I live in Western NY and here are some natives that have caught my eye that you didn't mention: Shrubs: Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), Sumac (Rhus typhina), Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) Herbaceous: American Skipenard (Aralia recemosa), Jack in the pulpit I(Arisaena triphyllum), Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum) Purple Trillium (Trillium erectum). Vines: Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) which is a native honeysuckle, the hummingbirds like it. Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans), and Pipevines (Aristolochia marcophylla) which are host plants for Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies.

Love this thoughtfully produced video, but also loving the abundance of wealth in the comments! So many intelligent comments and suggestions. What a beautiful community! Thankful to have found it :)

It’s unbelievable how knowledgeable you are! My family has 50 acres in Sullivan county, which is a little south of the finger lakes. I would love to do a similar thing with our property but I have no idea how to start. But this video is exactly what I need. I’ll be rewatching this for a while and taking notes! My first project is to tackle a Japanese knotweed in the riparian zones. Thanks for the great content !

I'd echo what others said about leaving some of the dead standing trees, and at some point when they fall, leave them to decompose. Of course that's tricky if you have things planted around them that could get flattened. You can also use some of the cut ash in combination with the cut spruce to create some brush piles in or on the edge of the woods. I occasionally collect Christmas trees for this purpose.

Hackberry is amazing tree. Wildlife loves it, probably one of the most durable tree's , drought, storms , winter, never loses a limb. ... [b] Must have in wet area Cephalanthus occidentalis , Buttonbush one of first to bloom, everything loves it, even eight-spotted forester moth . People will love this too.....[c] at least 1 native willow. Willow is number 2 to the Oak tree's being number 1 in wild life value. [d] Gray-headed coneflower's loved by goldfinches... [e] Bluebells can be very picky, pretty expensive, try a few in different area's.. [f] Baptisia australis Blue false Indigo "favorite man plant" makes a wonderful mounding shrub like plant, never need pruning. Flower's are adored by bumble bee's. [g] Royal Catchfly silena regia loved by Hummingbirds. The red is crazy amazing with a 4to6 week bloom time... [h] little blue stem host plant to many skipper's (butterflies)

Your landscape planning here is a wonderful resource for people thinking about building a food forest. The "insect value" noted for each species is normally given no thought but critically important for resilience and increasing wildlife value. Oaks are superiorem in their ecosystem benefits and wonder if you've considered looking into low tannin acorns for potential use as a flour. The remnants of the John Hershey nut trees outside Philly were selected for such traits and are being made available. A shrubby species that is good producer is Q. prinoides. Viburnums look like they'd do well there, birds love them and highbush cranberry might be good for "loose permaculture" aesthetic. Enjoy the journey, great project!

Attracting more bird will greatly reduce pest pressure. Thanks for caring for the birds and wildlife. Not enough people can!

That's a lot of layering for initial planning. I also love to think big and evolve things as they come into play. Especially with the over abundance of canopy requiring thinning your currently blessed with. I'd try to focus this season more towards utilizing that abundance of limb material towards pathway creations, native habitat structures, nursing log beds, some huglekulter, and general natural mimicry good forestry practices, while you nurse out, or direct seed your several selections of layers for future planting. Perhaps build some small nursing beds beside each defined tiny home site close to the laneway, so they can be watered and monitored as it evolves. Also, don't forget some red mulberry, and if you have morels symbiote to white pine, plant in some American Chestnuts(not to close to housing locations though for possible coppice) Sumac pairs well with malus and grapes as well, they are aggressive, so encompassing a plot with a mowable path of nitrogen fixers is one way to bridge nitrogen gaps, and keep a low energy managed approach, though, hedges of new Jersey tea to line paths would be a beautiful asthetic to accompany 'slash pile' borders.( Nursing log mimicry of agroforestry byproduct as opposed to burning) rabbits and voles pair well with nitrogen fixers in those systems, and then release that nitrogen for others to take up once girdled or coppiced. They tend to leave mature stock alone,,, ish. Lol I love the rugged, majority native species, natural permaculture projects. Looking forward to seeing this one evolve.

Hi Summer. What a wonderful project you have going there! How about a red-leaf shrub Prunus (sandcherry) of some sort? It is hard to find one which fruits much, because a lot of gardeners don't want "messy" fruit on their shrubs, but the birds go for whatever fruit they can find on mine. And, yes, service berry. Mine is Robin Central Station when the fruit starts to ripen. I barely get enough for one or two jars of jam. Also for the interstitial, or the insect area, I once grew Apium graveolens (celeriac). It got about five feet high in rich Pennsylvania loam. I love the root for soups in the winter. I left other plants to flower and I have never in my life seen so many bees (both honey bees and native bees) on any other plant. It also self-seeded here and there but did not seem to want to be invasive.

Those Norway Spruce Trees- I'm wondering if their are any "Large Tree Nurseries" nearby/semi-nearby that would buy those from you? I've heard of the Large Tree Nurseries doing things like that. They bring their giant tree root scooping machines, and in a healthy way, pluck those trees right up! And they would pay you for the trees! Which could generate money for the projects! Just a thought.

Killing it with the quality of the videos lately! :))

It's wonderful to watch you all think so carefully about each step of improvements on the land!

During migration in PA warblers are often found eating caterpillars from the boxelder trees. Not a tree for a small suburban yard but a great addition to a woods such as what you’re planning. Squirrels love the seeds and many birds will feed their young the caterpillars from such a tree. Hackberry as you mentioned is also a great support for birds along with oaks.

Love the content, and the planning process is one of the more fun in my opinion, so many opportunities. One thing I might suggest is a bit of chainsaw work and feather in that straight edge into the forest. For any other berry shrubs/trees, elderberry (red or black), mulberry, Hackberry, Juneberry, highbush cranberry, Nanny berry, and all the gooseberries (shade loving). For mast bearing, if your looking for squirrels, hazelnuts, chestnut, Butternut, and groundnut. Also red oisar dogwood is a deer favorite along with a few of those srubs so they will pull even more than you already have. But that could be a good thing to concentrate them there instead of other areas. Fianlly, would be interesting to see some shrub trios or guilds and/or use a fruit or nut tree as the center.

Hi Summer, thank you for the update on the property. As always, you are very informative. I love that you include the scientific name of the plants, as well as including the common name as a subnote as you speak. Although you already provide the links to the articles you are referring to....as subtitles or notes within the video, I would like to see them listed under the Description section. This way you can continue listening without stopping the video to write down the info. For instance, at 0:41 you mentioned Ep. 77 and you put a caption and the link on the upper right hand corner of the video. I had to scroll back, in order to get the name of the link, etc. so I can watch that Episode, again. ▪︎ at 17:50 you showed an article on How to identify Pine needle rust. I would love to read the entire article; so, providing the link would facilitate that. There was another article you mentioned about the forest and I can not recall exactly which stop did I see it. This is when I wish it had been listed in the Description. At 3:25 it would be nice to identify the guy stroking the pine needles and include his title. Your videos are very educational. Keep up the good work!! 😉 🌾🍃☘

Awesome stuff. You should think about keeping some of the snags around if you are trying to support bird and insect life! The main reason bird houses are necessary is due to the fact that we all too often take down dead trees that don’t need to be removed. Even leaving a 5-10 foot stump can be extremely beneficial. 👏

Sounds like a really good plan. We too are developing a former commercial farm to a Permaculture site. The first thing I did was to plant a flower garden to bring in wild life and boy did it. It was beautiful to watch a forlorn field come to life.

Hazelnut would be another great addition. Early bloom (winter) for pollinators and food for humans and wildlife. The wood can also be used for stakes and the like if needed. 😊 I love your content and your project! Thanks for bringing us along.

This project will be a lot of fun to see evolve, I love more structured gardens, but I also love the more natural and native side to gardening. So this is giving me lots of inspiration. Some of my favorites to see out the woods (NH) are Indian cucumber root, smart weed, jewelweed, starflower, fringed polygala, pink lady slippers (and any native orchid), cardinal flowers, American pokeweed, skunk cabbage, ghost pipe, common selfheal, sassafras, clasping venus'-looking glass, and native violets. If you haven't already I would definitely check out The Native Plant Trust, their based out of Massachusetts but have a great array of natives, and they have a really cool mission in general. It might also be fun, if its your thing, to start a inaturalist project for the property. Good luck :)

I am looking forward to the progress and results of your plans. It sounds so beautiful! So many possibilities...

*Spongy moth Love feeding the birds. So much fun to get a diverse mix of birds. After the winter we had in Texas the other year, I assumed that a lot of the early insects must have been killed off because the birds were coming and eating all the seedlings from my pollinator project. I guess I didn't know that birds will eat seedlings like that! I assumed it was some sort of leaf cutter insect coming by and doing it... Until I caught a bird right in the act!

Overall, sounds like a GREAT plan!! I'm in Central Texas, and we have many of the trees you mentioned. But I wonder if their invasive habits are better controlled by your snowy winters? Like the Hackberry tree. People here think of this as a "trash tree" for a couple of reasons. One is they are very short lived. As you know: Fast growers = short life span. Two - Their seeds are so very plentiful, and therefore the new sprouts are also plentiful! As in - EXTREMELY plentiful!! I fear they could easily take over a forest... Maybe up in New York that would be curtailed by the colder weather? I'm not sure. I've got 2 Hackberry trees, full grown, they lived their best life, full 30 year life here in my yard. They're quite tall. My favorite part of the Hackberry show was in the late Spring when they flowered. The trees are too tall to enjoy a visual show of the flowers, but the smell was intoxicating!! And after a rain, that perfume just filled the whole neighborhood!! The Gulf Fritillary butterfly covered these 2 trees during that time! It was just glorious for those reasons, which is why I let them grow. However, In 2020 when Texas was hit with that big Snowmaggedon storm for 6 days of below zero weather, these 2 Hackberrys bit the dust. Granted, they were at the end of their lifespan. Nature did her job, and took them that week. Those 50 foot trees soon became a danger as the large, heavy, lateral branches began to crash down from their dead canopies! They didn't drop in pieces, but dropped whole 20 foot long branches, all in one piece! And dropped with no warning, just a big crash! We don't normally get those types of storms, and I'm wondering if your area does? Of course, that particular storm wasn't a "normal" snow storm either! I'm convinced it was a perfect mix of all things that kill nature, as was seen by the after effects. So perhaps the snow storms you get will not be so detrimental to the Hackberrys you plant? At any rate, if Hackberrys are not rated as invasive in your area, then you'll definitely be glad to enjoy their flowering show!

It is so fun to watch the transformation there. Have you considered sea buckthorn as a nitrogen fixer? And Guomi? And elderberry as a native plant to feed wildlife? I grew up near Syracuse and now live down next far from Hortus. In Onondaga county some things we found on our property were, wild gooseberry in wetter areas, elderberry, wild raspberry, butternut, walnut, even ginseng. Also Trillium flowers in the woods. In Ulster county some things we have that you didn’t mention are hazelnut, blackberries, raspberries, and spicebush. Ground cover: lingonberry and partridge berry.

first ❤️❤️ thank you for inspiring us with all your efforts in protecting the environment

Love what you are doing! Just got a homestead myself and are doing exactly the same thing! I was able to source some native plants through my states tree sales, so take a look if they are around. What I grabbed for birds this year: spicebush, viburnum(nanny berry and high bush cranberry), elderberry, service berry and dogwood. Maybe purple flowering raspberry, that works well in forest ecosystems. I also grabbed some native sunflowers and rudbeckias to help with seed availability. Next year I am going to focus on nuts like hazelnut and the breeding programs to bring chestnut and butternut back into the ecosystem. Hawthorn, oak and linden trees are great habitat for insects.

This was fascinating! I myself love rowan/mountain ash. It's got so many good uses for wild life. It's gorgeous through out the seasons. Plus there's the folkloristic side of it with all the stories of it being a tree that reaches both the world seen and unseen 😊. Here in Finland they say you can predict how cold the witer is going to be by how much berries the rowan bears each year.

I just think your work is so meaningful and essential. I’m dreaming that one day I can visit the property.

A great nitrogen fixer that is also loved by wildlife is white flowering clover (Trifolium repens) and it can easily be seeded at low cost around plants without competing. Red flowering clover has medicinal properties and makes a great tea, goldenrod is also medicinal - so if some stays, it might be because one of you needs it. Culinary herbs like Thyme benefit Apple trees as do onions and vice versa, generally if it makes a great culinary companion when cooking it'll also make great garden companion - hope this helps.

I think it would be cool to put some beehives on that property

Maybe lowbush/highbush blueberry and cranberry for the boggier parts? Great host plant and delicious. Also corylus americana, I love hazelnuts.

I love your selections and admire what you are doing for the land and wildlife! Some additional plants that came to mind are Lindera benzoin (host for spice Bush swallowtail butterfly and birds like the berries) and Echinacea purpurea (birds love the conflowers I planted in my yard).

I'm really excited that this is going to have so much for the birds to enjoy! I see the benefit of permaculture for food crops over traditional fields, but I never understand why people think that simply creating layers with an orange tree, peas and carrots is the same thing as creating an ecosystem. I'm excited to see how this turns out using native plants that the wildlife will really benefit from :)

Loved learning about the native plants and your plans. Exciting. And to hear of possibility of tiny homes in future ... sign me up!

thanks for the update! the drone shots of the grassy area are beautiful. exciting projects ahead!👍🏾 i had to ask google to define interstitial 😂 enjoy the weekend! 😉

I love your content and your vision for the future! I am excited to see what is to come. I think your vision for adding native plants and enhancing the forest is the best thing you can do!

Thank you for sharing this process with all of us.

The property is coming along beautifully. You've done a lot of work! You may want to find an alternative to Virginia Creeper, I don't believe it is considered invasive for your area, but if you do plan to control it by cutting it back(it grows fast and profuse)...wear gloves! I learned the hard way, its sap contains a skin irritant(wasn't paying attention and I scratched around my eyes), not as extreme as poison ivy, but it does irritate and itch if you don't wash it off immediately. Treat it like you would Euphorbias. Not sure if this reaction happens with everyone, but you may want to check for yourself before planting. Wild strawberry(for sunnier spots) and trillium(prefer shade) are beautiful additions to woodland floors, plus you can eat the strawberries(hopefully before the critters get them).

I’m thoroughly enjoying the FFL videos. Will you be able to use any of the dying trees for hugelkultur? Will there be intentional placement of rocks and/or mosses?

It's very inspiring to watch all the plans and progress! 🤗 I'm planning on reintroducing native plants to my area to bring back pollinators.

Hello great video and I love what you do. As a birder, wildlife biology student and native plant nerd I have many ideas. First I love your native meadow and I am sure the pollinators will love that area but as far as I can tell I think it will be too small to support grassland birds because they need large tracks of land( at least 20 acres) . Instead it would be great for edge living species like Indigo buntings, bluebirds, swallow etc. so I would lean into that and dedicate and area for them. They would like a transition between forest and grassland so lots of shrubs would be great for them and I think you are already headed down that path. One thing I think they would also benefit from would be some very thick shrub islands or thickets for nesting birds and winter sparrows. Native plums, elderberries, sumac are suggestions. Another thing to think about for birds is making sure there are berries around all year from winter to fall so that the different birds that are present at different times are all fed. Also native trees that may seem “buggy” like cherries, oaks or those ash are okay as birds are eating those bugs and likely the trees (not the ash) have evolved to survive those bugs. Also I would love to see more about edge habitat and marshy restoration by the ponds. With a good wetland you can attach a whole different array of birds. Great job! Keep up the hard hard work!

It wouldn't be bad to plant more Haw thorn.It's wonderful heart medicine and the wildlife love it.Edible berries.

Love seeing your plan come together...Thanks for sharing.

And Thank You for the great peek at the land during this time of year! I've even jones-ing for that 70k bulb show!! I know it's too early, but I can't help myself! Having a good look at the nice snow cover helps to keep my imagination in check though! Great Video! ❤️

Lots of flowers - they attract insects that birds can eat, and generate seeds that birds can eat. Fruit bearing shrubs, canes, vines and trees are good too. Dead wood for the birds that go after decomposer/wood eating insects like woodpeckers. Dense evergreen shrubs and dead trees for nesting. Water sources/bird baths. Some birds also like dusty areas to clean themselves off.

You mentioned the rocky soil that most of the interstitial lies on, have you considered mass building soil? What you can do is pile loads of leaves or woodchips onto the soil and let it rot, essentially creating a duff layer over time. I'm sure you can outsource leaves or woodchips from either a landscape company that cleans leaves in the fall or contact a tree removal company for (maybe even free) woodchips. There are many ways to do it using different things. I did a very similar process in my garden, obviously on a much smaller scale and with different plants, but it has been phemeneal. Within just three years not only have the leaves turned into a rich crumbly leaf mold but the soil underneath has improved in quality. Before water would stand in the garden for hours after rains but now it gets all absorbed and retained for much longer periods of time. Definitely something worth considering. I've seen people use grass clippings hay, woodchips leaves, and pretty much any other plant material that is chemical free and safe. Of course, this is just an idea and based on how much you know in this field I am sure this is not a foreign concept to you. Regardless thank you for another amazing video.

Members of your local indigenous tribes may have recipes that have been passed down. They could be a wonderful resource for information on historical native, edible plants for you to add. (And, selfishly, I would LOVE to watch any videos on indigenous cuisine. :P)

Always fascinating and exciting can’t wait to see it evolve!

Some thoughts for your great project. 1) research the Knepp Estate rewilding project in the UK and how they have done things over the past 20 years and their results over 3000 acres. You can use a lot of their ideas, esp around deer protection. Come and visit if you can. 2) I would go for massive, deep dead hedges; they are one of the best, cheap things you can offer for wildlife - hedges made of fallen branches, prunings, small trees. (Laid hedges, not piles). It will help keep deer off certain areas, it will give masses of room for nesting birds and small mammals to hide. It will give protection for small trees to shoot without getting browsed. 3) I think your roses could have the similar effect - I'm not sure why you are taking them out, even if not native. Single flowered roses are good for pollinators. If not browsed by deer, roses should protect sapplings and give good nesting cover. 4) You have snow on the ground for so long that you should really plan for wildlife during that time, not just from the spring. - - 5) One of the main thing that Knepp have found is that the most useful planting is scrub (not full trees) - I would look at planting or better, leaving, scrub land. 6) Personally I wouldn't worry so much about planting stuff up. Take out the problem stuff, leave the land and see what comes. It comes remarkably quickly once you keep out deer. Let it find its own way

A coppice belt would maybe work well for the intersticial area. That way it would never be too tall and coppicing a 1/3 a year wouldn't be too much work. And gives you great biomass for various uses (woodchips, dead hedges, etc.) Joel from "Wild your garden" has lots of information about it

Hi Summer!😊I’m planting small trees and shrubs for the birds this year also! I want to plant: Spicebush Lindera Benzoin. It’s a host plant for the Spicebush swallowtail and the Eastern swallowtail butterflies🦋. Beauty Berry, Callicarpa. Elderberry, Sambucus. Brandywine Viburnum. I’m going to plant the Ilex also. I love all your gardens and your landscaping plans! I’m looking forward to seeing how they all turn out! 😊💖🌸👍👋🦋

I admire you all and what you are doing! I envy you.🥰

Keep a cluster of spruce to grow as a castle spire. Speckled below with white flowering and red flowering trees. Prune them to have a bonsai shape. Make the area a beautiful meadow as well ..Do some rows of grapes and berries bushes. Do a couple grape archways. And bring in some large rocks . huge ones. Itll be a dynamic of fengshui that will be exciting to leisure around. And you could climb the rocks to achieve powerful natural perspectives of your land . . .

I especially like how you mentioned leaving fallen trees in the forest. So many great habitats come from those logs. For me, the human, I especially like the mushroom potential!! As well as just exploring the forest, and looking for those edible mushrooms! Which reminds me... How did that mushroom patch y'all planted go? Last Summer was it? This Spring/Summer should be a good time over in that patch!

One of my favorite annual flowers is Himalayan Impatience. It thrives on its own in rich damp soil and draws in swarms of pollinators.

Wow what a big project❤ Its lovely when after so much hard work and working every area at a time it is exhausting but is the best part! The process is reguarding🦋

Although I live in the Chicago area, I love your videos

I like to idea of keeping a notebook or journal. It would help me keep track. Have you thought of planting hazelnut? It’s useful for wildlife and humans.

Yeah those norway spruce are an eyesore, I think I can perfectly see what look/situation youre aiming for. Consider strawberry/wild straberry as a ground cover, it thrives in such an environment and might even fit as a ground layer in your forest. Blueberry is another berry you could use, especially if you turn your forest into a more acidic-inclined forest, which I think is what it's actually trying to do. If you consider the fact that all broadleaf trees except oak have got some kind of issue, and that the white pine is doing quite well, I'd try to help accelerate that process by introducing some more evergreen species(which do well with oaks and at the same time get rid of fungal issues) such as yew(taxas baccata) and scotspine. Seaberry would be another excellent addition, as it thrives in your climate, is a nitrogen fixer, maintains a rather small size, and produces an abundant amount of berries that are high in vitamin C and antioxidants. You're doing a great job turning the land into what it aught to be, keep it up!

Thanks for sharing 🙂

To seed natural hedges, on the cheap and with well established local plants, but it’s 2 years slower than buying in, i often recommend putting in mock fences, double if need to keep grazing at bay, the effect is the birds land, eat/drop and or poop out their favorite seeds, seeddlings then grow under the fence line !

Liked this plan, some of my close relatives have some inherited farm land thats not being used so its a complicated matter however I keep putting these type of ideas out every so often manly for conversation reasons. I don't believe in having a commercial farmer on the property because most likely it'll end up leading to land sterilization. Im a hobby bird watcher, support the pollinators and gardening is my religion. Keeps me balanced unfortunately its not my decision to make but in time we'll see. Keep up the good work. This is a well thought out process that will lead you to great rewards.

The outlook and goal is very promising yet would absolutely take a long time to accomplish. Not just obtaining the plants or the amount of work but the berries and some trees will take time to fully mature and grow. It would be nice for some of the meadow to have some shrubs or one or two trees dotting the field; birch is native and hopefully would thrive in the meadow.

It’s good to see you growing the range of beneficial ecological planting. Other than birds what predators on the wildlife side are you thinking of? I would suggest foxes poor chickens though and I’m guessing wolves joke I’m British I don’t know what’s over there we just have cute little hedgehogs for bugs other tree killing things.

Regarding gardening for human consumption: Andrew Millison’s video on his slice of permaculture paradise demonstrates just how amazing growing food for ourselves can be for wildlife when done conscientiously. If you haven’t already watched it it’s absolutely worth checking out 💜

Eastern Redbud seed pods are edible. It’s a real favourite plant for the leaf cutter bee to cut circles from for its larvae.

Offer the spruce as cut trees in December

I’ve been working on my own timbered area that was completely overtaken with Amur Honeysuckle. It was a sad mess! Since clearing the honeysuckle, Pockets of bladdernut (Staphlea)and Indiancurrant Coralberry (Symphocarpos orbiculatus have come back to life and are recolonizing areas. Both are fairly common here, Kansas. If those grow in your area, I’d recommend adding them to your list.

Nice cedar waxwing in the thumbnail!

Followed for indoor plants - years later, stayed for the permaculture! I love watching this process and am excited for you. (I'm a city dweller, located north of you in Montreal, but as an urban gardener love getting inspiration for how to incorporate more native plants into my tiny garden spaces and to push the limits with what is possible to garden in an urban environment). I would be curious to know, how much are you trying to control vs. leave up to nature? I'm wondering how you are going to strike that balance, with what you want to plant and your (beautiful) vision, vs. what you are going to leave up to nature to create (or co-create).

Doing something similar to this about 1.5 hours south of you though at higher elevation and much north-facing. Pin cherry does really well. Of what you didn't mention, would recommend - native or not - Nanking cherry, elderberry, gooseberry, goumi, haskap, hazelnut, and Phoenix Tears goji. Also Nijisseiki (20th Century) Asian pear. And another tart cherry and plum, to be determined. Brambles should fit in somewhere too. And Hardy Chicago fig. And all that you mentioned, which was great.

You have great ideas and an excellent list of plants:) I think sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) and Siberian pea shrub (Caragana aborescens) are other good options for nitrogen fixers. Probably maackia amurensis... One thing I've learned when I was trying to grow a food forest from seeds - is not to plant very small plants out. It is better to grow them in a container or nursery bed until they have a decent size rootball. Practically everything you've mentioned, you can grow from seeds. Some other groundcover plants to conceder - Asarum canadense and Asarum europeum.

Might consider may pop, eastern red cedar, blue indigo, honey locust, mulberry, chinquapin for this area. Don’t know if they will grow where you are but chestnut and tulip poplar would be potential additions to your deeper forest. Chinquapin oak might be good too as the nuts are small enough for many birds to carry, if you don’t have those already. Some nice perennial sunflowers would also probably do very well given how much the goldenrod is loving that area.

Another very informative, detailed walkthrough! With regards to the norway spruce I thought of perhaps girdling the trees and then planting climbers around the base on the south facing side. I love vines but finding a perfect spot for them to climb with the right light requirements is a challenge for me so just something to consider. This would save you having to make/ buy trellises

very interesting work

This is incredible. Really. I admire your work on this land and I think your approach is very beneficial for biodiversity. Well done ! I agree regarding the placement of rocks, wood logs, moss, that could also help ants, larve, and other beneficial insects 😊

You could call it the "EDGE". Edge is always the richest and most interesting part of a savannah, where animals can dart out from forest cover to harvest the grasses.

Wild geranium, blue berries, gooseberry, elderberry, hazelnut, wild violets, raspberries (thornless), blackberries (thornless), white trillium, white clover, seed and grain plants and grasses. Crocus, snowdrift, narcissus, lingonberry, ramps, wild ground phlox, regular phlox, wild sunflower, wild daylily.

I would plant an oak as a focal point somewhere in the center

The birds would use the Norway spruce trees for shelter and nesting. You may want to keep them?😊💖🌲🕊🐿

love the plants, have (albeit, much smaller) areas i plan on doing the same. have you thought about the black cherry, they have some of my favorite bark in the region, and it seems to intermix happily over here in MA with the oak/hikory/pine forests around here, and they throw out so many berries that the birds struggle to get them all. (if its not obvious i'm slightly playing favorites here, lol) (they are super fast but can rarely tip, as i experienced sadly with a 60 yr old one in 2020, identical one stands strong through anything, even with black knot disease though)

Love the PC ideas for the interstitial area. Not sure I'd keep standing trees or hugelkultur due to the presence of the various disease and insect vectors. Your practice of burning the roses is probably a good idea, or chipping the trees for mulch. Not sure where the disease/insect would be once shredded...?? Will look forward to the plans for the tiny houses, shrub/small tree layer and the perennial flower layer. You have so many more natives than we do (out West). What's going to be left of the Hickory/Oak/Pine (HOP?) forest with all the diseases...??

Mertensia in a dappled woods is lovely! I include people in the wildlife and birds group! Check out Walipini greenhouse, passive greenhouse. Are you planting elderberries or native plums or dog wood? Placing the Norway Spruce around the deer exclusion fence is good use! They might even eat some of it: a consolation prize! You guys are awesome!

Hi babe!. Thanks 😊

Great idea for the tiny houses along the entrance! Just think about privacy and outdoor space (maybe with their own or a common 'food forest' walking trail?) for each one and I think you would have a great space for artists in residence...

Here are some spring ephermals that I think would do well in your woods in addition to what you already mentioned….they spread and pollinators love them. Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum Wild Geranium Geranium maculatum Stylophorum diphyllum CELANDINE POPPY Sanguinaria canadensis BLOODROOT

Can’t help feeling sorry for the spruce 😜

Have you ever tried service berries? They are delicious!!!! Definitely one for humans and birds ;)

Cut all the Norway spruce down! And maybe a willow in the wet area?

try adding fruit and chestnut trees - your best best roi - you can probably clone - plant a bunch of stuff and think density and timing out various resources - try some exotics #forage strips #diversity #tree hedge portfolio

actually Norwegian spruce can be utilized, too. Young sprouts are eaten or used for medicinal purpose.

Thanks for your detailed discussion -- lots of great ideas. I am in the very rocky Hudson Highlands (Zone 6b) with a great wooded ravine. I have an interstitial area with some mature trees but also lots of multiflora roses, Japanese knotweed, oriental bittersweet, oriental wisteria -- what I call my museum of noxious weeds. I have been working on removing those and putting in replacements. I will be using a lot of natives. Have you thought about oakleaf hydrangeas? I had a hard time finding cornus canadensis and they were very expensive -- where did you find yours?

How about forsythia, they are a lovely welcome in the spring........also, elderberry.

I'm not claiming its a cure-all but a lot of woodland disease and lack of vigor comes from everything being abandoned and stagnant for a long time. Getting some disturbance in there would be very beneficial. Possibly chickens but at a larger scale, pigs would make much quicker work. If they're moved regularly, the damage would be minimal.

Thanks for the lovely video. I read comments, but no one asked about planning out a trail system through the interstitial and your forest. Are you planning trails?

Would Beautyberry be hardy that far north (Callicarpa americana) ? the berries are such an amazing color and edible

Curious to know where you are sourcing your low grow/no mow grass seed mixes. Care you share?

If you want to make several hundred dollars to bankroll the project, sell the Norway Spruce as Christmas trees this coming year. In 2021, the average price was $78 per tree, and it looks like you have at least thirty there at the right growth stage.

Great birdhouses. Any plan to put up owl or bat houses too?

I saw a video on utube where a guy raised bees in plastic bottles even if you dont do it you should watch it it was very informative! Ill try to find link Jourdan Hamme Bee keeping at home

maybe some paw paw or service berry. currants too