From Seed Division: Kanorin's Lodgepole and Aspen mountainside planting

[Kanorin]

Warning, experiment in progress! I've never done anything like this before. This past winter I built this funky box to look like a mountainside planting. And while my box-building skills aren't amazing, I think I was able to cover up the flaws pretty well using a homemade muck (roughly equal parts akadama/kiryu dust : sphagnum moss : water.



The research participants: Lodgepole pines that I harvested as cones from last years' visit to Colorado (needed to bake them in the oven for ~30 minutes to get the cones to open and be fertile) and Quaking aspen seeds that I purchased.


I noticed (and then later verified) that aspens start to be found about 6,500 feet of elevation and lodgepole pines in the Colorado rocky mountains are usually found between about 8000-10,000 feet. Also, these trees are often found in mono-species stands, where one species will dominate a few hundred square feet or so. So I tried to mimic this growth pattern in miniature, with some Aspen stands lower on the mountainside and a large stand of lodgepoles higher up. Obviously, there are plenty of other interesting species in Rocky mountain forests, but this planting will only feature these two. I'm hoping the aspen will throw a few more trunks through root suckers as they tend to do in the wild.

 

[Kanorin]

The aspens have outpaced the lodgepole pines by about 12 to 1. You can see a few back there if you squint. We’ll see how things wake up next year. Might have to cut back the aspens a bit.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I imagine the aspen could possibly shade out some of the lodgepole pine seedlings. You might not have as many pine seedlings as you planted.

While they cohabitate in nature, share mycorrhiza associations in nature, in a pot the mechanics might not work out as nicely.

But it is an interesting experiment, the growth rate difference is quite dramatic, I could not have predicted that.

 

[Kanorin]

Update:

 

[Kanorin]

Update: the aspens continue to love this. In fact, they have rooted through my box and into the ground, which is probably why they are outpacing the lodgepoles by such a wide margin. The two largest ones have fused and are about 9 feet tall. Increasingly this May end up as just an aspen grove. Also, this box is probably going to fall apart when I have to unearth the aspens.

 

[czaczaja]

I'd consider saving those pines while you can. They're not getting enough light through those aspens and will die.

 

[Kanorin]

I'd consider saving those pines while you can. They're not getting enough light through those aspens and will die.

Yeah, I think you're right. The box is falling apart, so I'll need to deconstruct and repot everything in spring anyway.

 

[czaczaja]

Yeah, I think you're right. The box is falling apart, so I'll need to deconstruct and repot everything in spring anyway.

It was a nice idea and beautiful execution but its fun to see how aspens didn't care about any of it

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Love the idea of this project.

I think the issue is Aspen appears to be a riparian and or edge tree …as such they may be limited by their ultimate height vs that of the Ponderosa.

Two things maybe could help.

Get taller, more developed Ponderosa and put these on the sun side.

Delay planting the Aspen, look for dwarf cultivars if there are any, or prune the aspen vigorously…(this would make these trees a bit gnarly… would have to study the natural trees to get the best ideas on what would be realistic.

Or maybe shift the Aspen to a dwarf Birch…?

Just a thought

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[Kanorin]

For the purposes of this contest - this might turn into an aspen grove only. I'll probably see if I can get some root cuttings to take of the aspens to set aside for a future planting with the pines (but I'll give the pines more of a head start there).

 

[Kanorin]

Just the Aspen. @sorce pot

 

[sorce]

Just the Aspen. @sorce pot
View attachment 535064

That's really mine? That's fresh!

Sorce

 

[Kanorin]

This Aspen grove is loving life. This is after branch selection

 

[Tahoebonsai]

The quaking aspen gets its name for the quaking noise they make when they flutter their leaves but the aspen tree flutters it’s leave to help absorb more sunlight through its leaves so windy locations are better for the tree

 

[Kanorin]

I also discovered this year that quaking aspen propagate extremely well from root cuttings. I just plopped a few finger-thick roots in some media and mostly covered them up. 8 weeks later:

 

[Kanorin]

The bark is starting to lighten up on these.
Thinking about what color pot to make for this composition. Maybe a dark color like dark green or blue would make a nice contrast with the white bark.