permaculture

[Mikal Jakubal <mjakubal@asis.com>]

>So here's an opportunity for folks to recommend (more) native shade trees
>you could use instead.  Near-coastal northern California, right?  I wish I
>knew offhand but I don't.  Anyone else?

Nothing grows that quick around here, except maybe cottonwood--which is
okay, but the Paulownias will be more useful as timber trees in twenty
years if someone wants to cut them down. And they have nice bee flowers. 

(Not to diss cottonwood [Populus nigra is the species we have here, I
think] at all: few know it, but it makes wonderful paneling. It's not dent
resistant, but is very flexible and strong. It's too bad that it's only
commercial use is pulp, for which it is grown in huge fields.)

And why make a big deal about a half-dozen non-natives, when I've already
planted 40+ non-native apple, pear, pecan, fig, persimmon, mulberry, and so
on trees? Not to mention the hundred or so other non-native annuals and
perennials that will fill my gardens once the earth working is done and
beds prepared. And the hazelnuts and gooseberries are not native either.
Nor are the walnuts, chestnuts and other things I plan to plant in the area
of the Paulownias.

That's just the garden area, though. Along the creek, I've reintroduced a
dozen extirpated native species, and am working on a whole bunch more. I've
started two dozen native hazelnuts for planting out once the old dump is
completely cleaned up (one of the many horrible messes that brought the
property value down into my price range). I've got native gooseberries and
currants for there as well. Next winter I'm going to do a plant raid on
some nearby timber corporation land to continue the restocking process.
I've eliminated most of the non-natives from the riparian area, and left
many natives in the garden, even though I have no particular use for them.
Out in the open, I've got a slope that I'm helping to gradually change from
imported weeds to native wildflowers, herbs and shrubs.

Like I've said, one of the things that turned me off from much further
inquiry into pc years ago was a seeming lack of restoration consciousness
and a fetishization of exotics. I tend toward a balance, with primary
emphasis on restoration. I've chosen to identify the most valuable parts of
my place for preservation/restoration of habitat and biodiversity, and to
see how much I can produce from the remainder. Every bite of food (or
lumber or whatever) I get off my own land is one less I have to buy from
the corporate food nazis. And the fact is, native gooseberries and filberts
don't produce near as much as domesticated ones. And native trees don't
grow near as fast as Paulownias...

Can I plant my silly Paulownias if I promise to chop down any strays that
get away?

Mikal 

P.s., if anyone knows of any local trees for quick shade and other uses,
let me know. I've got locusts up the hill...but they're not native either.