Treessentials Company - Articles: Planning to Replant

Articles

Planning to Replant
by Jim Mallman

Over the past 25 years I have worked with many agriculture leaders and wildlife professionals. One of the most interesting lessons I have learned is how easy it is to criticize something you don't understand. For example, there are bird watchers and wildlife photographers who feel stronger restrictions should be placed on hunting. They might be surprised to find out hunters and anglers have paid the majority of the costs to manage wildlife for the last 60 years.

Another good example is how farmers have been an easy target for environmentalists due to past use of fertilizers and older erosion control methods. Yet seldom do you hear of the tremendous gains that have been made in better tilling practices or safer use of fertilizers and pesticides.

The same can be said about timber management. For the most part very little is published about the fact that far more trees are planted by private companies and individuals than by any government or conservation group. Today small woodlots are springing up all across the country and small landowners are making great steps toward improving the nation's forests.

In a series of three articles I will cover some of the latest developments in tree planting as well as many time-tested methods. I will look at how wildlife habitat programs, agroforestry, and stewardship planning may fit into your planting plans. What I won't do is tell you the best possible use for your 40 or so acres. I want to get you thinking and point you in the direction of additional information. Only you can decide what is best for your woodlot.

Planning

Planning is one of the most important things to do when working on your woodlot. Good woodlot management makes a long-term investment of time, land and money, and you need to be clear about your goals and resources. You should establish a budget, and realistically define what work you and your family can complete and what will need to be contracted out.

Site assessment is part of good planning. If this is your first project, get advice on just what you have to work with. What are the soil conditions? How is the drainage, and what impact will your plans have on neighboring properties? If the site has been cut recently, you will need to deal with the remaining slash. Both mechanical removal and controlled burning require specific expertise and can add a lot to the cost of the project.

You also have to consider competition from existing vegetation before you start planting. In the early stages of growth, weeds and grasses starve seedlings of badly needed nutrients, moisture and light. Since these plants have finer and well established root systems, they can out-compete your tree seedlings for available water and nutrients. You should consider using tree mats or chemical sprays to give your seedlings a better chance, and this should be a part of your site evaluation.

Tree Mats

Tree mats are very similar to the landscape fabric used to control weeds in decorative plantings around the yard. Although the idea has been around for a number of years, the practice of using mats for tree planting is just now gaining in popularity. A three to six foot square mat may cost more than herbicides initially, but over the long run it can save you money. Mats last for several years, do not require repeat visits, and are not washed away by heavy rains.

The type of trees you want to grow and your long-term goals will be a big part of the design and physical layout of your project. Charts are available through your local nursery that list the recommended number of trees per acre. However, you need to consider the quality of the soil on your site, as well as the use of the land during the tree-growing years.

You might want to plant a mixture of hardwoods and conifers. This is popular with smaller woodlot managers who plan to selectively cut their stands. It provides earlier income off the property since the conifers mature faster than the hardwoods.

However, since hardwoods are slower-growing species, you need to help their early development to prevent shading from faster-growing conifers. One approach is to use tree shelters on the hardwoods. Shelters have been proven to stimulate early growth, which allows the hardwoods to become established and able to compete for light.

An interesting article on this subject was written by Arlyn W. Perkey in thc September 1995 issue of Forest Management Update, number 16, published by the USDA Forest Service. Your local cooperative extension agent can help you find it.

Tree Shelters

The most common causes of seedling loss are animal browsing, wind damage, weed and aggressive grass competition, chemical sprays, and drought. Tree shelters have been proven to be very effective in preventing these problems.

First used in England, tree shelters have now become a common silviculture tool around the world. The principle is simple: provide a shield to keep animals and wind out, while allowing light and moisture in. As simple as it sounds, the science behind the modern tree shelter is quite complex. In one design, a twin walled translucent construction filters the light that passes through the sidewalls. As the tree develops leaves, it forms a canopy inside the shelter, trapping moisture.

In selecting a tree shelter, you need to choose the type of seedlings you are going to use and find out what conditions may threaten them. For example, hardwoods that are exposed to heavy deer populations require a four to five-foot solid wall shelter.

Any tree shelter used in forestry needs a flared top to prevent bark abrasion as the tree grows from the shelter and begins to rub up against the top of the shelter. Most shelters are designed to degrade after five to seven years. However, they may break down differently depending on the weather and light conditions on your woodlot. Top-quality shelters have a laser line that allows the shelter to split if the tree trunk outgrows the diameter of the shelter. This prevents the shelter from girdling and killing the tree. Research has shown that seedlings grown in tree shelters have the highest survival rate and grow twice as fast during the first three years.

The Numbers Game

A common practice in tree planting has been to win the war against seedling loss through numbers. The logic was to plant a high number of seedlings to offset the number you plan to lose. There are several reasons why this is no longer the best approach for small woodlot managers. For one, whatever is causing your losses most likely will take out all your seedlings, not just a percentage. In addition, the cost of quality seedlings and the labor required to plant them could make the numbers approach more costly than taking steps to make sure more of your seedlings survive.

Perhaps the best argument for improved planting practices is the loss of time. Of all the things you will put into your replanting project, time is the only one that can't be replaced. A banker calls this the time value of money or the loss of profit potential. In other words, what is the real cost of losing one to three years of productive growth?

Seedling Selection

The best advice when buying seedlings is to know who you are dealing with. Whether you are purchasing bare root or containerized, the quality of the stock cannot be stressed enough. Reputable suppliers will gladly provide you with references. And as with any important purchase, if you know someone personally that has experience with a specific supplier, their advice is the best.

A great deal has been written about the distance between the source of the seed and where it will be planted. In general, the closer the better. Do not assume the seed was collected in the same area as the nursery. Ask the nursery manager where it was collected, good ones will not hesitate to tell you.

The quality and handling of the stock can be equally, if not more important than where it was collected. The conditions at the nursery, and the treatment the seedling is given during lifting and handling will have a big effect on how fast the roots re-establish soil contact after planting.

In the second article in this series I'll talk about planting and fertilizing techniques. We'll also take a look at tree plantings that are friendlier to wildlife, without sacrificing tree production.