machstem

machstem t1_j6wqi92 wrote

The home we had before had some issues but the property was surrounded in 50yr old trees+ and it canopied our yard.

We moved here and basically have been trying to add a small forest back in our yard

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machstem t1_j6upmpo wrote

I moved to a house with a green square for a backyard back in 2014.

It now has a 14 year old birch, a 2yr tulip tree, another 5yr tulip tree and a 7 year red oak tree.

All are native to the area and they started casting enough shade this summer, that my kids could actively play without being burned by the sun.

I'm the only neighbor for 100M who has native trees and most everyone else plants Norway maples which are good, fast growing trees though a little too big for my liking..

I will most likely be dead and buried by the time the oak and tulip trees canopy at over 50ft high and should shade most of the yard without being too low to kill the grass.

I also have been seeding my lawn with an eco friendly variety of grasses and white flower clover

We also naturalized the yard with native shrubbery as people forget that trees are good but shrubs and bushes help for things like soil saturation and animal/insect habitat

It takes a community for this sort of thing so I try and encourage people to do similar with their properties.

I call then butterfly alleys because they attract butterfly

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