Expanding a Beech Grove

[Raphael]

  We have a small healthy grove of beech on the property that I'd like to assist in expanding, presumably by thinning the non-beeches around the periphery.
  My question is how thin should I make things, do young beeches need shading to do well?

[Jeff]

Raphael, dont give up on us yet, these foresters are a weird bunch. :D  Ron Scott is on the road to Montana, other wise he would have something for you I am sure as he does work in regions where Beech grows readily.

I have a question for you. Why do you want to encourage Beech? It is usually always the lowest valued tree in any northern hardwoods forest when managing for timber. I can see it if you are managing with widllife as the focus.  What other species do you have growing when you talk about thinning?

[Raphael]

I guess my interest is threefold...  it's a really small grove right now so doubling or tripling it's size won't impinge on the other hardwoods greatly.

  For one I really like the look of a beech grove especially in fall and this grove has some family history in that there are at least six generations of initials carved into one of the trees (one of two slated to be preserved as seed tree's).

  I do want to promote wildlife diversity to some extent though I'm more interested in what the acorns draw onto the property.

  Mechanically speaking beech has great timber framing properties and it contrasts well against our abundant red oak in a frame.  I'm a bit timber framing obsessed these days all for promoting anything that works well in a frame.
  What I'll be thinning is mostly soft maples, there are some oaks in the vicinity that I'll leave.  100 years ago the area was loaded with chestnuts so it's pretty much a mixed bag of whatever came in when the blight killed them off.  We're primarily focussed on red and white oak as they are the only timber on the property with much market value at the present time.
  We do have my grandfather's planting of black walnut's that has not grown at the predicted rate but has finally reached the point where a spade truck should be brought in to remove every other tree.

[Dana]

We had several generations worth of names carved on a beach tree. It was on a piece of land that wasn't oursand the owners never visited. They let a guy cut firewood there and one of the first trees he got was that one. We now own the land minus the tree.

[Sylvus]

Beech.  Connecticut?  The grove must be small indeed, as most of the beech in eastern North America has been killed by beech bark disease (a combination of a scale insect and several species of Nectria fungi).  Expanding a grove might be a bit like an invitation to infection.  

Beech regenerates under full shade just fine.  Chances are that you need no thinning whatsoever.  In fact. maintaining a dense canopy will favor beech.  Beech does not produce acorns.  They produce beechnuts.  The beechnuts will attract a number of species of wildlife.  Chances are good that you already have beech regeneration in place.  Look for the long, cigar-shaped buds.  Also, last year's pale brown leaves are often persistent on the small understory trees.

[Raphael]

Beech regenerates under full shade just fine.  Chances are that you need no thinning whatsoever.  In fact. maintaining a dense canopy will favor beech.

  That answers my basic question...  I know we have some regeneration going on as I've watched the saplings developing for 30+ years.
  I didn't realize beech were under attack from disease, there's a huge grove of it on North Pack Monadnoc Mountain (NH) that's still very healthy as are the beeches I saw in the mountains above Lake Placid (NY).  So I'd just assumed they preferred higher elevations and cooler air.

 Beech does not produce acorns.  They produce beechnuts.  The beechnuts will attract a number of species of wildlife.

  Sorry... I didn't mean to imply that our beech produced acorns, that was an oblique reference to deer hunting.
Once the local cow corn supply has been harvested the deer come shuffling through the oaks in search of acorns.  I don't know if deer care for beech nuts but black bear sure do love them and I assumed that other species do as well.
  Thanks for the info...

[Snag]

I didnt realize beech was good for framing.  I have a ton of it on my property.  Thought it would only be good for firewood.  What are some other good uses for it?  All I have ever been able to find out is that it is good for handles for hand tools and firewood.  I hate to burn it if it has other uses.

[Snag]

I did it again.  I tend to read a post and ask a question before I do a search.  ??? my mind gets hummin and I start typin'.  I am going to do some searching and then reask more particulars if need be.  sorry, still getting used to the fact that there is some much info here and the majority is a search away.

[jon12345]

Beech suckers a lot, and a lot of places there is a big problem with getting it to stop growing. I was told  the beech scale can only infect larger trees with more porous bark.  The bark of young trees is too tight for them to penetrate.  Here we see a lot of dying beech in the 18-24" range and all around them little beech popping up.


Bears will destroy the trees, they climb them and tear the branches all up tryin to get the nuts, I don't blame them though because they are pretty tasty.

[Ron Scott]

Beech are tolerant to shade and its regeneration needs shade to become established. Beech seedlings and will sit for years under shade. When you open them up to sunlight by selective thinning around them, you will establish the beech.

As the beech poles develop, select the crop trees for wood, wildlife, aesthetics, etc. The Forum's Animal Inn Thread shows several beech wildlife trees. 

The beech bark disease is becoming more and more of a problem for the beech.

[Dana]

Raphael, deer do eat beech nuts. Before I got my sawmill, a logger cruised our woods. It is a mix of beech, maple. and ash. He of course wanted to take the larger maple, and ash. His recommendation was to remove all the beech said it is worthless. With that said I have seen some nice flooring made out of beech so it can't be valueless. I enjoy the look of the beech as well as the wildlife that it attracts, so I didn't take his advise.