Landscaping a Rural Acreage in the Bitterroot Valley

How should you think about landscaping a large property?

In zones of intensity. Around the house is the most intensive zone: patio, a modest irrigated lawn, beds, and the fire-wise first few feet. Beyond that is a transition zone of tough shrubs, native grasses and trees on drip or occasional water. The outer zone is pasture, meadow or forest, managed for weeds, grazing and fuels rather than looks. Each zone gets the water, labor and money its use justifies.

The NRCS booklet Creating Native Landscapes in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains says rural owners may want to restore large areas to native prairie or meadow to blend a residence into its natural setting, and that once established, native prairies or meadows are virtually maintenance free. Getting them established is the work. This guide is part of our Montana Landscaping, Lawn & Irrigation Guide.

What should you learn about the land first?

Its history and its soils. NRCS recommends a site inventory that asks how the property has been used or altered: forested hills, an irrigated valley bottom, dryland pasture, native rangeland, a stream or wetland, signs of former tillage, and what cleanup will be needed. It recommends soil information from the local NRCS office, and notes that soils on slopes and in windy areas are erodible during site preparation and need protection.

In the Bitterroot that inventory often turns up old irrigated hayfields, gravelly benches, and creek bottoms with high groundwater, each needing a different approach. Our guides to Bitterroot Valley soils, rocky soil and soil testing cover the specifics.

What is a landowner required to do about noxious weeds?

Control them. Montana's county weed control law says it is unlawful for any person to permit any noxious weed to propagate or go to seed on the person's land, unless they follow the noxious weed management program of their weed district or are in compliance with a noxious weed management agreement. When property is offered for sale, the owner must tell their agent and the buyer about noxious weed infestations and any management program or agreement in place.

The state list (effective June 21, 2019) includes widespread acreage weeds such as Canada thistle, leafy spurge, spotted knapweed, Dalmatian and yellow toadflax, St. Johnswort, sulfur cinquefoil, houndstongue, oxeye daisy and common tansy. The same law requires anyone proposing a development that needs state or local approval, including a subdivision or a road, to notify the weed board at least 15 days beforehand, and requires areas disturbed by roads, ditches, pipelines and similar work on easements and rights-of-way to be revegetated under a written plan. This is general information, not legal advice. Our guide to Ravalli County noxious weeds covers the local program, and our licensed weed control service handles treatment.

How do you turn weedy ground into native grass or meadow?

Control weeds first, then seed or plant, then keep weeds down until the cover closes. NRCS stresses that initial weed control is critical until cover plants are established well enough to crowd out unwanted plants, and lists seeding general mixtures, seeding simple mixtures and interplanting, or transplanting as establishment options. Its seeding table rates a prairie stand at about 25 pure live seeds per square foot, far lighter than a lawn. Buy certified seed: NRCS notes that seed must be free of certain noxious weeds and that labels show weed seed content.

MSU's 2025 native plant MontGuide says late fall is the optimal time to seed most native forbs and grasses, because many need a cold period to germinate, but that fall seeding may not suit exposed, windy sites with little snow cover. Spring seeding works too, with consistent watering for a few weeks. See ornamental and native grasses.

Do Bitterroot acreages need a windbreak?

Many do, especially on open benches. NRCS notes that high wind dries plants out, and that warm chinook winds can lure trees and shrubs into breaking bud, leaving them open to winterkill. Its pollinator publication describes native trees and shrubs planted along borders as windbreaks and shelterbelts that protect farmsteads, crops and livestock from wind and dust, and may filter wind-blown weed seed.

For larger plantings, Montana DNRC's Conservation Seedling Nursery, established in 1927, grows native trees, shrubs and grasses for conservation plantings including erosion control, wildlife and pollinator habitat and post-fire recovery, and sells to private landowners. When we checked, its annual first-come, first-served sale took orders January through April for spring pickup or delivery, with contracts suggested for 1,000 or more seedlings; confirm current terms with DNRC. Our guide to windy yard landscaping covers smaller-scale wind protection.

How should an acreage be watered?

By priority. MSU Extension's water management MontGuide suggests ranking water needs, with the vegetable garden before flower beds, beds before trees and shrubs, and trees and shrubs before lawn. On an acreage the order often ends with the lawn kept small and the outer zones unirrigated once established. NRCS recommends watering native shrubs weekly or every two weeks for the first two to three years.

Rural water is its own subject. Whether the property irrigates from a well, a ditch or an irrigation district share decides how much you can water and when; see irrigating from a well, ditches and water rights in the Bitterroot and irrigation districts in Ravalli County. Our irrigation systems work includes drip lines out to windbreaks and trees.

How does wildfire change acreage landscaping?

It sets the layout around the house. MSU's fire-resistant plants MontGuide describes defensible space as an area, not necessarily bare, where vegetation has been planned or cleared to slow a wildfire's spread toward a home and give firefighters room to work. It recommends keeping weeds down, choosing fire-resistant plants near the house, and avoiding junipers as foundation plantings because of their volatile oils.

On a forested Bitterroot acreage that means thinning and limbing conifers near buildings, managing ladder fuels and keeping the intensive zone green and lean. See defensible space zones, thinning conifers for defensible space and slash disposal options. Our fire mitigation and tree services crews do this work, with an ISA Certified Arborist on staff.

Which trees suit a Bitterroot acreage?

Mostly natives sited for their mature size. The 2025 MSU native plant MontGuide lists hardiness zones for trees including ponderosa pine (zones 3 to 7), Douglas-fir (4 to 6), western larch (2 to 6), quaking aspen (2 to 8), Rocky Mountain juniper (3 to 7), black cottonwood (3 to 8), Rocky Mountain maple (4 to 8), common hackberry (2 to 9) and bur oak (3 to 9), and cautions that some tree species may not suit a given area, so check locally before planting. MSU's fire-resistant plants MontGuide notes that thick-barked western larch, ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir and bur oak often escape severe fire damage in forest settings, while thin-barked species and young trees are more easily killed by ground fire.

Space trees near the house for fire, and put aspen, which MSU's water management MontGuide says flourishes in low-lying areas where water collects, in the lower, wetter ground. Our guides to trees for western Montana and how to plant a tree cover selection and planting.

How do you protect plantings from deer and elk?

Mostly with fencing and cages. MSU's deer MontGuide says that where deer pressure is constant, a permanent fence at least 6 feet high around gardens may be cost effective, and that electric fencing can protect orchards and ornamentals. It notes that newly transplanted plants take the most damage. NRCS's pollinator guide likewise says fencing may be required where deer populations are high, with repellents helping new plantings.

On an acreage, fence the intensive zone and the orchard or garden rather than the whole property, and use wildlife-friendly designs on perimeter fences. See deer and elk fencing, wildlife-friendly fencing and horse fencing, and our custom fencing service.

What about driveways, snow and access?

Long rural drives shape the landscape around them. Plant windbreaks and shrubs far enough back that they catch drifting snow off the drive rather than on it, keep trees clear of the plow's path, and leave room at the house end for snow storage. See drifting snow on rural drives, gravel driveway maintenance and our private road snow plowing service.

How should an acreage project be phased?

From the house outward, and weeds first everywhere. Year one is usually the house zone (grading, drainage, patio, irrigation, a small lawn and fire-wise beds) plus weed control on the rest. Windbreak planting and native seeding follow once weeds are under control and water is in place, often in fall. Fencing and outer-zone work fill in over several seasons. See phasing a landscape over several seasons and the landscape design process.

Can HJ landscape a Bitterroot acreage?

Yes. Based in Florence, we work across the Bitterroot Valley on landscaping design, irrigation, fencing, weed control, tree work, fuel reduction and stump grinding, which covers most of what a rural property needs from one crew. We can walk the property with you and set priorities before any work is scheduled.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a free estimate and we will walk the property with you.

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