What success have you had with a similar environment? Any suggestions for me?
Ideally I’d like edible plants/trees that are native to my area.
I planted aronia berries, but the grasshoppers annihilated them. The grasshoppers leave the juniper alone, but I’m hesitant to go crazy on planting evergreens because of the fire risk in my area.
June is my only “green” month of the year. Every other month is either dry and brown, or white with snow. I haul my own water, so thirsty plants are not ideal, even though I want them.
by Mission_Spray
3 Comments
So I live in zone 3B, and my experience has been not to bother with fruiting trees unless you can find them a coulee or low-lying area to nestle them in. The low rainfall/severe winds will blast anything but the hardiest of trees and shrubs (Buffaloberry, snowberry, Silverberry and the like) but you can get Chokecherries and Saskatoons to grow in valleys without too much assistance. Raspberries grow well in protected areas.
Hilltops often get taken over by invasive cool-season grasses that are hard to eradicate, but regular fire/grazing regimes and plug planting forbs can help push them out. You’ll notice the hills are often tree-barren, there’s a reason for that. Without something to break the wind or a source of water, trees don’t grow there. Lean into that! There are so many unique dryland adapted perennials you’ll find nowhere else that would be perfect to cultivate. Check out plants like wild buckwheat (Erigonium spp), Soapweed (Yucca glauca) and Milkvetches (Astragalus spp).
This book describes a wide range of native plants used by Native Americans in the plains region.
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=a3SrEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=info:Yus8d_nR2NYJ:scholar.google.com/&ots=G-XUMlDKXP&sig=PoZ6-olMZHdESJ1oEwOuXuQNdCE#v=onepage&q&f=false
Many of them are not very commonly eaten today but worth growing anyhow. I don’t live in that region so I don’t have any specific recommendations but I have looked through this book.
Maybe it’s not the type of edible plant you are thinking of, but it might be worth looking to see if Jerusalem Artichoke (*Helianthus tuberosus*) is native to your area.