Tree Planting Today

[MTY]

968 trees are going in today. I have an army of little brown people running around the yard planting. I have no idea of nationality. Doug fir and Ponderosa pine are being planted. It has been 2 years of planning and prep. The trees were grown from seeds produced within a 50 mile radius of here.
In some ways I am sorry for the deer as they grazed on the old hay fields, but this is restoration and tax planning. Forest land is taxed at a lower rate than residential, with the difference being made up on stumpage during logging. I will be many years dead before that happens.
A few acres of old hay field remain for the deer, and next year I will probably plant deer plots.
Each tree planted has a 12 foot radius between it and the next tree and is in a protective tube to protect it from becoming browse. Natural reforestation is almost impossible due to the damage caused by wild turkeys. They eat the pine nuts and scratch the seedings up.

 

[MrTom]

My hat is off to you and I will say thank you. Not near enough of this sort of reforestation is taking place in the private sector. We get tree stock every other year from the ag service where the cabin is at just off Lake Superior. We remove dead trees one year, then the next year we'll get the young firs/balsams/pines and plant them where a bad tree came out. When the old tree comes down I mow the area and keep the vegation from running amok that year and after planting the young trees. Its an on-going process year to year and what comes down makes fire wood for the Ben Franklin or the pit.

Again MTY, thanks for doing this! Its all too often we see trees come down but none getting put in the ground as a future resouce.

 

[MTY]

I just want to leave this place a little better than I found it. I am not just talking about the yard.

 

[deermanok]

Our little 2 acre property is mostly open field with a little creek running through the middle.
Over the winter we planted 4 willow trees near the creek. They're all budding now, so I guess we did good.
I'm more of a vegetable garden guy and don't know much about planting trees. I'd love to put in some more trees, maybe apples or pears. I guess spring is the best time?

 

[MTY]

We have always waited until late summer when retailers begin dropping the price on fruit and ornamental trees. Hold them in a shady spot until early fall and plant. I have no idea what is best, only what is cheapest.
I have several acres of overgrown orchards. I could let you adopt a couple trees.

 

[jims]

About 25 years ago I had over 9,000 seedlings planted. 2500 each of white oak, red oak and walnut and 1000 eastern white pines and various others in limited numbers. 10x10 feet spacing with 10% with the plastic cone tree tubes. This was the State requirements. All put in with a dibble bar. Dry conditions and bad weather after. Today I do not think I have 500 left. The squirrels did a better job for me on planting walnuts than what I got. Hope your weather and conditions work well for you. I just had no ability or equipment to water that amount and they did not fare well.
I wish they would have let me put the spacing on 30x30 feet and cones on each.
For the trees that survived they were all clustered. Big empty areas and then areas with the trees now to close. It would have been expensive to use a tree spade to separate them.
Glad you are doing what you are doing. Wish you success on your plantings.

 

[MTY]

The state required a minimum of 16 foot spacing. I put them in at 12 feet figuring on some loss. They are 100% in tubes stapled to stakes. Ponderosa pine requires minimum water, and in the areas where the wild turkeys do not play, I have natural regeneration.

The doug fir are in a moister setting.

My neighbor put in ponderosa about ten years ago. His property is drier than this, and he has averaged about a foot of growth per year.

I am optimistic. I planted some oak about 4 or 5 years ago, and I lost two to deer rubs when they were about 3 inches in diameter. Now they all have drain tile around the trunks and wire fencing during the winter months to inhibit browsing. These are closer to the house, and they are more for looks than production.

In a year or two I should have some idea of survival rate.

 

[Shorty]

I always through some triple 15 around the drip line of my oaks, cherry, apple, and peach every spring after pruning them. They have always liked this with lots of new growth.

 

[ttrailz]

I grow hybrid chestnuts mammoth burr oaks sawtooth oaks persimmons & pecan from my seed stock . I also plant beadle oak pear American wild plum Mexican plum bimundor oak Wild crab apple Swamp chestnut oak white oak & red oak . I plant all trees with a 20’ radius stake & 5’ grow tubes . I use a Stihl auger with an 8” bit for the holes then fill the holes with garden soil . Then all new trees are supplemented with root liquid stimulator . I feed all trees fertilizer spikes in the spring & again in the fall until they reach a specific diameter . Usually when the tree trunk is big enough to grow out of the shelter & able to support its boughs . It also utilize a dibble to get the spikes down deep enough to benefit the tree & not the weeds . Stihl also makes a gas powered drill auger that works great for boring holes for deep root fertilizing . The deer love the nuts as well as the fruit & so do the turkeys . I believe in giving back after all the years of just taking .The idiots in government are to stupid to realize that trees turn carbon dioxide into oxygen . If man would plant 3 trees for everyone the developers tear out there would be no issues with our environment . No trees no oxygen no life . Maybe that’s what happened to all the other planets . Prior civilizations of overdevelopment by morons to stupid to see they were destroying their habitat !

 

[ttrailz]

2 other good trees are white walnut & heartnut .

 

[ttrailz]

Almost left these varieties out Shumard Oak Shuwater Oak Nuttal Oak & Carpathian Walnut .

 

[bandicoot]

What are your grow zones?

 

[ttrailz]

I live in Illinois in Williamson County close to Saline county . My grow zone is 6B .

 

[MrTom]

My garlic is coming along nicely now that we have some warmer temps. I just finished plugging my shallots and moved the trailer off the main garden bed.

 

[MTY]

7A

 

[jims]

I am in western Ohio

 

[sheriffjohn]

We plant about 250-200 of mostly "brush" from Missouri Conservation's program each year. Redbud, bald cypress, pines, elderberry, sassafras, walnut, etc. Creek bottom. Been trying the new chestnuts, found out they don't like wet feet. "Feathered" edges of woods to encourage new growth, thinned woods of junk trees to give good ones access through the canopy. Only takes a few years to see a difference.

Other than acorns, once the woods get tall, there's not much for critters to eat in the woods and not much cover. The "edge" is what makes a difference for us - too dense to walk through, variety of mast, protection for ground nesting. I have quail, turkeys, deer, rabbits, and squirrels - my row cropping neighbors have money but no wildlife.

209 acres of "bad farming" works for me.

 

[GBG]

What are your grow zones?

Based on what grows the best around here, I must be in the Kudzu zone. I've been doing battle with an advancing army of Japanese dragon vines for over a decade.

They are determined to cross my property line and colonize an entire 10-acre lot of 80-year-old standing timber. Left unchecked they can kill a 75' pine tree in a few years. Between Kudzu and pine beetles, just keeping the existing trees alive can be a challenge.