hey folks! a friend of mine is trying to improve his 50 acres of land to make it into a wildlife sanctuary. we’ve already planted some trees and bushes there but he wants something to grow as a food source for grouse. I’ve read the pea shrub is excellent for its seeds and providing cover. he has a old gravel pit he wants to put maybe 100 of these in to bring the soil back. anyone know where to get a bulk source for seed? everywhere I’ve looked its pretty expensive. thanks.
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Sheffield’s has them in bulk, around 40 bucks for a pound. I just did a quick glance
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Coyotes and foxes are a threat to grouse. Snakes to the eggs and young.
I have heard a male in the spring beating his wings at my place. They’re not real common though.
Catkins of trees, seeds, including grasses, sumac, huckleberries, acorns…worms, bugs,…actually they’ll eat about anything…they don’t need to migrate nor be fed by humans. I am sure they would eat fruit from the pea shrub. But, there are definitely other options. Even other leguminous options.
Since Lawyer nursery folded up, don’t know a source for quantities of plants.
Actually, there is a CA or Oregon buyer/seller of seeds…JPN or something like that.
If I can find the address I’ll post later.
** It’s JLPN…… www.jlpnliners.com
**My guess is they are wholesale only and probably have volume requirements, etc.
just ordered 800 seeds from a eBay vendor out of nevada for $14. hard to beat that. burnt ridge has seedlings for $2.50 ea. but the shipping was steep so i went with the seeds. grouse are very plentiful here as well as woodcock. I’m sure they would appreciate the peas shrubs seeds and foliage. mostly want them to restore the old gravel pit. with that many in one area I’m sure other animals will take advantage of them. over the years the other trees will succeed them as the soil builds back. we spread 3 big dump truck loads of sawdust in there so there is something to start them under and hold moisture to get the seeds to establish there. wish us luck. thanks for the help everyone.
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yes. nitrogen fixing small trees with yellow pea like flowers and seed with 26% protein. the young pods and flowers are edible as well as the seed. poor people in russia grind the seed to a flour to make bread and feed the seeds to the chickens as a supplement. going to put a few of them near both chicken coops so they can benefit from the seed drops. they are very drought tolerant and grow even in poor soils.
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They also go by the name of Caragana. They are very popular on the outside row of shelter belts. Speak to your county agent. The may have a program where you can get the plants cheap or even free.
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Don’t plant them anywhere you need to move around. They are some thorny/prickly devils. I don’t know about grouse eating the seeds, but I suppose it’s possible.
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I’ve seen some growing along fields here. didn’t know what they were untill i looked up this plant. thought they were some kind of locust. I’ve read that a lot of western state game biologists plant them for cover / feed for quail where mostly nothing else will grow. much like mesquite bushes in the S.West, the thorns deter predators from going in the thickets after the birds. this stripped gravel pit should be a good place to let them do their work. im putting a few out of the way near both coops to give shade to the runs in the summer and the benefit of the seeds in fall.
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You see lots of caragana around here. They’re widely planted in shelterbelts. They do prefer alkaline soil, but I’ve seen them growing on slightly acidic (upper 5s) as well. I planted a bunch on my old place in southcentral WI. They grew well and provided a nice natural “fence”. The seeds were ripe and dropping from the pods in late summer as I recall.
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our soil naturally runs slightly acidic. 5/6 so thats good to know. ones I’ve seen are a good looking shrub.
I have them growing in Abilene Texas and they are doing great with little water. I planted them for the nitrogen fixing capabilities as well as for my chickens. They are pretty in the spring with the yellow flowers but haven’t noticed the chickens eating the pods. I hope you have good success with them and if nothing else they will help to nourish the soil.
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thats one tough plant to make it from the northern great plains all the way into the heat of TX! it amazes me of the adaptability of some plants.
Absolutely, I also love the black locust, although thorny it also fixes nitrogen and grows with little water and is great for the pollinators with white flowers that smell heavenly.
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i tried a few here . they kept freezing above the snow line so i pulled them. funny as i went to quebec a few years ago and seen some growing near a restaurant we are at. they are in the same zone and further north than us. maybe i should have given them more time to adapt?
Black locust do just fine here, plenty of -30s and a few -40s last winter.
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I would for sure give them a second chance as ours sometimes die to the ground after years of growing but will spread by root suckers. They also make great garden stakes after thorns are removed as the wood is very hard.
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mine came from cold stream nursery in MI so they should have been hardy here. i don’t have place to grow one now but if a spot opened up i may try them again.
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Every homestead here put in Caragana’s but they are very invasive for our area, maybe in hot/drier climates they don’t do as well. The birds take the seeds and distribute them far and wide, now some of our forested land is full of them. They are very hard to eradicate once they get established, ‘round up ready’, we call them because it takes more than one shot to kill them, if even then.
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I assume there are different kinds of Siberian Pea Shrubs. Mine aren’t thorny and don’t spread (except for right around the older bushes). Our three large ones I got probably 30 yrs ago from the old Bear Creek Nursery, just little sticks (that’s what BCN was known for, young inexpensive stock). They’re beautiful in every stage and season. We have the oldest in the rough yard in front of the house and this year thanks to two different fast heavy snow storms it was flattened, literally. But those sturdy flexible limbs sprang back without harm (except for some branches I broke when trying to pull them out of the heavy snow). I’ve transplanted a few around elsewhere in the orchard and they’re doing fine. I’m glad they aren’t the thorned invasive ones - we have plenty of Autumn Olive to cover that arena! Sue
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