In terms of agriculture Alberta is divided into 4 blocks:
- Southern Alberta from the border to a bit north of Calgary
- Central Alberta to around 100 km north of Edmonton
- The Peace River Country
- Mountains and Forest.
I cannot figure out what the dividing line between central and south corresponds to. Too far south to be the Red Deer River. Too far north to be the Bow. At any rate the line is fairly arbitrary. Use your judgement, and ask your neighbours what works.
Trees for Southern Alberta
Alberta agriculture has a page here describing trees for various parts of Alberta.
Poplars
Northwest Poplar
Rating: Satisfactory Spacing: Minimum 12 feet. Optimum 16 feet. Plant a colorado spruce between at 16 feet.
Size 50-60 feet, 80 feet in good conditions. Spread 40 to 55 feet. 65 in good conditions.
Growthrate: 2 to 6 feet per year. Water well for good growth.
If you want a thicker shelterbelt with less water use, prune top to 4 feet after first year. This will force multibranch development.
Does well in same locations as grass does well.
Cons:
- Subject to canker.
- To big for city lots.
- Gummy buds that stick to fur and bottom of shoes/feet.
Brooks Poplar
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: 20 to 50 feet by about 10 to 15 feet wide.
Spacing: Minimum 8 feet. Optimum 12 feet. Good tree for 2 row checkerboard with Colorado Spruce.
Brooks has very dark green leaves, and is one of the most effective poplars for blocking the view.
Cons:
- Not drought tolerant.
Griffin Poplar
Rating: Satisfactory
Cons:
- High susceptibility to canker
Plains cottonwood
Rating: Satisfactory
Size 25 by 60 feet. Often has a massive trunk.
Cons:
- Roots need to reach groundwater to survive.
- Leaf rust.
- Can shed major branches in storms. Don’t park the Lamborghini under it.
Willows
Laurel Leaf Willow
Acute Leaf Willow
Peach Leaf Willows
Rating Unsatisfactory.
Willows generally do not like dry conditions, and do not like alkaline soils. If you are willing to water them they can be used as yard trees.
Manitoba Maple
Rating: unsatisfactory. Reason unknown. This tree in Central Alberta thrives, and throughout Manitoba and Saskatchewan it’s native in the coulees and draws.
Cons:
- Can break with heavy snow loads.
- Tree is unclear as to what direction ‘up’ is, and will often have trunks 40 degrees away from verticle.
- Female trees get larger but produce large numbers of seeds. You have volunteer maples up to a hundred yards away.
Green Ash
Rating: Recommended
Size 25 x 50
Cons:
- Ash bark beetle.
- Bunch of other insect pests.
- Sunscald. Whitewash tree trunks when young.
- Not very fast growth when young.
- Breaks bud late, drops leaves early in fall.
Bur oak
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: 30-50 feet by 20 feet. (Ag Alberta) Other sources say 100 to 130 feet. But it won’t get that big in any hurry. A foot a year is normal growth.
Cons:
Paper Birch
Rating: Unsatisfactory.
Even here in central Alberta, Birch usually needs an extra source of water.
Can be used as yard tree or in wet areas.
Size: 30-50 feet
Cons:
- High water needs.
- Short life -- 30-40 years
- Not chinook tolerant.
Mayday
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: 15-30 feet by 15-20 wide.
Cons:
- Blackknot fungus. Less of a problem in dry summers.
- Fruit can be messy.
Chokecherry
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: 12-25 feet by 10-15 wide.
Berries make good jelly.
Pink/orange leaves in fall.
Cons:
- Blackknot fungus, like Mayday.
- Leaves are moderately poisonous.
Sea Buckthorn
Rating: Recommended
Size: 8 to 16 feet.
Pros:
- Fixes it’s own nitrogen. Grows on garbage soil
- Drought tolerant.
- Moderately salt tolerant.
- Fruit is high in all sorts of things nutritionists say are good for us.
Cons:
- Gets the ‘thorn’ part of it’s name honestly.
- Picking fruit is difficult.
- Gets ratty looking with age. Chainsaw haircut.
- Can be invasive.
Red Elder
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: Shrub 10-13 feet by 6-8 feet
Cons:
- May dieback in hard winters.
- Raw fruit poisonous. Ok with cooking.
Caragana
Rating: Recommended
Size: Shrub 10-16 feet by half that wide.
Pros:
- Fixes Nitrogen
- Extremely tough.
Cons:
- Can be invasive.
- No tolerance to flooding
- Small prickles on branches are difficult to remove
One of my customers looked at my display, “Oh yes, the shrub that eats small children”
Vilosa lilac
Rating Recommended.
Prefers clay or loam soils. Doesn’t like sandy soils.
Requires more care until established. (4 feet high)
Pros:
- Drought resistant
- Pretty flowers.
- Pleasant scent.
Common Lilac
Rating: Recommended.
Size 8-12 feet high by 6-8 wide. Suckers, forming thickets. Ok in sandy soils. Doesn’t do well in peaty soils.
Pros:
- Showy flowers with strong floral scent.
- Drought tolerant.
- Moderately tolerant of alkaline conditions.
Tatarian Honeysuckle
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: shrub 10 feet by 8 feet.
Pros:
- Very tough
- Long lived
- Pretty flowers in early summer. Bird berries later.
- Drouht tolerant.
Cons:
- Intolerant to flooding.
- Slow growing -- only 6 inches to a foot a year.
Roses
Hedge Rose
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: Shrub 7 to 10 feet by 6 feet.
Pros:
- Pink to red flowers.
- Small bird cover/nesting sites.
- Withstands short periods of drought.
- Salt tolerant
- Suckers to thickets.
Cons:
- May dieback in hard winters.
- Thorns
Altai Rose
Rating: Satisfactory.
Size 4-5 feet by same width.
Prefers loamy soil, tolerates most soils.
Pros:
- Long lived.
- White 2 inche flowers
- Tolerates flooding during growing season.
- Moderate drought resistance.
Cons:
- Not salt tolerant.
- Damaged by freeze thaw cycles, late frosts in spring, early fall frosts.
- Suckers freely.
- Thorns.
Wild Rose, Prickly rose
A pair of native roses that grow thorughout the province. Botanists call them separate species, but they are hard to tell apart and hybridize freely.
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: 3-4 feet high by 2-3 feet acaross
Pros:
- Pink flowers in early summer.
- Red/orange fall colour
- Red hips (seed pods) give winter interest.
Cons:
Silverleaf
This is a collection of several shrubs that are all part of a single plant family.
Silver Buffaloberry
Large thorny bush with orange berries, silver-grey leaves about an inch long. Small yellow flowers in spring. Orange berries late in summer. Very sour. Pick after hard frost for jam and jelly.
Rating: Recommended in all regions.
Size: 5-10 feet by 3 to 6 feet. Forms thickets.
Grows about a foot a year.
Wolf Willow
Medium thorny bush 3-8 feet by half that. Silver grey leaves about 1.5 to 2 inches long with curved shape. Yellow flowers with strong scent in spring. Silver berries that are mealy unappetizing. Forms thickets.
Size: 7 to 15 feet
Russian Olive
Do NOT PLANT This species is invasive, and in drier parts of the province is declared prohibited noxious. The seeds float very well, and move downstream up to 15 miles a year. It crowds out the native poplar, and the local wildlife doesn’t adapt.
Cherry Prinsepia
Dense spiny shrub. This one looks interesting, but I’ve been unable to find a supplier.
Rating: South: Satisfactory Central: Recommended North: Satisfactory.
Pros:
- Dense
- Fruit -- Red cherry-like pit.
- Very early spring bud break.
- Frost tolerant.
- Fruit is edible, but overall ‘meh’
- Drought resistant.
Cons:
- Slow growth reate 4-12 inches a year.
- Supply?
Dogwood
Rating: Satisfactory
Size: 4 to 6 feet, rarely 8, by about same width. Forms thickets.
Pros:
- Flood tolerant
- Favoured deer browse. Can distract deer from more valuable plants.
- Very long lived. Cut back to ground when it gets leggy.
- Burgundy fall colour.
- Dark red twigs through winter.
Cons:
- Not drought tolerant. Although I’ve heard mixed reports about this when established.
- Only gets about 3 feet tall under southern conditions.
- Deer browse.
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