The Regeneration Opening (pic intensive)

woodtroll · July 15, 2011, 09:49:14 AM

copice, is to cut a tree off to get it to re sprout. You get new stems, then can select the best stem and trim the others off.

SwampDonkey · July 15, 2011, 05:21:10 PM

Marcel, Coppicing can be off the stump, like maple and white birch, or off wide spreading roots close to the surface than send up shoots when more like hits the ground like the aspens. Also another type of new shoot off the stump is a stool shoot, like beech and elms. They make buds around the cambium (perimeter of the stump under the bark) where the tree was cut down and send up shoots off them.

isawlogs · July 15, 2011, 11:07:26 PM

Thanks guys :P Nothing like friday night at the school ... :D :D

grassfed · July 22, 2011, 09:08:57 AM

This is very interesting to me since I just got some WHIP funding approved a month ago. I have 6 acres for Manual Clearing 2 acres Crop Tree Release and 2 acres Softwood Release-Wildlife Habitat Improvement. I also got a EQIP for some HT fence for my cattle. I think that the WHIP is a great deal for me since I was going to cut these places anyhow. The price for HW pulp including Aspen is $38 ton 10 miles from here so what's not to love?

OneWithWood · September 29, 2011, 07:54:30 PM

Here are some pics I took on Sept. 24, 2011. I missed the autumnal equinox by a day but I think I am close enough for our purposes.

Here is a pic of the larger opening taken from the observation tower (double bench deer stand) looking south.

Most of the greenery is wild lettuce (polk salad). It was so dry during July and August that I feel good anything grew.

This is a pic of the smaller opening taken from the ground facing north:

The pond between the two openings is starting to fill thanks to some recent rains:

When full the pond surface will curl around the end of the dam essentially doubling the surface area but maintaining a maximum depth of 24".

WDH · September 29, 2011, 08:31:32 PM

I see that some wildlife is already using the pond!

zopi · September 29, 2011, 09:05:24 PM

Was going to say, couple plots of clover in there....for the oak vaccums...

ibseeker · September 29, 2011, 09:16:11 PM

That's a pretty cool project. Thanks for sharing it with us, I'll keep an eye for future posts and pictures.

OneWithWood · December 22, 2011, 06:34:47 PM

December 21 update:

Large regeneration opening looking south from the observation tower

Not much happening this time of year but a number of lambs ear plants dot the landscape

Deer browse

Oak tree bent by high winds. All the bent oaks will be copiced now that they are relatively dormant. All I need is the mud to dry up or solidify

Smaller opening is relatively dormant except for some sedges

The wildlife pond is definately full

The aspens are up and about three foot high. I took a pic of one of the stems but my focus was pretty bad so I did not post it.

Sprucegum · December 22, 2011, 06:50:26 PM

Nice little pond 8) Did you line it with something or is there enough clay in your soil to hold the water?

OneWithWood · December 22, 2011, 06:56:48 PM

The soil has a large amount of clay in it. I was happy this pond filled and held because it is very close to the top of a wash.

WDH · December 22, 2011, 11:12:43 PM

I see some more wildlife in the first pic!

In the next to last pic, what is that understory plant that still has leaves?

SwampDonkey · December 22, 2011, 11:43:49 PM

I'm just guessing Danny, but it looks like beech. Since that is a ridge top and a little cooler climate. Beech does that up here, hold leaves all winter.

Also, my white oak holds it's leaves all winter until spring bud break.

WDH · December 23, 2011, 01:49:35 AM

Down here, understory like that on my property, would be hophornbeam. Beech makes sense.

SwampDonkey · December 23, 2011, 07:06:01 AM

We get that to. :D But I see some bigger trees there that look like beech. I've never noticed the leaf retention in hornbeam though, I have some in the yard. Beech in the back yard has leaves.

g_man · December 23, 2011, 11:27:36 AM

On that bent oak tree - what do you mean by "copiced" ? I am not familiar with that tem. Thanks.

SwampDonkey · December 23, 2011, 11:36:32 AM

Cut down and stump sprouted.

OneWithWood · December 23, 2011, 12:29:33 PM

The trees with leaves in the understory are beech and red maple. Two trees I try to eradicate on all slopes except the north, northeast and northwest aspects. Because the beech and maples are shade tolerant they thrive and choke out the oaks. I spray the beech and red maple stems with tryclopir (basal application) in early spring. The leaves make them readily idenitifiable.
This area of Indiana is know as the Norman Uplands and tends to be an oak-hickory forest. Much of the lands to the west of me are beech-maple so it is a constant struggle to keep them at bay. A good contolled fire avery now and then is a big help but is hard to do given the pressures of the surrounding populace.

Ianab · December 23, 2011, 04:01:31 PM

Quote from: g_man on December 23, 2011, 11:27:36 AM
On that bent oak tree - what do you mean by "copiced" ? I am not familiar with that tem. Thanks.

QuoteCoppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppicing

In this case the general idea is that he has a bent sapling that's never going to make a sawlog. But cutting it off and letting it grow again from the stump it gets a 2nd chance, and the new sprout will grow much faster than a new seedling as it already has an established root system.

Ian

g_man · December 23, 2011, 07:49:03 PM

SwampDonkey and Ianab thank you for the explanation. I have heard of the procedure but I can't remember ever knowing it was called coppicing.

SwampDonkey · December 23, 2011, 10:17:33 PM

Red maple and aspen are pretty much managed that way up here. Beech, yellow birch, white birch and sugar maple are mostly single stemmed from germination when they are thinned. Suckered beech is usually chewed up by the rabbits. Not much true commercial thinning in hardwood up here, just a select few stands. Most of the time the quality has suffered from high grades or poor ground.

OneWithWood · April 17, 2012, 07:31:10 AM

I am a bit tardy getting the March 21, 2012 pics posted here. Mushrooms came in early so I was distracted ;)

The large opening. All the bent oaks have been coppiced. I took pics of a coppiced stem and stump but I'll be danged if I can find them :

The pond

The smaller opening

Some greenery is starting to poke through. I expect to see a lot more in June.

At this point I was going to go around and prune back or deselect suckers coming up from the various stumps but the deer have severely pruned everything for me. They have even topped all the aspen shoots! I can see going forward my biggest challenge will be to keep the deer at bay. I may resort to caging the oak stems that emerge around the stems I coppiced.

WDH · April 17, 2012, 08:25:55 AM

You cleaned up those openings very nicely. Down here, the deer are not as bad as they have a good bit more to eat in the winter since it does not get as cold. Do you expect the openings to grow up thick with weeds this year?

Raider Bill · April 17, 2012, 08:32:32 AM

Robert, Does that pond hold water year round?
In your spare time could you come down and tidy my land up a bit too? ;D
You sure have done a lot of work there. It looks great! ;)

OneWithWood · April 17, 2012, 09:13:08 AM

Danny, if this opening reacts like some others I expect a thicket of blackberry to take over for about 5 years or so.

Normally I would not have cleaned the site off to this extent. The Indiana Fish & Wildlife folks stipulated no slash be left on it as it was going to be part of a longterm study. Unfortunately I think their funding dried up. My preference is to leave the tops. The deer do not like to stick their heads in the tops and oak seedlings can get a good start. As it is, I will be stocking the freezer with plenty of venison come fall.