Returning them to the wild

Background:

Zone 4, mega short season, tons of moose pressure. Very little insect pressure except for sawfly larva that will eat to the ground anything from the cranberry family.

I’m sitting in 1.14 acre with forested bits in my lot. While some areas I have earmarked for future development into the orchard I am toying with the idea of just returning some plants to the wild. As I mentioned moose is the biggest treat with sawfly larva being a huge issue with currant-like plants. Heck if some of them take well (say saskatoons in the forest edge) I could free up the prime real estate lot they are currently occupying.

What else could be a good candidate for the forest edge and less sunny spots?

arctic kiwis, rhubarb, ground nut ( Apios), hybrid hazels, lingonberries and lowbush blueberries come to mind.

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The children of the lowbush blueberry bush you sent me are already earmarked for a life of trials and tribulations in that regard :smiley: Mom is getting a better spot.

One part is quite steep but with pretty good sunlight. I was planning on putting sea berries there to both help stabilize the soil and for production. As a sunny spot without trees (invasive cotton wood and aspen is chopped down every year) it does get a lot of tall native annuals so for there it would need to be plants that tolerate native plants pressure.

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they need way less sunlight that their bigger cousins but they still produce better with full sun. ive got a few Chippewa cuttings that have rooted. ill send you some next spring when they are a little bigger. its a very productive half high z3 hardy blueberry. its the best tasting one i grow. snow protects it in most years here but it really doesnt need it.