Instant Trees?

[Adminopteryx]

Being a dinosaur reserve, it seems only natural to have trees in the park and paddocks to give it a realistic look and feel..but I had always wondered what to do 'tree-wise' if there wasn't enough of them currently on the site? Sure more of them could be planted, but it would take many years for them to mature and reach a 'usable' size. Some could be made artificial (especially for indoor enclosures), but my big question is what types of trees were around during the latter Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and are there any FAST growing species available?

[S. stenops]

I have a King Sago... Don't use them, they take 60 or more years to get to full height. They would make a good cycad though.

[jpdude11]

Other Palm trees could be an option.......... though the King sago would be the best prehistoric plant. Fern could be another option.... but they need someone who has an "green thumb' to grow and live

[sean]

i live in florida and i got about 11 pineapples growing and some big ferns grows and an airplant.

[Adminopteryx]

Which trees would grow in climates such as Britain? I'm not sure where this park is going to start, but likely close to home. If it has to be the Uk, and the park turns into a success, I would then look to expand and start up similar parks elsewhere such as Florida, seeing as this seems to be a top holiday destination for tourists who want theme parks and rides!

There're dinosaur parks and attractions in the UK already (as in the States), but this is to be quite unique in comparison so hopefully will find a niche in the market place and stand out as one of the top choices for this kind of genre.

[jeffosaur]

If you want to savemoney on plants and have the space now, you could try cultivating your own seedlings and small trees. Basically just build up a huge selection from seeds and cuttings until you're ready to seed your park! One acre might be enough for this if everything was fairly small. Just try and keep the sizes down and divide everything as they grow to produce more cuttings to plant. You might want to keep everything in pots, so it's all easy to pick up and transport when the time comes.

[jpdude11]

Ii aagree with jeffosaur if you uproot the plant its probable going to die before you can move ot to a diffrent location,

[Adminopteryx]

So to create a small nursery of Mesozoic style plants! I don't know yet if the land for the park would be bought or leased, but to save money on hiring land for the nursery, I could just use the rear garden as it's pretty big. This would make a good start for collecting a fair amount of seedlings and cuttings.

I need to know more about the most widespread/common plant life from the 3 Mesozoic periods that're available to buy today, and what would cope well with the British climate?

[jpdude11]

What is the brithish climate? I live inthe desert part of the U.S. and so plantsthat can go without water for days.

[Adminopteryx]

The United Kingdom straddles the geographic mid-latitudes between 50-60 N from the equator. It is also positioned on the western seaboard of Eurasia, the world's largest land mass. These boundary conditions allow convergence between moist maritime air and dry continental air. In this area, the large temperature variation creates instability and this is a major factor that influences the often unsettled weather the country experiences, where many types of weather can be experienced in a single day.

Regional climates in the United Kingdom are influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and latitude. Northern Ireland, Wales and western parts of England and Scotland, being closest to the Atlantic, are generally the mildest, wettest and windiest regions of the UK, and temperature ranges here are seldom extreme. Eastern areas are drier, cooler, less windy and also experience the greatest daily and seasonal temperature variations. Northern areas are generally cooler, wetter and have a slight bigger temperature range than southern areas. Though the UK is mostly under the influence of the maritime tropical air mass from the south-west, different regions are more susceptible than others when different air masses affect the country: Northern Ireland and the west of Scotland are the most exposed to the maritime polar air mass which brings cool moist air; the east of Scotland and north-east England are more exposed to the continental polar air mass which brings cold dry air; the south and south-east of England are more exposed to the continental tropical air mass which brings warm dry air (and consequently most of the time the warmest summer temperatures); Wales and the south-west of England are the most exposed to the maritime tropical air mass which brings warm moist air. If the air masses are strong enough in their respective areas during the summer there can sometimes be a massive difference in temperature between the far north/north-west of Scotland (including the Islands) and south-east of England - usually around 10-15°C (18-27°F) but can be as much as 20°C (36°F) or more. An example of this could be that in the height of summer the northern isles could be sitting at around 15°C (59°F) and areas around London could be basking at 30°C (86°F).

For more information, please see here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_the_United_Kingdom

[sean]

so in normal terms its cold and to cold for the sub tropical world the dino's were in. Hard to grow ferns when its snowing

[S. stenops]

What if you were to use the Common Lady fern? I have a few and they spread like crazy! Parfect for a jurassic exhibit.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athyrium_filix-femina

Cycas thouarsii are a good cycad. I think they are faster growers than C. revoluta, or C. rumphii.

[collisionkid]

Try buying some Monkey Puzzle Trees?
They grow over here in England easily
They've got some growing at a camp site I go to in Devon

[Adminopteryx]

Interesting looking tree and is described as a living fossil. How long do they take to grow?

[collisionkid]

From what I was told when I asked around 4-5 years?
By I was also told there are traders you sell them fully grown to just plant

[EDIT: Just checked for you to make it easier and I've not found anything about how long it takes for them to fully grow, only that it takes the tree 30years to reach sexual maturity and produce cones :/]