NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/725550
OCTOBER 2016 • NEBRASKAland 27 Canada and parts of the northeastern U.S. When the glaciers began to retreat about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago, the climate warmed and dried, the boreal forest species shifted northward, and Nebraska's landscape evolved into the diverse mix of forest and prairie found here today. But where boreal species found refuge, they survived. One such place is the Pine Ridge. Large stands of quaking aspens were once found in the rugged, forested hills of northwestern Nebraska, finding suitable growing conditions in the deep, cool drainages. Periodic wildfires kept ponderosa pines in check that Landscaping with Aspens A spen trees can provide a colorful addition to the landscape around a home or acreage, but they aren't right for every yard. Where they do fit, one variety with roots in Nebraska is proving to be a better choice for the climate here, throughout the Great Plains and beyond than others with origins in the mountains. Because of the way aspens grow, sending out roots laterally that then send up shoots vertically, planting one tree can result in many. For that reason, Justin Evertson, assistant director of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, said he is hesitant to recommend them as an ornamental landscape tree. "I've heard more than one person cursing all of these root sprouts coming up everywhere," he said. They are better suited for a park, school or acreage, Evertson said, where sprouts can be left to form a stand. A good variety to plant in Nebraska is Prairie Gold TM Aspen, which was first propagated in the 1970s from cuttings taken from a relict quaking aspen stand near Leigh by the late Allen Wilke, a nurseryman from Columbus. Todd Faller of Faller Nursery in York and others received some of those cuttings from Wilke, and raised and sold them. While a member of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum board, Faller worked with J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co., a national wholesale nursery in Oregon, to trademark the variety and introduce it in the 2008 Great Plants for the Great Plains program. Schmidt now has exclusive rights to produce Prairie Gold, and returns a portion of the sale of every tree to the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum. The tree, which can grow 30 to 40 feet high and 15 feet wide, can be planted in anything from moist sandy soil to shallow rocky soils to clay. It appears to handle heat and humidity better than other varieties, and is also more resistant to drought and disease. Faller said he's sold trees to homeowners in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia, and they appear to be doing well. "What has been surprising is we've put it in areas where people want to have aspen, but they've never dreamt of growing aspen," Faller said. He's heard it is even doing better on the Colorado Front Range than aspens from that state. Even with the native varieties, aspens used in the landscape grow better in the drier climate of western Nebraska. ■ Quaking aspen are among the many trees growing in the five-acre Earl G. Maxwell Arboretum on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus. PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAAG PHOTO BY ERIC FOWLER