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  • From: "Hector Black" <hblack1925@fastmail.fm>
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Nitrogen-fixing shrubs and fruit/nut trees
  • Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:47:39 -0600

Hello Steven,
We've tried Goumi and Autumn olive under fruit and nut trees. Our fruit trees, (apple and plum) were low branched and that did not work out well when it comes picking time as the shrubs got in the way. One could do some severe pruning. The autumn olive seemed to be the most productive of nitrogen. And under nut trees the results were wonderful. We had an additional 25-35% growth on interplanted trees as against a control group of trees without autumn olive. And we still had to do some pruning, but nut as much as we gathered from the ground instead of picking off the tree.
The most astonishing was autumn olive and chinese chestnut. Instead of being the low branched tree we were used to, the chinese chestnuts grew with beautiful 8 ft. and taller trunks. They were slower to bear than the low branched trees, but will make wonderful timber trees when the time comes. hector black, zone 6 middle tn
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steven Covacci" <filtertitle@aol.com>
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 9:25 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] Nitrogen-fixing shrubs and fruit/nut trees



Group:


Is it especially advisable to plant nitrogen-fixing shrubs (i.e. buffaloberry - Shepherdia; guomi - Elaeagnus; sea-buckthorn - Hippophae; etc.) beneath fruit/nut trees such persimmon and hickory? If you're soil is already moderately fertile, will this help?


I like plant native grasses/forbs underneath my trees and I'm afraid that - native choices or not - nitrogen-fixing plants will encourage alien invasive weeds to succeed over the native species.


Thanks,
Steve; NJ 6b/7a
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