Shelterbelt Planning
Typical design:
Use two rows of walker poplar (growth rated by gov't at 1 to 1.2 meters per year) plus one row of evergreens.
The walker poplar is the only woody species with horizontal branches at ground level. This allows it to stop ground winds almost as effectively as caragana, chokecherry or lilac hedges on the outside row.
Note that the life expectancy of the walker poplars is 30-50 years, so this option is not as long lived as some other options.
Price for a 7 acre property (with tree rows are about 700 m long):
Row One: 280 walker poplar (at 2.5 m / 8 ft spacing)
Row Two: 280 walker poplar (at 2.5 m / 8 ft spacing)
Row Three: 235 Evergreen trees (at 3 m / 10 ft spacing)
Total length of tree installation: 2,100 meters
Total trees required: 795 trees
Total cost: $1,311 inclusive of taxes
A second option:
Outside row: Okanese Poplar - Carigana - Carigana - Okanese Poplar etc (1 m spacing)
Next row: Okanese Poplar - Carigana - Carigana - Okanese Poplar etc (1 m spacing)
Next row: White Spruce - Scot's Pine - White Spruce - Scot's Pine etc (3 mspacing)
Inside row: Lilac (or any other shrub) (1 m spacing)
The above option would require: 466 Okanese Poplar, 933 Carigana,
116 White Spruce, 116 Scot's Pine, and 700 Lilac.
Total trees required: 2331
Total cost: $3,818.40
This option also ensures a long lived shelterbelt that should be around for 80 years.
Notes on spacing and land preparation:
Typically we recommend 4 meters (13 ft) between tree rows
Using this spacing, the first option would have a total width of 12 m (39 ft), and the second option would have a width of 16 m (52 ft). The land should be deep tilled to eight inches deep and fine tilled like a garden before the trees are planted.
Use two rows of walker poplar (growth rated by gov't at 1 to 1.2 meters per year) plus one row of evergreens.
The walker poplar is the only woody species with horizontal branches at ground level. This allows it to stop ground winds almost as effectively as caragana, chokecherry or lilac hedges on the outside row.
Note that the life expectancy of the walker poplars is 30-50 years, so this option is not as long lived as some other options.
Price for a 7 acre property (with tree rows are about 700 m long):
Row One: 280 walker poplar (at 2.5 m / 8 ft spacing)
Row Two: 280 walker poplar (at 2.5 m / 8 ft spacing)
Row Three: 235 Evergreen trees (at 3 m / 10 ft spacing)
Total length of tree installation: 2,100 meters
Total trees required: 795 trees
Total cost: $1,311 inclusive of taxes
A second option:
Outside row: Okanese Poplar - Carigana - Carigana - Okanese Poplar etc (1 m spacing)
Next row: Okanese Poplar - Carigana - Carigana - Okanese Poplar etc (1 m spacing)
Next row: White Spruce - Scot's Pine - White Spruce - Scot's Pine etc (3 mspacing)
Inside row: Lilac (or any other shrub) (1 m spacing)
The above option would require: 466 Okanese Poplar, 933 Carigana,
116 White Spruce, 116 Scot's Pine, and 700 Lilac.
Total trees required: 2331
Total cost: $3,818.40
This option also ensures a long lived shelterbelt that should be around for 80 years.
Notes on spacing and land preparation:
Typically we recommend 4 meters (13 ft) between tree rows
Using this spacing, the first option would have a total width of 12 m (39 ft), and the second option would have a width of 16 m (52 ft). The land should be deep tilled to eight inches deep and fine tilled like a garden before the trees are planted.
Planting Advice
→ Spring Planting can be carried out any time from when you can first pre-work the land in early May to mid June.
From mid June to mid July you can still plant but you MUST be prepared to give regular water support when planted after mid June.
→ if soil moisture is low make sure to water seedlings after planting.
→ to enhance drought resistance, plant all tree seedlings and especially willows with the entire 5 inch root plus 2 to 3 inches of the stem underground. i.e. plant each tree seedling in a hole that is 8 inches deep (establishment is all about water availability!)
→ to know if willows and poplars thrive in your area check to see if yard sites in your region have willows
→ Adequate soil moisture is the main determinant of tree establishment
→ Willows do best on sites with higher water tables or where land owner can provide watering during first couple years of tree establishment.
→ Willows are NEVER recommended for drought prone sites such as; hilly lands, top of valley escarpments, or high plateaus
If you wish shrub willows and any shrub to make impenetrable security fence please cut the shrubs back to six inches from the ground
in the fall so they come up more intensely from the ground.
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Advantages of Willows
If adequate moisture exists naturally or if land owner installs drip line for irrigation support, Golden, Laurel, Silver leaf and White Willow grow faster than most poplars. The willow canopies is far wider than shelterbelt poplars; this means that willow trees stop much more mid-story winds and snow. Shrub willow grows two to three times faster than other hedge trees. Willows live far longer than most hybrid poplars. However hybrid poplars will grow higher than most willows by ten feet or more. Willows are not suitable for hilly areas, valley tops nor on edges of escarpments. Poplars are more suited to drought prone areas.
Shelterbelt Planting Advice
Please go to www.help-shelterbelts.com to see Frequently Asked Questions and Shelterbelt Planning links.
It is highly appreciated if you can visit the site first and phone for additional advice that you cannot find on the site.
If you are not good on the internet just give us a call and we will be able to assist you.
Shelterbelt Tree Planting Services for Spring and Fall: Sign Up Now for an
On-Site Planting Planning Session
Help provides tree planting services in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. Trees available for contract planting are poplars, willows, Spruce, Pine, Maple, lilac and dogwood.
HELP is an international voluntary organization hosting volunteer forestry students from across Canada and around the world who come for apprenticeship training and certification at HELP. In 2016 HELP hosted 15 interns from six countries and Canada. HELP has just moved onto its new 160 acre tree farm near Weyburn which works to keep a constant year round stock of 600,000 container root trees ready for distribution. In addition we have planted 24 km of shelterbelts and stooling beds which are harvested for the 2nd time in November, 2017.
Contacts: Email:
Phone: 306-861-0814
Fax: 306-848-0902
Email: [email protected]
For other HELP programs not related to trees please see HELP's main website at: www.help-international.com
→ Spring Planting can be carried out any time from when you can first pre-work the land in early May to mid June.
From mid June to mid July you can still plant but you MUST be prepared to give regular water support when planted after mid June.
→ if soil moisture is low make sure to water seedlings after planting.
→ to enhance drought resistance, plant all tree seedlings and especially willows with the entire 5 inch root plus 2 to 3 inches of the stem underground. i.e. plant each tree seedling in a hole that is 8 inches deep (establishment is all about water availability!)
→ to know if willows and poplars thrive in your area check to see if yard sites in your region have willows
→ Adequate soil moisture is the main determinant of tree establishment
→ Willows do best on sites with higher water tables or where land owner can provide watering during first couple years of tree establishment.
→ Willows are NEVER recommended for drought prone sites such as; hilly lands, top of valley escarpments, or high plateaus
If you wish shrub willows and any shrub to make impenetrable security fence please cut the shrubs back to six inches from the ground
in the fall so they come up more intensely from the ground.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advantages of Willows
If adequate moisture exists naturally or if land owner installs drip line for irrigation support, Golden, Laurel, Silver leaf and White Willow grow faster than most poplars. The willow canopies is far wider than shelterbelt poplars; this means that willow trees stop much more mid-story winds and snow. Shrub willow grows two to three times faster than other hedge trees. Willows live far longer than most hybrid poplars. However hybrid poplars will grow higher than most willows by ten feet or more. Willows are not suitable for hilly areas, valley tops nor on edges of escarpments. Poplars are more suited to drought prone areas.
Shelterbelt Planting Advice
Please go to www.help-shelterbelts.com to see Frequently Asked Questions and Shelterbelt Planning links.
It is highly appreciated if you can visit the site first and phone for additional advice that you cannot find on the site.
If you are not good on the internet just give us a call and we will be able to assist you.
Shelterbelt Tree Planting Services for Spring and Fall: Sign Up Now for an
On-Site Planting Planning Session
Help provides tree planting services in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. Trees available for contract planting are poplars, willows, Spruce, Pine, Maple, lilac and dogwood.
HELP is an international voluntary organization hosting volunteer forestry students from across Canada and around the world who come for apprenticeship training and certification at HELP. In 2016 HELP hosted 15 interns from six countries and Canada. HELP has just moved onto its new 160 acre tree farm near Weyburn which works to keep a constant year round stock of 600,000 container root trees ready for distribution. In addition we have planted 24 km of shelterbelts and stooling beds which are harvested for the 2nd time in November, 2017.
Contacts: Email:
Phone: 306-861-0814
Fax: 306-848-0902
Email: [email protected]
For other HELP programs not related to trees please see HELP's main website at: www.help-international.com