Hello, I am trying to convert a swampy irrigated area to hard woods/ evergreens.

So far I have swamp white oak, pin oak, white oak ,English walnut, sugar maple,chest nut, ash, choke cherry, crab apple, vine maple, persimmon.

Evergreens are Norway spruce,blue spruce, balsam fir, ponderosa pine, Jeffery pine black hills spruce, eastern red cedar , Austrian pine, eastern white pine,and some trees I dug up in Minnesota.

It’s been a lot of work, a lot of water, and a learning curve.

The irrigation is not dependable as I am a junior water user. But the soil is well subbed.
I live near salmon Idaho 5000 feet zone 4

I think I am gonna need supplement irrigation. I am wanting thoughts on back fill soil prep. And any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Why are you irrigating if it's swampy?

Trees native to area will probably need less work/care/fuss than imported non-natives. There are reasons that eastern white pines don't naturally grow at 5000ft in Idaho.

Find a local consulting forester.

Ya, keep the trees local to that region. There has got to be a whole lotta forestry types in that area that could benefit your plan!

The above two posts are good advice. I would listen.

I have flood irrigation, I am at the end of the ditch so some times I am flooded in areas.

I buy trees and dig them up where I travel. The only pines for sale locally are blue spruce, or mungo pine, or dwarf sakatestewan spruce.

The white pine eastern seems to be doing bueno, along with the Norway spruce. But I will know more next spring.

But Minnesota has a similar cold temperature as Idaho so we will see.

I think just to grow grass with my property to let some cattle graze that I have a hard time getting compensation for is not as interesting as developing a 28 acre woodland.

Add Red Maple (swamp maple) and cluster of Atlantic white cedar. AWC must be grown in clusters and be protected from being browsed off and from rodents girdling new plantings and saplings. I have no idea how either will do in your climate or at your elevation, but both are common to New England wetlands.

I got some aspen,and cottonwoods on the land now. The red maples are allegedly poisonous, so I am using sugar maple and vine maple ( bush?).

I am using old plastic automotive conduit to protect the bark from rodents.

I only have one itty bitty white cedar my fried dug me up in Minnesota. It’s in a pot still , a freaking rabbit was a munching on the potted plants in my wood shed lean too. It took out a few oaks and a red cedar.

The really swampy ground was engulfed by a willow bush that makes it pretty uninhabitable.

Not an evergreen, but native, and produces piles of crabapples that feed all kinds of critters.

https://www.musserforests.com/prod.asp?p=SWCR


This place has a bunch of crabapple varieties. Ones with persistent fruit are probably what you want. Not sure which one I have, but it puts out big-time.

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/flowering-crabapple-with-persistent-fruit

Just filled an order with Willis orchard.

I decided on crabapple,persimmon,white walnut, filberts, chiquopin chestnut, and southern sugar maple.

Will plant them in February/March.

Have about 10 more trees to plant this fall. Mostly white oak.

Had cattle munch on two red maples,two box elders, and a nice American chestnut, my cages worked for deer, but not cattle . Bummer.

The owner of the cattle advised I hot fence em off but I got lazy.