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Tree Planting

T

treeman

Treeman
O.K. Guys I have a question for you and need a little of your knowledge. I am trying to help a buddy get a deer haven planted and would love your input, are these the right trees to be planting etc. Here is a letter from the guy I have been dealing with. Thanks for your time! Hope this letter loads if not could I get some help with it too? Thanks!


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For whitetails I would skip the walnut, sycamore, black oak and cherry, however if he just wants diversity then that's another story.

I have heard of some problems with Forest Keeling and some professionals are reccomending this source instead:

Woody Warehouse

I would say your on the right track but there are more options including planting of hybrid oaks for faster growth and mast production.

If you haven't already...you may want to read thru our threads in Dbltree's Corner for more detailed tree planting info.

Acorns to Oaks

Tree Planting

Those threads have tons of pictures and details along with lots of options such as Dwarf Chinkapin Oaks that you haven't mentioned.

It's very important to know what your goals are and decide what YOU want not what someone else has in mind.

Check the threads out and post back in either of them if you have questions about either of them....:way:
 
Trees

Treeman: First of all, great idea to come to this site with questions, second, I would be curious as to what program this is? Will there be cost share for all these trees, wow, I would hope so, that is a lot of money. Second, has this landowner looked into a CRP tree program, that pays for the trees, plus $100-$200 an acre for 15 years. I see that as a no-brainer and it would more than likely qualify if it was former crop land??

As far as the tree varieties, I like the list for the most part, other than sycamore---which I just don't know much about.

Also, are food plots part of the plan, or possibly an apple or crabapple orchard?
 
Looks like a good list to me, I would keep a few black oaks, but not too many. They are very reliable acorn producers. Black walnut is only good for browse, but sure make some pretty wood furniture with high dollar prices on the superior logs. :D

As Dbltree mentioned, dwarf chinkapins should be included in your planting for sure. 60 bucks a tree for fencing and the works?? How big are they going to be?? Heck you can get seedlings stock from state run nurseries and they can be 3 feet tall for 30 cents a tree or less. Fencing is the high dollar part, but metal poultry netting seems to be the cheapest route I have found, other than free woven wire from farmers in the area.
 
trees

Treeman: I would be curious to hear if the landowner will bear most of the cost on this plan. Do the math on 50 trees per acre on 50 acres at $60/per tree installed. You could buy another farm with that money.
 
If most of this is going to be covered by some government money, the first option is a good route to go. If the LO is paying out of pocket, the only way to see good results IMO is to go with the fencing route. Deer eat the heck out of any quality seedlings I plant since there are not many left on the farm so they absolutely need protection. The seedlings will grow better and not be stunted from browsing.

Also when you fence them, you can plant far fewer trees with better results. How big the trees are and pricing of the seedlings is going to be a big factor. If the FK seedlings are 4-5 bucks a seedling as opposed to 10-30 cents a seedling for state run stock, that is going to make a big difference in overall cost.
 
Treeman, has your friend considered Direct seeding? We planted 24 acres almost 7 years ago and its turned out to be everything I hoped for and then some. We have Walnuts, Cherry, and Ash close to 15' tall, oak trees over 10 ft tall and the deer have been living in it since the first growing season when it looked like a big weed patch! The only maintenance I've had is herbicide treatments for weeds the first couple years and thining around oaks that are getting shaded out. I'll try to get my but in gear and post some pictures. We have a 15 yr CRP contract and there was a 50% cost share. With a new general CRP signup comming it may be something to consider. I feel it is as close to natural tree planting there is and you dont have to mow between trees!! :way:
 
JEG: I'd be very interested in seeing photos, and when you have some time, tell us how you did it...step by step. Thanks.
 
I'm kindof computer challenged so I'll start off by telling how we did it and try to post pics at a later date. Direct seeding takes place in the fall, what your doing is what happens in nature just planting seeds. I would try to find someone who does direct seeding one of the keys is proper seed storage I collected all the burr oak and some of the walnut but the oak need to be stored in a cooler until planted.

We planted into bean and corn stubble the corn ground we mowed the stalks then chisel plowed, the bean ground was disked, that was field the prep. The other thing I wish I would have done is killed the female box elder trees around the perimeter of the fields. Seed; this is what we planted 12-15 bushels walnuts/acre, 1 bushel red and burr oak/acre 1/4 bushel white oak/acre, 1 bushel green ash/acre, and 1 gallon black cherry/acre.

Planting, our guy used a modified fertilizer spreader for the walnut and oak and a small 3pt broadcast spreader for the ash and cherry. first we spread the large seed once that was completed we disked them in then spread the small or fine seed and pulled a drag over that and that was it. I will post more and get some pics up when I get more time.
 
Well I was able to upload the pics but cant figure out how to attach them to this reply goto the IW photo gallery page and they are under trees/shrubs and are titled Direct Seeding Pics. I will post more as I get time.
 
Ok I think I have it figured out, this pic is near our house and is predominately ash with some oak, walnut, and cherry mixed in.



Next pic is of the same area but along some native grasses that are around 5' tall oh yeah and my dog Ruby!!



Next pic is of the same area about 5' in from the edge looking out just to give you an idea how thick it is.



Last pic is of a 6' red oak. Ive got oaks allot taller in this planting but this tree was close.

 
Cant figure out how to resize pics yet but just click on the pic and it will goto a larger view, any questions just fire away.
 
JEG: That is very impressive, when you say "thick" you mean thick!

I will have to try that in the years to come, thanks for the photos!!!
 
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