Shelter belt trees along track

st1979

Am looking for ideas of shelter belt type tree to plant along cow track. Was thinking Poplar any other options

blue5000

What is the soil like? If it's wet alder is an option, native species and grows fairly fast, maybe put in an odd oak, birch or holly as well.

pedigree 6

One of the main things along a cow track to keep is good air flow to help dry the track. So then the question is why do you want to stop this airflow and also block any access off the track into the field with cows or perhaps machinery.
When you've gone through the pros and cons of this and if you still want to go ahead then trees with good airflow lower down and lack of outward spreading branches over the track. Maybe the cons of this decision is also a bit more shelter for the field itself? Popular are good upright and tall trees and open at the bottom but bear in mind the rooting nature of populars that they spread out far from the tree and just below the surface.
Ash trees root the same way, far out and just below the surface.

I'd be a bit of a fan of eucalyptus trees for their speed of growth and holding onto their leaves over winter. I've some trees I got from D plant nursery in kilcotty, enniscorthy and I'm impressed with them.
The trees themselves have a long leaf but they've a good thick trunk. I'm told they make for good coppicing too so should grow back after cutting (popular does that too). But I'll have both benefit of shelter and a firewood crop. So win win.
He also sold me a few of a small leaved variety but I'm not impressed with those.

Anyway good luck if you plant and whatever you plant with.

Sam Kade

pedigree 6 wrote: »

One of the main things along a cow track to keep is good air flow to help dry the track. So then the question is why do you want to stop this airflow and also block any access off the track into the field with cows or perhaps machinery.
When you've gone through the pros and cons of this and if you still want to go ahead then trees with good airflow lower down and lack of outward spreading branches over the track. Maybe the cons of this decision is also a bit more shelter for the field itself? Popular are good upright and tall trees and open at the bottom but bear in mind the rooting nature of populars that they spread out far from the tree and just below the surface.
Ash trees root the same way, far out and just below the surface.

I'd be a bit of a fan of eucalyptus trees for their speed of growth and holding onto their leaves over winter. I've some trees I got from D plant nursery in kilcotty, enniscorthy and I'm impressed with them.
The trees themselves have a long leaf but they've a good thick trunk. I'm told they make for good coppicing too so should grow back after cutting (popular does that too). But I'll have both benefit of shelter and a firewood crop. So win win.
He also sold me a few of a small leaved variety but I'm not impressed with those.

Anyway good luck if you plant and whatever you plant with.

I assume it's because he falled ditches to make the roadway and must plant a similar length of hedge. I'd have to do the same if I was to put in a central road, this is one situation where regulations don't make sense.

Birdnuts

pedigree 6 wrote: »

I'd be a bit of a fan of eucalyptus trees for their speed of growth and holding onto their leaves over winter. I've some trees I got from D plant nursery in kilcotty, enniscorthy and I'm impressed with them.
The trees themselves have a long leaf but they've a good thick trunk. I'm told they make for good coppicing too so should grow back after cutting (popular does that too). But I'll have both benefit of shelter and a firewood crop. So win win.
He also sold me a few of a small leaved variety but I'm not impressed with those.

Anyway good luck if you plant and whatever you plant with.

A bad frost will kill or seriously disable them for good. I saw several examples of this after the epic cold spells of 2010. Definitely would not sow them in a location that is prone to frost.

pedigree 6

Birdnuts wrote: »

A bad frost will kill or seriously disable them for good. I saw several examples of this after the epic cold spells of 2010. Definitely would not sow them in a location that is prone to frost.

I think they learned a lot from that spell and know which varieties are now more frost hardy. Ask them that and they'll tell you.

Mooooo

Sam Kade wrote: »

I assume it's because he falled ditches to make the roadway and must plant a similar length of hedge. I'd have to do the same if I was to put in a central road, this is one situation where regulations don't make sense.

Would planting or letting a bad bit of ground go wild do instead of putting in a hedge somewhere I wonder.?

The part time boy

We set a line of popular 15 years ago and more than half of them are gone . They seem to blow over easy in a strom. And there not in a wide open place either

Gravelly

The part time boy wrote: »

We set a line of popular 15 years ago and more than half of them are gone . They seem to blow over easy in a strom. And there not in a wide open place either

I found this with both poplar and eucalyptus - very susceptible to storm damage.

pedigree 6

Gravelly wrote: »

I found this with both poplar and eucalyptus - very susceptible to storm damage.

If you set them on a ditch or open space from day 1 does it not give the trees and roots a chance to anchor down properly and get used to being in the open?

Gravelly

pedigree 6 wrote: »

Gravelly wrote: »

I found this with both poplar and eucalyptus - very susceptible to storm damage.

If you set them on a ditch or open space from day 1 does it not give the trees and roots a chance to anchor down properly and get used to being in the open?

I set mine along the side of a field, mixed in with birch and alder. One or two of the poplars and several of the eucalyptus blew over in storms once they got above 12 or 15 feet high.

st1979

Yes need to plant if I want to remove ditch. Maybe better to put ditch around yard to screen and shelter it.
Eucalyptus was actually my preferred choice. As the few we got in the garden are impressive. Lost 2 out of 5 in that big storm in February 3 yrs ago. But they were 30' tall. Am on the east coast beside sea so breezy but no bad frosts
Soil is clay. Willow grow well but are a scourge.
Neighbours got monteray pine and doing well. But any he planted with a support stake fell over at 10 feet tall. The others grew fine. So what previous poster said is true they need to be exposed to the wind from young age to put down deep roots.

st1979

What value do you place on shelter for grass growth etc in regard to ditches. See some stuff on Internet from new Zealand where they plant shelter belts

pedigree 6

Gravelly wrote: »

I set mine along the side of a field, mixed in with birch and alder. One or two of the poplars and several of the eucalyptus blew over in storms once they got above 12 or 15 feet high.

I had to go the field this evening and take a few pics of my own ones to show ye.
I hope these don't blow down but from what I've seen these ones are fairly able for it. (famous last words).











Now I bought these trees in sept 2009 in the little 6 cube trays and sowed them into pots for a year and then I sowed them at the base of the ditch in march 2011. That tree that I have the tape measure on has a circumference of 19 and a half inches and it's 5 ft 6in up to the first branch and then using the old index finger and thumb way of measuring :pac: I estimate that tree to be 27ft tall.
The tree to the right in the first pic has a circumference of 23 in and would be a few inches taller.
When I was sowing I dug a big enough hole and mixed a lot of FYM into the soil at the bottom of the hole and teased out the roots when planting from the pots.

But pleased enough with mine so far.

Edit: I never use stakes or supports for trees.

Gravelly

I've a layer of clay under the soil in my place, and from what I could see of the ones that blew down, the roots seemed to spread vertically once they hit that, meaning they weren't anchored very well.

Sam Kade

Mooooo wrote: »

Would planting or letting a bad bit of ground go wild do instead of putting in a hedge somewhere I wonder.?

Not sure, I'd have a few acres that would be ideal if that could be done instead.

Mooooo

Sam Kade wrote: »

Not sure, I'd have a few acres that would be ideal if that could be done instead.

Same,