Love it. Black locust is such a powerful tree. I have about 100 going from seed right now. Planning on using them for fast shade and then firewood and posts.
What kind of material are you using for those protective tubes? Considering the amount of trees you are planting, seems like the cost would add up really quickly.
I'm always interested in what you do and I have learned so much from you. But I am surprised you are planting Black locust. It is highly toxic to livestock, and the area becomes a no go zone for your poultry. There are more downsides to this plant than benefits.
Absolutely yes, but it's being grown on the swales so it'll be relatively easy to fence livestock out. They'll not be allowed to grow into full sized trees.
The main burst of nitrogen release and nitrogen cycling bacteria into your soil from N fixing plants actually occurs when the plant dies or is killed. I’m in a different location where grevillia robusta is the best (local) tree for the job. The trick would be to plant dozens/hundreds of them in a really tight row, and kill half of them every year for decades. The living ones would be used to chop, drop n trample in the early years so they aren’t crowding each other out too much and provide mulch. (I’m in a dry location). Eventually just a few N fixing trees would be left alive in my context, to support the mycelium network, while the grevillea robusta are largely succeeded by nitrogen and water needy plants. If the black locust turns out to be a mistake here, it’s going to be highly beneficial to the soil for Dun Croft to kill them all off. The only disaster would be if the locusts spreads faster than anyone can kill them.
Love it. Black locust is such a powerful tree. I have about 100 going from seed right now.
Planning on using them for fast shade and then firewood and posts.
Excellent!
👍👍👍
What kind of material are you using for those protective tubes? Considering the amount of trees you are planting, seems like the cost would add up really quickly.
I'm not sure what material it's made from, I was lucky enough to get hold of a load for free.
Is black locus the same as thorny locus or honey locus? Have those growing all over the place here.
Different species, but I have honey locust growing too.
I'm always interested in what you do and I have learned so much from you. But I am surprised you are planting Black locust. It is highly toxic to livestock, and the area becomes a no go zone for your poultry. There are more downsides to this plant than benefits.
Absolutely yes, but it's being grown on the swales so it'll be relatively easy to fence livestock out. They'll not be allowed to grow into full sized trees.
The main burst of nitrogen release and nitrogen cycling bacteria into your soil from N fixing plants actually occurs when the plant dies or is killed. I’m in a different location where grevillia robusta is the best (local) tree for the job. The trick would be to plant dozens/hundreds of them in a really tight row, and kill half of them every year for decades. The living ones would be used to chop, drop n trample in the early years so they aren’t crowding each other out too much and provide mulch. (I’m in a dry location). Eventually just a few N fixing trees would be left alive in my context, to support the mycelium network, while the grevillea robusta are largely succeeded by nitrogen and water needy plants.
If the black locust turns out to be a mistake here, it’s going to be highly beneficial to the soil for Dun Croft to kill them all off. The only disaster would be if the locusts spreads faster than anyone can kill them.