Hi, I have a piece of land in the North Thompson region which was clear cut in some years back. I would like to replant the field but I'm worried about the condition the soil is in. Is there any native trees to my region that are both drought tolerant and nitrogen fixing? Thank you for any feedback. Jason
How battered do those become up that way from snow or ice? Alders snap quite a bit in western Oregon on the way to the coast. The trunks sure look nice though when planted in groves.
Thanks mentioning those we do have alder growing on the property as well as birch, however they are only found in the more moist areas such as slopes and creek beds. The particular area of land that I would like to replenish is flat rocky and very exposed to the sun. The soil is usually barren unless we irrigate, and since limited irrigating is an option I might try to spread our plentiful supply of these trees through the field. But, Perhaps you might be able to tell me if alders are generally able to withstand extended periods of drought, and other nitrogen fixing trees/shrubs that will.
Shrubby alders like Sitka alder bend under snow, in fact that one is characterisic of heavy snowfall sites in the mountains. Damage to tree-like alders in lowlands due partly to their being so many of them, with less-fortuitously situated or otherwise unlucky individuals being culled from the herd by snow and ice episodes. Thousands of others survive to grow on afterward. Maybe it's more important that they be drought-resistant than N fixers. Any trees and shrubs will accumulate organic litter which gradually improves the soil.
Not quite native to your area but White Alder Alnus rhombifolia from further south (Washington down to California) should be more drought tolerant. Italian Alder Alnus cordata is certainly very drought tolerant, but also even more of an alien for you and could potentially be invasive so best avoided. Equally non-native in BC, unfortunately. Checked up, BC doesn't have any native tree-size legumes. Invasive aliens like Common Broom Cytisus scoparius and Gorse Ulex europaeus would be my bet!
You would probably lose that bet. "The climate of Kamloops is a semi-arid steppe climate (Koppen climate classification BSk) due to its rainshadow location. While situated in a semi-arid valley, Kamloops has winters that are generally mild and very short with an occasional cold snap where temperatures can drop to around -30 °C (-22 °F) when arctic air floods over the Rocky Mountains into the interior." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamloops,_British_Columbia
Artemisia tridentata (though not a tree) is both drought tolerant and nitrogen-fixing (and native, as well!). I suspect your property is in one of the forested areas, though - or is it sagebrush country?
Yes, I live in the more forested area of the North Thompson, near Barriere. I do find Sage growing sparcely in the area, but we do get more snowfall than Kamloops. Thank you for the great replies, and I will look into trying those legume trees on a smaller scale. Since the area I am trying to revitalize is roughly 5 acres, I believe it would be wiser for me to simply transplant the native alder saplings that are plentiful on the surrounding slopes. I have even been looking into dryland irrigation techniques, using a PVC pipe set vertically beside each tree. Thank you all for your generous input, Jason
