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Ive been reading my permaculture book again ,and realized a few things: I need to fill the layers ( tall trees, short trees, shrubs, herb/perennial, root), and encourage as much wildlife in my yard as possible. Also, it would greatly benefit to have it useful to me, as in food, instraments or what not.

Im looking for something hardy to zone 3 ( or reliable to zone 4). Only because I dont want to baby it when its 30 feet tall. Im looking for a hight of 30 mabey 40 feet.

Somethings ive had in mind were, ginko ( no REAl use for me, but its 200 million years old..), ure pear. I am also thinking of planting some apples apricots or other shorter fruit trees but these stay around 6-15 feet, but I want one, decent sized tree to fill in the layers.

Walnut is out of the question, its in to close proximity to other plants, and potentialy my neighbors veggie garden. It would be nice to get something with a bit of a tropical vibe, but im more looking for a tree that has some usefulness to it...

Northern catalpa

Thats something to keep in mind..... it has a nice shape to it...... Although , i cant eat from it

canadianplant wrote: Although , i cant eat from it

Pawpaw tree?

What you haven't seen those 2 ft long seedpods!!!
I got them falling everywhere here!!!LOL

Ive thought about paw paw. They can grow thickets. And ill have a plant war for the ages between my Phyllostachys and the paw paw... LOL

They arent really availible here, unless i grow them from seed.

Jesse- You can get Paw-paw from Nettlecreek nursery. They are generally fair with their shipping charges.

I'll let you know how mine has handled temperatures down to the -30C range with 0 protection this year (it had die back each year since planted, but has put on perhaps 1' over 3 years.)

Ive thought about paw paw. So far if everything works out ill have an almond, apricot, and hazlenut trees, all grown from seed ( i know the risks due to hybridization etc, not to mention time.)

If some fail, ill definetly be thinking of a paw paw ( to bad they are slow growing).

I think there is one here, ill take a better look in the spring and take some pics. I only got a quick look.

Crapapple tree.




















that's not a typo.

Russian olive. Walnut - Juglans nigra. Phellodéndron amurénse. Syringa amurensis.

LOL jim....... i know theyre everywhere here. Every second yard and every park has them. Its pretty bad when they are over done up here eh?? LOL

Igor, ive thought of russian olive. Besides the fact its a notrogen fixer, it has fruit for wildlife, good fire wood, an open canopy to let light through.... Just a matter of finding one!

Serviceberry, great tree for wildlife, food.

Tree Hydrangea? They only reach 8-10 ft but they look pretty tropical, and hardy to z4.

Tree Hydrangea? They only reach 8-10 ft but they look pretty tropical, and hardy to z4.

Ive thought about serviceberry. Their native here, great for wildlife.... Ive just actualy never tried the berries.

Im going to be taking cuttings from my grandmas hydgrengea. Ive stayed away from them because they are more overused here then hosta, and crapapple ( as Jim put it LOL)

Thanks for the help so far guys!!

What about an oak? Nice looking, deep roots (won't interfere with nearby plants), nuts for wildlife, shade not too deep. native. hardy.

Quercus macrocarpa occurs in your neck of the woods, doesn't it?

Oak are nice. They grow a bit to slow for me. I have to make sure that it grows fairly quick, before the bamboo shades it. Not to mention I cant personaly eat from it..

There are oak trees native here, the types escape me. I know theres 3 or 4 species here.