TREE PLANTING- Varieties, methods, etc?

[Sligh1]

Just so you know, there's funding available at roughly $500-600 per acre! *Three different programs, WHIP, REAP and I think Equip? Go to NRCS office of course. (I think 3 acre minimum POSSIBLY?!?!?)

Question/description- I have lots of hardwoods and YES, brush and some cedars which constitute my thick and nasty areas- more hardwoods though. I am thinking of going for some diversity with shrubs, cedars and more fruit trees (persimmon, cherries, plum, etc.). What do you recommend? Are there some MUST HAVES like Nannyberry, dogwood, cedar, saw tooth oak, choke cherry, etc???? My goal is to make thick nasty areas with some food and cover for deer& turkey (and pheasants and quail as a bonus)?? (I also have tons of Native Grass as well)
*I'd love to do some pines but I have yet to have someone show me a stellar success without a MAJOR headache!?

I have a tractor, can I rent a tree planting machine from anywhere (I'm going over 3-6 acres- might skip the hand planting this year)????

I have an arsenal of Oust XP, Simazine and possibly round-up to start slamming some major kill strips this fall. September/October to spray and kill??? Would you change the above chemicals to anything else (I think round-up might not be needed but wouldn't hurt anything either).

*If you see the planes spraying, I hired them to air spray my planting strips for my 3-6 acres of trees! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif

 

[dbltree]

I really like the Iowa State nursery shrub selection...no real bad ones. I haven't had great luck with dogwoods but they are great shrubs if you can get them established.

I look for dense shrubs that produce berries that are good for other wildlife as well.

For cover...you just can't beat red cedars

Check Okios Tree Crops (listed in the tree planting thread) for great hybrid fast growing, early producing oaks!

Hyrbid oaks for hard mast, red cedars for cover, shrubs and fruit trees for soft mast and more cover.

Dang airplanes have been spoiling my afternoon nap time!! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/crazy.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/blush.gif /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

 

[treerat]

Most pheasant forever chapters and county conservation boards have tree planters for rent. They usually run $25 to $50 per day.

 

[Joey Rott]

With the latest heatwaves that went through KS, I lost about 80% of my Norway Spruce tree's. We've been lucky enough to get rain about every week, but the multiple 100-110 degree days fried most of them. Most of the dedicous trees have been fine though.

Next year, I'm going with some tougher tree's that can handle both drought & heat better. From what i've read, Austrian Pines and Ponderosa Pines seem to be the best Pines for this situation. Plus I'll be planting a lot more cedars.

For dedicious trees, I'm going to try the Burenglish oaks next Spring. I've read that they're one of the few (if only) oaks that can out-compete weeds. Plus they're hardy and like dbltree said, they're faster growing and produce earlier and often. I haven't found a lot of places who offer the hybrids at a low cost. I did see where the University of Idaho was offering their "Superstock" Burenglish for $2 each. So unless I find a bettter place, I'll probably order a couple hundred of those from them.

Next Spring will be another testing year... to see which tree's work out, and which don't.

 

[SaskGuy]

Good choice on the Ponderosas...their naive habitat is usually dry, hot, ands the soils are usually not that great. Scots pine are great too, handle lots of soils, can take some heat..grow fairly rapidly too.