advice please on replanting trees

[the jordans]

 ??? i am new here soo here goes my husband and i are having our land clear cut now... we have 65 acres in chester sc....we are looking for something to replant that grows fast has a high demand and profit... suggestions would be great...i heard about the paulownia tree or empress tree but have heard mixed things... the good thing is it is ready to cut in 5 years but do not know what the demand for it is here and how much work it is... i guess i just really need advice on what to replant with a fast gro rate high demand and return!!!! help please thanks!!

[the jordans]

i am having 65 acres clear cut and want to replant soemthing that grows fast is in high demand and profiable any suggestions? chester sc right now we having our pine and hardwoods cut...

[Gary_C]

Does it have to be legal too?   

Just asking.  :D :D

[barbender]

 :D :D

[Coon]

 :D 

[fishpharmer]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum! 8)

This is a great place to get information about forestry and sawmills.

You will probably get lots of different answers to your questions.  I will offer mine.

You are young and growing timber is generally a long term prospect, in the long run it has outperformed the stock markets.  There are lots of folks on here that know much more than I do about timber markets and forestry.  If this is a property you live on or near and plan for recreational use, you may plant different trees than a property that you rarely see.  A good forester can help you either way.  As good as the money coming in now looks for the the clearcut timber , remember growing trees is a long term investment.  At your age you could theoretically manage two crops of loblolly pine sawtimber. Or possibly a good crop of wildlife attracting oak trees (not that pines don't atttract wildlife too).  I am sure a forester will come along and set me and you straight. 

Use the "search" button at the top of the page to find more info about the Empress tree.
The seller's of the seedlings are doing an outstanding job of marketing.   I don't recall anyone here getting rich from growing them, that's my opinion.

Keep us posted on the  progress.

[Okrafarmer]

Welcome to the forum! Great to see more folks from SC!

I'm not a forester, and I don't play one on TV. So take it for what it's worth.

If it were mine, and I wanted to plant something, I would plant several different species all interspersed and laid out. I would plant tulip tree (yellow poplar) to grow up quickly and provide shade and light competition for the other trees. This would cause all the trees to trend upward straight and unbranching to try to get their share of the light. Then in between I would plant white oak, loblolly pine, black cherry, red or sugar maple, at random. (or maybe in a "plaid" configuration). The species list might vary a little with your exact area-- I'm not sure which species are most likely to succeed there-- if you don't find it thriving in the wild or at least in peoples' yards, maybe you shouldn't plant it.

I would have the tulip trees laid out on a cross grid with about ten feet between the tulips and any other species. Then, after 15 or 20 years, when the tulips have had a chance to get tall, I would cut them down along the grid axis in such a way that they don't fall on any other species. Sell them for lumber if big enough or pulp if they're not. Then I would plant hickories, walnuts, hollies, cedars, and hornbeam in the places where the tulips were. Basically, understory trees.

This approach will give you a multi-species woodlot that helps you hedge for the future against species specific diseases or price collapse in the future. You will also be able to harvest out the various trees as they "come due." Add your additional favorite species, mine are ones I like that grow well in my part of SC. I don't like seeing the monocultures of pines that are frequently planted around here-- I don't feel that they are very environmentally friendly, as wildlife and the ecosystem thrives under diversity of species, rather than monoculture.

Now all the foresters can come along and say what a loco dumbo I am!  :-\

[Gary_C]

That's a big question and to get the best answer you will have to provide a lot more site specific information like the local terrain, soils, etc. I am sure there will be someone here that is qualified to guide you thru that process and that is not me, but you should also consider consulting with a local government forester like a DNR, county or state forester that can help you make up a management plan for your property.

Welcome to the forum and sorry for the earlier flip answer, but that is one answer that fills your requirements the best for one criteria.  ;D

Just curious as to what brought you to the current decision to clearcut your property and did you consult with a forester to make that decision?

[WDH]

i am having 65 acres clear cut and want to replant soemthing that grows fast is in high demand and profiable any suggestions?

Don't we all??????  You don't have very many choices at all to meet those criteria.

In the South, pine grows twice as fast as hardwood on most sites unless it is a bottomland site.  Over the life of a rotation, pine has been worth almost twice as much as hardwood per unit of volume.  That has been the history, and like investment advisors say, past performance does not ensure future performance.   

[Ron Scott]

What is the existing species that you are having clearcut?

If it is a favorable species, you may have natural regeneration of the existing species after the clear cut without the added costs of converting the site to another species.

[Ron Scott]

As stated above, you should have a professional forester do a site evaluation and management plan for you to best meet your objectives.

[the jordans]

we decided to clear cut because i need college money and this was our only option. we have alot of red soil food plots oak and pine grow great no problems has anyone heard of the royal empress or pualownia??? and yea i would like to do it legal lol!!!! we have not had a forester out her but will be contacting one, !!! thanks for all the advice kepp it comming!

[the jordans]

oak pine walnut acorn ....mostly pine we like to have wildlife too i have a small natural creek that runs on the proerty too...what about paulownia(empress tree)

[Magicman]

You absolutely need professional forestry assistance.  Without it, you could very easily make a wrong decision.  You should have a (free) county forester available through your extension office.  Also, NRCS might point you in the right direction.

And, Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  

[Jeff]

Two near identical topics have been merged into this one thread. There is no need to post the same questions in multiple boards.

[RynSmith]

I'm pretty sure there is little to no wildlife benefit from paulownia.

[WDH]

Pawlonia has been hyped, but there is no market for it.  Don't go there.

[SwampDonkey]

Pawlonia is out of it's element over here in NA, and except for some very specific small acreage sites, will mostly grow into more of a weed than a saw log. Those pawlonia pushers are kind of like some of the rental shops charging $200 a day for a $60 purchased item. :D I live way north of SC in the Canadian Maritimes and if I want fast growing trees I'd stick with our native balsam fir, white spruce, red pine and aspen. If I was clear cutting my land and had a good mix of natural regrowth, I would just dig out my brush saw and space them out to 7 feet after 10 years of growth from seedling stage. Follow this up with another thinning in 25 years. I would fill plant less well stocked areas with more shade tolerant trees like maple and spruces on the best growing sites. But, this pertains to my situation. If you have red clay soils down there, can't go wrong with a native pine. Our native red pine up here is found on red clay sandy soil. My stance is to manage what you have, not something for a market that is a long time down the road.

Tending your little piece of earth

Even though much of my land was planted, the planted stock is no more than 50 % of the growing stock as I have fir, aspen, hardwood and some cedar all through the planted trees. You'll see in some pics that the plantation is heavy to natural balsam fir which is one of the fastest growth softwoods up here outside of tamarack and pine.