Establishing a New Pine Plantation

Ron Scott · June 24, 2009, 03:06:07 PM

Yes, the very poor formed Scotch pine has been taking up a lot of growing space and the only market for it is in wood chips. The chip harvest has stopped for awhile now due to a cut price and quotas by the cogen plant. We hope to get as much area chipped as we can and get it back into production with the higher valued red pine.

We've had good spring rains so hopefully the spring plantings will "take off" with good survival. The areas look real good at present.

semologger · June 30, 2009, 12:25:31 AM

I planted some white pine last year around the house. Most were in the back yard seperating my 35 acre field and yard. I had 2 rows until today! My friends are cutting hay and his cutter on the tractor wiped out one row of around 20 trees. :D. He is a retired forester to beat all. I just laughed about it and gave him a hard time. Looks like i will be planting again. I think this time i will plant oak that grows fairly fast. I lost alot i planted. To bad thorn trees dont make good border trees. They are taking over areas that havent been brush hogged. I was meaning to mow a good line so he could see the trees but didnt get the chance.

Ron Scott · June 30, 2009, 11:21:47 AM

Too bad on the years growth lose. New plantings should be well marked and signed where there is potential for them to be damaged as such. Also makes it easier to collect replacement costs. ;)

nmurph · July 06, 2009, 01:20:53 PM

WHD,
while you are toward the upper end of the LL range, you can certainly plant them in Perry. i know you have already put lobs in the ground, and while they come out like gangbusters, they are not as marketable as saw timber. LL is the most desirable for saw. Lobs do get to the first thinning sooner, but there is little real value to that, as pulp prices are in the dumps. besides the superior value of LL at the mill, it also generates top dollar in straw production.
just something to think about if you have more plantation land you are putting into trees.

WDH · July 06, 2009, 09:52:26 PM

Thanks nmurph. I considered longleaf, but they do not do so well on this red clay compacted old pastureland. I would love to have some as they are really grand trees. Loblolly will do better on this site over the life of the investment. For poles, the best product in terms of stumpage return, longleaf is unparalled like you point out.

customsawyer · August 13, 2009, 02:47:43 PM

I think I am starting to see green in there. ;D

SwampDonkey · August 13, 2009, 05:18:20 PM

$-) $-) $-) $-) $-)

Got dollar signs in his eyes. ;)

WDH · August 14, 2009, 08:43:34 AM

The trees have doubled in size it seems since the last pic. I will update with a new pic. Jake, the trees are looking excellent!

WDH · August 19, 2009, 09:42:33 AM

OK, some updated pictures:

The weed control is wearing off and the grass is closing in a little! This summer as been much better for rain here, fortunately. Some of the trees are approaching 2' in height. Survival was excellent, well over 95%. It pays to use a quality contractor ;D.

stonebroke · August 19, 2009, 01:58:05 PM

I wish I had fields that nice!!!!

Stonebroke

SwampDonkey · August 19, 2009, 02:14:57 PM

Some old dirt farmer is gonna curse him out or roll in his grave for converting that field. :D One local guy said to dad once, "If I had known that Charlie was going to plant those darn Christmas trees on my farm I would never have sold it to him." :D :D He hadn't farmed in my lifetime, he drove school bus for at least 30 years and worked in a metal fabrication shop between driving bus in mornings and afternoon. He didn't live to be very old, smoked heavy. I remember he sure liked his C-Band dish a lot. ;D

WDH · August 20, 2009, 06:40:21 PM

Hey, I am a farmer too, it is just that I farm trees ;D. Row crop farmers have a shorter outlook. Us tree farmers have a longer outlook :D.

SwampDonkey · August 21, 2009, 05:28:21 AM

Some of us too long, with no return on investment. ;D :D :D

WDH · August 21, 2009, 07:30:51 AM

I plan to thin this plantation in 10 more years.

Norm · August 21, 2009, 07:40:49 AM

I'm still waiting for a picture of the good lookin tree planter partner. ;D

stonebroke · August 21, 2009, 08:38:52 AM

How big will the trees be in ten years?

Stonebroke

WDH · August 21, 2009, 11:37:54 AM

Norm,

As it turned out, the better half of the reforestation company did not participate in the tree planting :-\. Apparently I was deliberately mislead :D.

Stonebroke,

At age 11 - 12, the trees will be approaching 40 feet tall and will be about 7" in diameter on average (some smaller, some larger). I have some that I will be thinning this fall that are in their 12th year. I will start a thread on the thinning and post some pics.

SwampDonkey · August 21, 2009, 01:16:02 PM

Only tree we have up here that would grow like that is large tooth aspen. 8-9" in 12 years on well drained soil. 8)

customsawyer · August 21, 2009, 06:47:35 PM

Yea but I didn't plant them. :D
It sure is looking good out there WDH.

Mooseherder · December 17, 2009, 07:25:53 PM

Bump:
Danny, I was wondering how your Pine Plantation is doing. Any problems from all the rain?

WDH · December 18, 2009, 07:52:22 AM

The plantation is thriving. There was better than 95% survival due to doing the right things right, including using an experience professional to do the site prep and oversee the planting. However, there is another very important ingredient, and that has been more than ample rainfall. This spring, the rains were perfect in quantity and in interval. It never dried out like it normally does in summer. The fall rains were well above average and steady. It is even raining now!

This land is good quality land that is well drained. The soil has handled the rain well, and the root systems got a chance to establish themselves without the impact of normal summer drought. It is being said that this fall has seen the highest amount of rain in this area since historical data has been kept. That has worked perfectly for the little trees.
I will post a undated pic to show them in their first dormant season.

Mooseherder · December 18, 2009, 04:04:17 PM

That is great to hear. 8)

I heard a news report about the record rainfall you guys have received. Quite a difference a year makes when we were all concerned about a drought not so long ago. We have had a good year in regards to rain also. Much more than we had in 2008.

WDH · December 18, 2009, 06:14:24 PM

It is totally crazy

.

SwampDonkey · December 18, 2009, 06:19:44 PM

It rained steady here from June until first of August, then early October was wet. I know, I was working in it. :D

tughill · December 20, 2009, 02:12:22 PM

wow, that's some nice work there!

How much of a difference does the burning/herbicide application make on the growth of the trees? (in terms of getting rid of competing grasses) I planted a couple acres of red pine here two years ago, and they have been struggling (I think) to overtop the grass/weeds. I had planned on bushhogging the rows, to try and cut the competition down a little bit, but I didn't get around to it in the spring before the weeds came up and at that point couldn't tell where the trees were, and didn't want to bushhog the trees.

These were bare root seedlings, only a couple inches tall. They are now probably 12" tall on average. Obviously my growing season is a lot shorter than in Georgia, so I'm not sure what sort of growth to expect. Anyone have any estimates?

WDH- I'm curious what the procedure for planting is, after the tractor with the ripper has been through. Are the seedlings planted by hand without any tools? We generally use a sort of crowbar with a flat end, like a chisel, about 2 inches wide. This is with no soil prep though. I would like to build a subsoiler, and this is one more thing I could use it for!

Thanks for posting, please keep us updated. Anyone in the northern climates have any tree plantation experiences to share?