"mhagen" wrote in message ...

I can understand the method's use for forest restoration in the specific
cases you mentioned. There have been similar attempts here (pacific NW
usa) - conversion to hardwood is uncommon and difficult to manage. In my
area, use of Spruce (here we'd use picea sitchensis) as the mantle would
require cutting the spruce after just five or ten years. It would
quickly overshadow a companion hardwood. The sharp needles would do a
fine job of retarding browse though.

Several outfits on the Oregon Coast ( Hampton in the Big Creek area being one) are using Sitka Spruce
seedlings as nurse trees whenever they want to grow Western Red Cedar for diversity. They plant Sitka
seedlings in the same planting hole as the WRC seedling. From what I have seen, it works quite well
in preventing browse of the WRC. Planting WRC in areas of heavy Elk/deer use is a pretty futile
undertaking otherwise. The areas where they have done this are far enough inland that the spruce tip
moth stunts most of the spruce at about 6' ht. while the WRC grows past it.

Bob Weinberger