Allegheny Brambles:
Backyard Habitats and Windbreaks
Mary Hosmer
Public Affairs
Allegheny National Forest
I stare at the privet hedge. Like any second hand homeowner, I treasure things about my home and dislike some things the previous homeowner obviously thought to be wonderful. Privet (Ligustrum spp.) bushes are everywhere on my piece of God’s Little Acre, near the Allegheny National Forest. Privet is commonly planted as a hedge to provide a screen of plants in the summer months. Privets form dense thickets elsewhere in the forests, outcompeting native vegetation. They do their intended job, only too well.
I want a windbreak on the western and northern edges of my property, particularly after experiencing the brutal winds of last winter. I also want to create my windbreak from native shrubs and trees that not only break the wind, but also provide habitat for wildlife. I need a plan… back to the seed and plant catalogs; back to http://paforeststewards.cas.psu.edu.
I need to remove the privet before I can plant some trees and shrubs. I need to spray the privet with herbicide once it leafs out so it doesn’t grow any longer.
I learn from the website I need to mix in trees with needles (conifers) in the windbreak to provide wildlife a chance to escape the vicious winds from the west. Selecting conifers to plant is a difficult part of planning the windbreak because our own state tree, the hemlock, is being decimated by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an insect.. I decide to not plant hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) even though hemlock is one of the two most abundant native conifers in Pennsylvania. The hemlock woolly adelgid is on the doorstep of the Allegheny Plateau, ready to wipe out huge amounts of hemlock. I have no desire to lose all my hard work to needle-killing insects. I rule out hemlock.
The bad effects from non-native insects are staggering as I learn more.
White pine is the other of the two most abundant native conifers in Pennsylvania. I learn that white pines (Pinus strobus)grow in a zig-zag shape here in Pennsylvania because a non-native weevil insect destroys the top shoot every year and forces the tree to grow in a zig-zag shape. White pine is also an open-grown tree in that it has abundant space between branches that does not deter winds as well as hemlock. I tentatively keep white pine on my ‘list’ even though it appears to not provide the wildlife benefit I’m looking for.
Mmm, the Woods and Wildlife booklet recommends spruce trees as providing benefits to wildlife. Black spruce is a minor amount of the conifers in Pennsylvania; it is found in some northern counties near the New York border in wetter sites. I keep black spruce (Picea mariana) on my list.
Red spruce is native to eastern Pennsylvania, but not here. I rule out red spruce (Picea rubens).
White spruce was never native to Pennsylvania. I rule out white spruce (Picea glauca).
I want a good ‘wildlife’ tree. I find that Atlantic white cedar and balsam fir provide not only cover, but also food for animals in the winter, as cottontails, snowshoe hare, and deer will eat the needles. I also learn that Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) is not found in nurseries because of the difficulty of propagation. I rule out Atlantic white cedar.
I add eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) to my list instead.
I check the range maps for balsam fir and find that balsam fir (Abies balsamea) was native to northern Pennsylvania and even stretched into central Pennsylvania along the Appalachian chain. The deer population decimated regeneration of this tree and it disappeared from the landscape. I keep balsam fir on my list.
A thoughtful weekend weighing the pros and cons of what conifer to plant leads me to decide to create my windbreak with plantings of black spruce, red cedar, and balsam fir. Next week’s installment will showcase wildlife shrubs for food.
The Value of Conifers
1. Conifers are better than hardwood trees for windbreaks.
2. Most conifers provide a year-round vegetation cover or visual screen because the needles stay on all year.
3. Conifers provide cover from harsh winds for animals and birds.
4. Conifers protect animals and birds from the snow and rain.
5. The needles can be eaten by some animals.
6. Conifers provide nesting cover for birds.
Public Affairs
Allegheny National Forest
I stare at the privet hedge. Like any second hand homeowner, I treasure things about my home and dislike some things the previous homeowner obviously thought to be wonderful. Privet (Ligustrum spp.) bushes are everywhere on my piece of God’s Little Acre, near the Allegheny National Forest. Privet is commonly planted as a hedge to provide a screen of plants in the summer months. Privets form dense thickets elsewhere in the forests, outcompeting native vegetation. They do their intended job, only too well.
I want a windbreak on the western and northern edges of my property, particularly after experiencing the brutal winds of last winter. I also want to create my windbreak from native shrubs and trees that not only break the wind, but also provide habitat for wildlife. I need a plan… back to the seed and plant catalogs; back to http://paforeststewards.cas.psu.edu.
I need to remove the privet before I can plant some trees and shrubs. I need to spray the privet with herbicide once it leafs out so it doesn’t grow any longer.
I learn from the website I need to mix in trees with needles (conifers) in the windbreak to provide wildlife a chance to escape the vicious winds from the west. Selecting conifers to plant is a difficult part of planning the windbreak because our own state tree, the hemlock, is being decimated by the hemlock woolly adelgid, an insect.. I decide to not plant hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) even though hemlock is one of the two most abundant native conifers in Pennsylvania. The hemlock woolly adelgid is on the doorstep of the Allegheny Plateau, ready to wipe out huge amounts of hemlock. I have no desire to lose all my hard work to needle-killing insects. I rule out hemlock.
The bad effects from non-native insects are staggering as I learn more.
White pine is the other of the two most abundant native conifers in Pennsylvania. I learn that white pines (Pinus strobus)grow in a zig-zag shape here in Pennsylvania because a non-native weevil insect destroys the top shoot every year and forces the tree to grow in a zig-zag shape. White pine is also an open-grown tree in that it has abundant space between branches that does not deter winds as well as hemlock. I tentatively keep white pine on my ‘list’ even though it appears to not provide the wildlife benefit I’m looking for.
Mmm, the Woods and Wildlife booklet recommends spruce trees as providing benefits to wildlife. Black spruce is a minor amount of the conifers in Pennsylvania; it is found in some northern counties near the New York border in wetter sites. I keep black spruce (Picea mariana) on my list.
Red spruce is native to eastern Pennsylvania, but not here. I rule out red spruce (Picea rubens).
White spruce was never native to Pennsylvania. I rule out white spruce (Picea glauca).
I want a good ‘wildlife’ tree. I find that Atlantic white cedar and balsam fir provide not only cover, but also food for animals in the winter, as cottontails, snowshoe hare, and deer will eat the needles. I also learn that Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) is not found in nurseries because of the difficulty of propagation. I rule out Atlantic white cedar.
I add eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) to my list instead.
I check the range maps for balsam fir and find that balsam fir (Abies balsamea) was native to northern Pennsylvania and even stretched into central Pennsylvania along the Appalachian chain. The deer population decimated regeneration of this tree and it disappeared from the landscape. I keep balsam fir on my list.
A thoughtful weekend weighing the pros and cons of what conifer to plant leads me to decide to create my windbreak with plantings of black spruce, red cedar, and balsam fir. Next week’s installment will showcase wildlife shrubs for food.
The Value of Conifers
1. Conifers are better than hardwood trees for windbreaks.
2. Most conifers provide a year-round vegetation cover or visual screen because the needles stay on all year.
3. Conifers provide cover from harsh winds for animals and birds.
4. Conifers protect animals and birds from the snow and rain.
5. The needles can be eaten by some animals.
6. Conifers provide nesting cover for birds.
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