Shelton-Mason County Journal - Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886

Since nature abhors a vacuum, I replace whatever I can with something discharging a similar function. On my property that means subbing out a lot of red alder.

These pioneer trees are enriching cleared soil for western cedar, Douglas fir, western hemlock and bigleaf maple. Red alders fix nitrogen from the atmosphere so that adequate resources for forest succession will exist when they fall over or rot away from multiple alder borer wounds.

All this rotting and falling can be dangerous, but the nitrogen stores must not be allowed to flag. As I push alder back from the forest edge, I've plant...