Day 313

Getting that area full of trees is still a ways away. I would consider myself and my better half patient people, but we’ve got the itch to get trees in the ground. With new neighbors in various stages of building, we feel establishing trees will help us for a variety of reasons. Now we just have to decide where we want to start the process.

A logical choice would be along the property lines. With twenty acres, there are plenty of property lines to cover and not a sizable enough bank account to cover them all. Prioritizing the property lines is essential.

With a house moving right next door, this is where we would likely begin. Besides helping with water flow, it will help protect our chickens from wind and save our neighbors from being bombarded with chickens anytime they look out their window. We want trees that will grow quickly and help reach these goals but not interfere with the ability of our solar panels to soak up the rays of the sun and help minimize our electric bill. 

A second priority is to establish visual borders along the western and northern property lines. This will help protect the restoration work we have already done. Plus, it would be nice to break up the open land with some height and color. We know the land supports shrubs so we hope to add more to spruce up the land. My wife is a big fan of sumac so hopefully, we can get some in the ground and let them spread the way they naturally do. In fact, if we can find trees and shrubs that spread their roots underground and essentially take over certain areas, this would be ideal.

Eventually, we hope to get funding to reforest the areas decimated by the emerald ash borer. There are funding options out there to help with that. We have already turned in the application so now we get to play the waiting game. We won't know if we get any of that available funding for a few months so if we want to get trees in the ground before the ground freezes over, the time is now.