Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Perfect timing on the rain, 3200 trees just planted...
Anyone else plant a bunch of trees this year??
Anyone else plant a bunch of trees this year??
Rain perfect for trees
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Forestryguy
Member
We put close to 12000 in the ground this year.
^awesome stuff. What is your guy's planting setup? I am relegated to "by hand" so I've been averaging about 500 a year.
all mine are great except for some that got into majorly heavy clay or bottom stuff. TOO MUCH WATER in those cases. I had to pull some out in some instances.
I put mine in with every method.... shovel, tree planter with tractor, auger (carefully as it's complex with clay type soils and glazing issues that create drainage problems), tree spade, etc. I also plant big trees so that's why spade and auger are used. If I were planting <500 seedlings a year, I'd do shovel or dribble bar and some help & knock em out. I'd also be protecting them if that was the quantity as well. Good stuff though, take care of those rascals!
I put mine in with every method.... shovel, tree planter with tractor, auger (carefully as it's complex with clay type soils and glazing issues that create drainage problems), tree spade, etc. I also plant big trees so that's why spade and auger are used. If I were planting <500 seedlings a year, I'd do shovel or dribble bar and some help & knock em out. I'd also be protecting them if that was the quantity as well. Good stuff though, take care of those rascals!
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
I had most of mine planted as part of the CRP with 90% cost share...oak, plum, spruce, pine, crabapple and some hackberry and aspen. We planted some swamp bur oak hybrids, and then planted a few apple trees. Caged and/or tubed most of the hybrid oaks, and apples. Just had 3 inches of rain (MN) so looking good!
arm
Leg
Lets say you had a small amount (500 trees) to plant at one time, but was into or near some 4-5 year old plantings. If there was only 1 thing a guy could do to improve survival...out planting the deer population not being the option...what would it be? Assume that mowing and or spraying would be a given. tube them? I can't come up with anything better than tubing them but then that's not really that cost effective plus you have to stake them?
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Tube or cage them. Cage is expensive as well, I realize you probably cannot cage 500 of them, but maybe mix in some tubes, and cage.
goatman
I hunt days ending in Y
Good luck on the plum. I can't keep them off of them. I'm going to try solar electric. 12 volt of course but 110 volt is on my mind. LOL.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Deer are there now.
Deer&Ducks
PMA Member
Saw this on another site for grazing exclusion zones and figured if you have any of these cages from the 250 gallon plastic containers they would work really well for caging trees as long as you don't have too many to protect.
goatman
I hunt days ending in Y
Wow. Are those wild plum?
The good quality tree tubes with vent holes and some sort of good quality stake. No question. Go get a nwtf grant for $600 if $ an issue. Or a REAP tree planting cost share for 75%. No brainer. If it's worth planting 500 trees, it's worth $2-4 to protect em. If it's not worth protecting em & keeping up with spray and checking each tube- don't plant them. Waste of $. I see guys spend weekends planting and a "grand in trees". Let em go and don't protect or spray for weeds. Total waste. Complete waste of time and $ and trees. So- with trees, say it's $2k with tubes and stakes (making this up). Get cost share. Be half the price after all said and done (guess). Have 75% success I bet if u take care of em. Plant and walk away- 5% if u are lucky.
*exceptions on no tree tubes would be cedars, some shrubs, sometimes chestnuts don't like tubes, etc. the rest I'd use 4' tubes with plenty of hole vents. I'd monitor for invaders (mice, bugs) & tipped tubes. Spray pre's and posts to keep on weeds. Few years from now- be thanking yourself. Do it half-a$$- be kicking urself and be better off sitting on couch or taking that money and buying scratch off tickets.
*exceptions on no tree tubes would be cedars, some shrubs, sometimes chestnuts don't like tubes, etc. the rest I'd use 4' tubes with plenty of hole vents. I'd monitor for invaders (mice, bugs) & tipped tubes. Spray pre's and posts to keep on weeds. Few years from now- be thanking yourself. Do it half-a$$- be kicking urself and be better off sitting on couch or taking that money and buying scratch off tickets.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
American Plum... Minnesota source.
Skips above advice is spot on. When the buffer Crp was really popular we planted 10s of thousand of trees with high deer density and no budget for tubes or fencing we probably have less then 10 percent survival. One thing I had some luck with was if the site was killed dead sprayed with oust then drop junk trees out from the edge to hide them from the deer.
More maintence on less trees would have yielded a better finished product.
More maintence on less trees would have yielded a better finished product.
I was going to ask about the tree CRP buffer. Is that contract a one time deal or is it renewable? I am hoping to sign up for some buffer next year on a farm and haven't made it to the USDA office to talk to them about the specifics of the tree version vs. the natives.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Actually nothing in CRP is guaranteed renewable, however, it is possible that your local county will renew the trees. I have seen it both ways. Maximize the length of the contract (15) years if possible, and hope for a renewal. I had 28 acres of spruce and pine in MN, that did not meet renewal qualifications.
If that is a concern, stay in grass, you can almost always renew grass, and if not, back to farmland. Trees in key spots, can be left after the CRP--basically free trees, and 15 years of payments!
That's the deal with the trees.... i've seen people doze them all back out when contract expired to go back to crop. Obviously doesn't make a lot of sense.
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
Ya, I talked to a guy in another state where he had 100+ acres in tree CRP. Could not get it renewed. UN-FRIGIN REAL!!! Dozed em!!! (no way would I have dozed em all, no way). That makes me sick. Most the time, I'm guessing, 75% of when I've talked with folks, they renewed a 15 year contract for another 15 years. So, 30 years worth of payments. If you don't get em renewed after that, oh well I suppose. the solution is the pick the "right amount of acres" to where if it's not renewed, you don't care cause you got beautiful trees & got paid for $xyz years. I personally could not doze them. On one farm now, I've got 60 acres of overgrown CRP that about 10 years ago was never renewed and just left sit.... It's amazing & I make $0 from it. I can't doze em. I just cant. MAYBE I'll cycle 5-10 acres out a year if I plant or transplant (with my spade) to other areas to make up for what I put back in production.
Last..... One farm I had, had 50+ acres tree plantings. Last owner, many years ago, picked "oaks, walnut, etc, etc" Well, most those trees were rubbed to heck & there was zero weed control for years and years. I never imagined deer could wipe out 50 acres of trees but MOST had some sort of browse or rubbing on them. Weeds had horrid affect on em BUT, somehow, by miracle, I sprayed every single frigin little stunted rubbed down tree for weeds (year long residual herbicide cocktail - I did this tree by tree off little tractor with spray gun, I think it took me a whole week) and they did bounce back. Majorly suppressed and weeds had em choked and stunted. Same with deer & Critters beating up on em. But, 50 acres is a BIG area so that volume, sure, you SHOULD be able to get away with more (no one will plant 50 acres though now, let's be real). If I did that volume of planting.... I'd pick more varieties deer won't mess with (cedars, some shrubs, etc) and I'd tube others & my "others" would be unique things I don't have a lot of, random stuff: plum, DCO's, fruit trees, persimmon, chestnut, oaks that are not on my farm & any other tree I simply "like". But, for me, I have big forest with every oak, walnut, etc known to man so I'd rather plant "unique stuff" for diversity & Cover. But, I think, in the rest of my lifetime, the biggest tree planting area I'd ever dare consider now.... 10 acres a year. Sure, I could plant 50 acres but could I spend the time protecting 50 acres in one year? No way. Too much. IMO, do 1-5 acres a year, take your time, protect em and keep inspecting: weeds, critters, replacing dead ones, etc.
Last..... One farm I had, had 50+ acres tree plantings. Last owner, many years ago, picked "oaks, walnut, etc, etc" Well, most those trees were rubbed to heck & there was zero weed control for years and years. I never imagined deer could wipe out 50 acres of trees but MOST had some sort of browse or rubbing on them. Weeds had horrid affect on em BUT, somehow, by miracle, I sprayed every single frigin little stunted rubbed down tree for weeds (year long residual herbicide cocktail - I did this tree by tree off little tractor with spray gun, I think it took me a whole week) and they did bounce back. Majorly suppressed and weeds had em choked and stunted. Same with deer & Critters beating up on em. But, 50 acres is a BIG area so that volume, sure, you SHOULD be able to get away with more (no one will plant 50 acres though now, let's be real). If I did that volume of planting.... I'd pick more varieties deer won't mess with (cedars, some shrubs, etc) and I'd tube others & my "others" would be unique things I don't have a lot of, random stuff: plum, DCO's, fruit trees, persimmon, chestnut, oaks that are not on my farm & any other tree I simply "like". But, for me, I have big forest with every oak, walnut, etc known to man so I'd rather plant "unique stuff" for diversity & Cover. But, I think, in the rest of my lifetime, the biggest tree planting area I'd ever dare consider now.... 10 acres a year. Sure, I could plant 50 acres but could I spend the time protecting 50 acres in one year? No way. Too much. IMO, do 1-5 acres a year, take your time, protect em and keep inspecting: weeds, critters, replacing dead ones, etc.
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