blisssoap

The pines and birches of Russia and Italy seem to have imprinted their colors, fragrances, scintillating softness and mossy undergrounds on my imagination, which leads me to a new realisation – I must live beneath the pines and by the birches.

This in turn leads me to another experiment:

How to grown a Pine and Birch Forest from seed?

Pines and birches coexist naturally in many regions, defining the landscapes and ecosystems of land in Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. The combination of pine (Pinus species) and birch (Betula species) is common in several ecosystems, though the specific varieties will be different.

🌲Pines prefer well-drained, sunny, sandy or rocky soils.

🌳Birch trees tolerate shade and a wider range, including nutrient-poor soils.

This allows for them to coexist, specifically since a pine-floor becomes more and more acidic (due to the disintegration of the pine branches and bark which is naturally acidic) as time passes.

🌿There is another magic power behind the pine-birch relationship – they are the first to grow after disturbances such as fires, storms, or logging. The birch family in particular is known as a pioneer species, quickly colonizing open and damaged spaces, while pines establish soon after.

So this is a journey for the next 15-20 years and there is absolutely no guarantee that any of this will succeed.

But we shall sally forth with all our learning and observational skills and little gusts of hope.🍃

Let’s begin with the basics.

The Importance of Variety and Mixing Families

Planting a monoculture forest increasing your chances of rapid-eradication by bug/worm/virus/beast.

The loose rules that I’ve found around the creation of faux-natural forests (forests that are planted by man/woman but that attempt to mimic the natural distribution of species within an ecosystem while also prioritizing spaces for wildlife), follow the 30/20/10/10 rule.

• No more than 30% from the same family
• No more than 20% from the same genus
• 10% from the same species
• 10% of the same cultivar.

This is difficult in certain places, especially if you are looking to plant only native trees. Alas, not all regions were created with the same amount of biological diversity of trees. This is so with my region – West/Central France.

So I have done my best to diversify at the cultivar level, but maintaining just two families for now. The area where the young trees will be transplanted is currently also populated by chestnuts, apple , fig, peach, cherry and pear trees so we are in no danger of mono-problems.

Our Birches:

Betula pubescens (10)
Betula utilis var. jacquemontii 

Our Pines:

Pinus halepensis – Aleppo Pine (100+)
Pinus monticola – Silver Pine 
Pinus nigra salzmannii – Salzmann Pine
Pinus parviflora – Japanese White Pine [Non-native ]

(In green, the seeds that are currently in various stages of production)

Notes on Pine Seeds

Many Pine seeds need a stratification period. A stratification is the period that the seed needs in order to germinate and start to grow as a pine – this usually involves either very cold or very warm temperatures

Some trees require a cold stratification period, some a warm stratification period, sometimes both. The both ones are particularly tricky – don’t start with those.

A cold stratification can be done by putting a handful of Pine seeds in a Ziploc bag with some seed starting mix, and a touch of water to keep the moisture. Then place it in your refrigerator at 1-5°C for anywhere from 30 to 90 days. The seed packet will usually indicate how long/what temperature.

A warm stratification is the same process as the cold stratification but with temperatures of 68–86 degrees and the usage of sphagnum moss instead of water to keep moisture.

Tips:

• Aim for a start date in November/December
• Track the stratification process of the seeds very carefully. Calendar, alarms, reminders etc. Otherwise, there is no chance of success. The seeds are already dead.
• For outdoor pines: stratify your seed indoors during winter, then when the pine tree seedlings start to show up, transplant them outdoors in spring. I’ve chosen a large planter because I don’t trust the wild animals around here. This way they can cycle through spring/autumn and be tough enough (hopefully) to face their own winter.
• Never allow the mix to dry out, nor should you water it to the point of sogy bogginess. The seeds will die.

Process:

1. Stratify seeds according to cultivar.
2. Once the stratification period has passed, plant the seeds in a 10 cm container filled with a well-drained potting medium (potting mix/sand/fine pine bark) and await germination. Horticultural lamps can be used here to speed up the process. 📢Check: Drainage
3. Plant the germinated pine-lings into a large container and cover it with no more than 6 mm of potting mix. The ideal time for this is March/April.
4. Place the containers in a sunny window and water as needed to keep the potting mix slightly moist.
5. Once the seedling is at least 20cm tall, he can be released into the wild!

Notes on Birch Seeds

Tips:

• Aim for a start date in April
• The seeds of the birches are incredibly incredibly small so the watering part of this one is crucial – a delicate dance between quenching thirst and drowning
• Never allow the mix to dry out, nor should you water it to the point of sogy bogginess. The seeds will die.

Process:

1. Stratify seeds according to cultivar (some do not require this step > jump directly to Step 3).
2. Once the stratification period has passed, cover the seed with only 1-2mm coarse horticultural sand or grit, press them down gently and await germination. 📢Check: Drainage
3. Find a shady, sheltered spot outside and water the seedlings from the top.
4. Keep Moist.
5. It is possible to observe up to 60cm of growth in the first year – at which point it is ready to be transplanted into its final growing spot.

Personal notes:

• 🥷 The birches will eliminate each other in a fight for supremacy, even when they are young – separate them
• Too much water will END a population
• 🧟The birches look half-dead for much of their infancy – do not worry, they will be fine!
• This is a marathon, not a sprint! The trees will outlive you, so don’t rush them.