square foot of space! Many woodland species of fruit and nut trees also don't need full sun when they sprout, but dappled shade! So a backyard -even a shady and overgrown backyard!- is simply perfect for sprouting new species. This propagating technique is called "air pruning" and is a great option to start in the fall.
Materials:
Create a small frame lined with hardware cloth (aka: wire mesh or chicken wire) on the base. Ideally your frame is at least 6 inches deep and can be made quickly from whatever wood you've got. The goal with this technique is to suspend the frame off the ground with bricks or logs to let any roots "hit the air and naturally get pruned" by being exposed to air. It encourages a more fibrous mass of roots. According to Akiva Silver, he's had higher planting success with 'air pruned' plants compared with traditional potted plants where the main tap root can easily get stunted, damaged or pot-bound (some plants are VERY sensitive to damage to their main taproot... eh hem, looking at you, Pawpaws!). As the more fibrous roots of air-pruned plants take hold and quickly establish, it allows the plant to form more of a tap root after it's been planted. Typically these plants are eventually sold or given away to be planted as bare-root seedlings or can be planted into pots if needed.
Above pictures: Notice the white beneficial fungal threads growing alongside these roots? These beneficial fungi help make the soil like a "sponge" meaning you don't have to water as much AND they support the young seedlings with tons of nutrients and compounds the plant can't access on it's own! Thank you, dear beneficial, mycorrhizal fungi!
Cover your filled frames for winter. Especially if you are planting nuts, it might make sense to cover this micro-bed with a loose layer of mulch (chopped up plants or leaves or wood chips or streaw) AND a sheet of hardware cloth or barrier so water can get in but nut-loving animals can't. Believe me, if you have a stash of nuts buried somewhere, squirrels are going to TRY REALLY HARD to access it! So protect your plants. Sometimes if you sprinkle some biochar in and around the planted nuts, you can sometimes mask the smell of "tasty nut" and prevent the nut-hungry woodland hoards from trying to break into your beds. In urban areas, you might just escape the ravenous enthusiasm of woodland creatures... the more enthusiastic they are, just realize the more your nut trees might be needed in the landscape!
Lastly, just let your beds sit with their seeds over the winter months. Many seeds in temperate forests need a certain number of "chill hours" often meaning the plant needs to "log hours" between 30-45 degrees. Too cold and the count stops. Too hot and the hours don't count. Many wildflowers also have chill hours requirements, so this is a great way to sprout milkweed, goldenrod, and blazing star meadow flowers, too! Some people also put the seeds in a moist coffee filter or peat moss or sand in the refrigerator to get chill hours. Either way, fall planting is a great way you get your chill hours in before spring!
What to plant? Here's a few on my list this fall:
American Persimmon: Our native persimmon is small than Asian varieties yet is a hardy tree that produces exceptional-tasting fruits with low disease pressure. Great for humans and wildlife alike!
Black Walnut: Huge, beautiful spreading timber trees that used to be very common in the landscape. Like other walnut family plants they produce "juglone" - a chemical that isn't compatable with several types of plants (not great with tomato gardens!). Important food for humans and wildlife including the epic Regal Walnut moth whose caterpillar is called the Spined Hickory Horned Devil (despite their terrifying appearance, these caterpillars are totally safe to cuddle!)
Spicebush: important high-fat and protein rich berry for migrating birds in winter, host plant of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly AND an unused amazing baking and cooking spice from our backyards.
American persimmon sprouting.
Black walnut nutmeats!
Spicebush berry harvest.
Hackberry: Nutrient-dense protein-packed berries from a tree (east coast) that can last into winter. Shows up as a bush on the west coast. Host plant for the Hackberry emperor butterfly amongst other cool wildlife. Important food for birds and almost never drops fruit to the ground because they are eaten by wildlife or foragers alike. Under-used native tree.
Oak: Supports the WIDEST range of caterpillars of any tree in North America... if you want migrating songbirds, make sure your neighborhood has oaks! Also acorns were (and are!) an essential food source to people (and wildlife) around the world. There are so many species of oak! Ideal acorns are whole (not cracked), do NOT have their tops attached (tops stuck on acorns means problems inside the nut!), and no dark spots on acorn body or on the lighter disk on top.
Butternut: Also called the white walnut which used to be WAY more prolific than today because of a fungal canker that wiped out most trees in North America. Still resistant species out there. Important protein source for humans and wildlife. A light-tasting walnut that has a backtaste almost like banana! Like other nuts it's important to keep them moist and protected from rodents to sprout them.
Hackberry has an amazingly flavorful berry and the coolest bark making it one awesome and underappreciated landscape tree!
Oak acorns: Left is a good acorn for harvest or planting. On the right, notice the crack in the top as well as the blackened area in the top disk... both signs that this nut is no good for planting and make contain acorn weevils.
Our landscape needs more butternuts! They are amazing nuts and finding disease-resistant trees or planting them on woodland edges where they get more sun is a great way to support more of this majestic species!
Juneberry: Also called Serviceberry or shadbush, this amazing small tree is beautiful in the spring with white flowers and fall with red leaves. It produces copious amounts of "blueberry-like" fruits right off the tree in June (much earlier than actual blueberries).
Milkweed: Important host plant for the Monarch and Queen butterflies as well as supporting over 450 different species of insects with it's leaves, flowers, pollen, nectar or pods. Very fragrant flowers, edible at certain stages of growth when prepared properly, and used for fiber and plant-based latex. Amazing plant we could truly go more of on many levels.
Pawpaw: One of the largest native fruit trees in North America that is also the only host plant (that I am aware of!) for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly. Once prolific across temperate forests, but now less so, it's an amazing edible that does well in shade that is making a comeback.
Juneberries: basically blueberries on a tree in june... just wow.
Milkweed has an aamzingly fragrant flowers, comes in many colors and supports SO many insects!
Pawpaw seeds need to be kept moist in order to sprout. They often take FOREVER to sprout. Two varieties are eventually needed to produce fruit.
Black Cherry: Tasty fruits for birds or people that when pressed for juice (the seeds aren't edible) taste like a cross between a plum and grapefruit. Native cherries are like oak in that they support an incredible number of species, especially some unique catrpillars that fuel songbird migrations and backyard overwintering favorites like the chickadee and the the ruby-crowned kinglet who eat overwintering caterpillars even in the dead of winter in the north to survive the harsh winters.
Hawthorn: A tree in the rose family with somewhat bland, lightly tasting fruits that have become more and more known in recent studies for their incredible capacity to support heart health. Great for wildlife, somewhat common in some places and yet largely unknown... they grown from Mexico to Canada in various forms and colors and shapes.
Black Cherry ripening. Fruits are ready when black.
Hawthorn berries
Inside of a hawthorn berry. Notice it doesn't have a seed chamber like apples or crabapples do
What about you? Want to become a tree planter? What trees or shrubs do you want to see more of in the landscape? What species might best support the most biodiverse landscapes?
