Trees

[Symphony]

I need more trees or bushes in some of my pastures and was wondering if you guys had any advice on what kinds.

We are in zone 5 and can get some rather tough winds in some storms. I will put up fencing around the new plants.

Cattle and Horses will be the main livestock.

 

[DonnaBelle]

I don't know what part of the US you are in, but a friend of mine in Northern Missouri planted pecan trees and they have done well for her. They have cattle.

You will need to fence them off from the animals though...

DonnaBelle

 

[promiseacres]

You can get softwood maples grow quickley and give good shade. Cottonewoods are fast growing too
I like oaks but are slow growing. Do you need shade or wind breaks?

 

[Symphony]

I'm in Northern Iowa and need some wind breaks and shade. I was told that Maples break to easily in windy situations.

For Oaks would Acorns be bad for the Cows and Horses?

 

[promiseacres]

maples aren't super strong but you loose some strength with faster growth...IMO Maples are better than other faster growing ones (we have some type of willows that loose small limbs weekly)

I don't think horses would eat acorns...if there's plenty of grass as for cows I have no idea....

You might check with your local DNR 1. they can tell you what grows well in your area and 2. they might be able to point you towards some cheap trees.

 

[Bossroo]

I'm in Northern Iowa and need some wind breaks and shade. I was told that Maples break to easily in windy situations.

For Oaks would Acorns be bad for the Cows and Horses?

Acorns are eagerly saught out by turkeys, deer, horses and cattle, etc. . American Indians gathered them in the fall and had great meals of them. I have about a 300 year old and about 90 feet tall with a 50 ft spread Valley Oak in my pasture as well as 4 others on or just over the property line,so about half of the acorns fall into my pastures. My herd of 9 mares + their foals seak out the acorns on the ground with great gusto and get fat on them.

 

[Symphony]

I'm in Northern Iowa and need some wind breaks and shade. I was told that Maples break to easily in windy situations.

For Oaks would Acorns be bad for the Cows and Horses?

Acorns are eagerly saught out by turkeys, deer, horses and cattle, etc. . American Indians gathered them in the fall and had great meals of them. I have about a 300 year old and about 90 feet tall with a 50 ft spread Valley Oak in my pasture as well as 4 others on or just over the property line,so about half of the acorns fall into my pastures. My herd of 9 mares + their foals seak out the acorns on the ground with great gusto and get fat on them.

Sweet, Oaks will be on my list then.

 

[Symphony]

Ok after talking with some locals at the Silo and our local extension agent, I have got a good list of Trees.

Northern Red Oak
Weeping Willow
Burr Oak
Cottonwood
Quaking Aspen
White Pine

As for Wind breaks I have a few good options.
Blue Spruce
White Spruce
Loblolly Pine
Scotch Pine

I made the order last night and will be getting some Silver Maples, October Blaze Maples, Cottonwoods, Northern Oaks and for windbreaks several Blue Spruce and a few Loblolly Pines.

 

[goodhors]

Read the Latin names of your trees, ESPECIALLY the Maples. Acer Rubrum is Red Maple,
though it goes by a lot of other names like Red Sunset. Dried leaves from this tree are HIGHLY toxic
to horses. Only takes a couple to kill a horse in a VERY short time. Not sure effects of
Red Maple on cattle, but you could check it out with a search. The Acer Rubrum/Red Maple
is one of the MOST POPULAR maples planted, because of their fall color. Cheap to buy
at places selling trees, very hardy, survives pretty well no matter how badly you treat it.
Which is unfortunate for horse owners. Labels require the Latin name, so you can compare
different trees with a "pretty" name like the Maples. Latin name stays consistant on all
the trees of that kind.

Silver Maples grow fast, but they are trashy in that limbs break easily, seeds sprout all
over the place. Most have several trunks going up from the base. Probably won't live
very long, at least they don't do very well locally in MI. Not sure of your location.

For the windbreak planting, you may want to do two lines, with a tree spaced between
two trees in the other line. That way as they mature, the second line fills the holes of
the other line for a more solid windbreak. I would plant same trees in one line, with
another variety in the second line, so they should grow at a similar rate. Also if one kind
of trees get sick, the other trees shouldn't get the disease. Blue Spruce are starting to
have issues in some places around here. My brother lost a big old tree, all the needles
dried up and fell off. Still trying to save the others in his yard. You might check out
Concolor Firs, getting more popular around here. Some have the silvery blue of the
Spruces, but the needles are very soft to the touch. Very hardy, handles wind and drought
well, since they are from the mountains of the western USA. Gets even bigger than Blue
Spruce as they age.

Please plan on watering these young trees for at least the first year or two, so they get a
good start. If you don't water, you will probably lose most or all of them. You will also want to
weed whack around them, so grasses don't choke them out or take all the sunshine. No
grass cover also keeps the trunks exposed, so maybe the Voles, rabbits, won't chew off the
bark sitting out in the open during winter.

Horses and cattle around here, DO EAT the acorns. I alternate days, so no horses get two
days of stuffing themselves on acorns. Horses do run right to the big tree to eat acorns before
they graze! It is a White Oak, but most horses will do some snacking on any Oak acorns in the
fields, then go to grazing the grass. Some piggy horses will get sick on acorns if they have a
choice.

 

[greybeard]

Just make sure whatever you plant is NOT an invasive.
I do like cottonwoods over oaks and maples. It will be years before most oaks ar big enough to provide either shade or windbreak.
Conifers grow fairly fast after the first couple of years.

Someone will probably be along before too long saying how toxic White Oak, Red Oak and Burr Oak acorns are to cattle. The consensus among most cattlemen tho, is that the cows can eat a lot of them as long as they have other forage to eat as well, and many of us have never had a bit of problem with acorn ingestion at all--mine eat them every fall with out ever getting ill.
YRMV.