LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
I've been wanting to do this for some time but haven't gotten around to it. A few years back I searched the internet for examples of what one can expect in growth when doing a tree planting. How fast and large will the oaks be in 2 yrs, 4yrs, 10yrs, etc? So once we had some results to share of a tree planting I wanted to share. We made a bunch of mistakes in this planting and you've probably heard/read me talk about them over the years but I figured it'd be neat to see the whole 4yr process in one post, so here we go...
This planting consisted of Red, white, pin, and chinkapin oaks, black walnuts and eastern red cedars.
Year 1 - 2012
Late in the fall of 2011 I sprayed gly on the unmowed brome grass in an attempt to kill it. Here is what the area looked like in early spring 2012.
In late March 2012 I thought it would be a huge help to burn off the dead brome thatch. In the past we had struggled digging/drilling holes to plant trees because the brome roots and thatch were so thick so burning off the thatch seemed like a good solution... later we'll find out how wrong this idea was... The fire got hot, burnt up some awesome cedars, and then got away from us due to us attempting to burn our burn lines on a windy day. The back burn line was put "out" but reignited while nobody was watching. With the winds it didn't take long for it to get out of control.
Anyway - lesson learned there was burning off the entire area before planting was a horrible idea. #1 it killed a bunch of nice cedars mother nature had started for us and #2 you'll see it eventually released a TON of weeds we had to deal with.
In early April we picked up the trees from the IA State Forestry Nursery in Ames. We had some family members down to help get the trees planted. We were planting ~1500 trees of 4 acres if memory serves me correctly.
Shortly after planting I applied herbicide (Oust XP, gly, prowl H2O, and simizine) around each tree. I sprayed a fairly large circle as you can see and with us having just burnt this area off it was basically down to bare dirt around each tree.
With the lack of cover (i.e. grass and cedars) due to burning them off this now open hillside got lots of winds. The tree tubes took a major punishment that first year. When planting the trees we did not bury the tubes in the ground which would've helped a LOT to give the tubes more strength. I had to go through the junk piles at the farm and find any scrap metal I could use to add extra support to the tubes. This was a bunch of work and still left a gap below the tube which really decreased the effectiveness of the tubes. It didn't allow it to be sealed and create the green house effect they are designed to.
2012 also turned out to be a major drought year and we had set ourselves up for a huge failure on this tree planting. The lack of wind protection from burning off the cedars, killing the grass and burning it, and then removing all grass thatch and exposing the soil after the burn just left the trees to bake in the wide open south and west facing hillside. It was apparent years later that the trees who were protected by some shade from larger trees were the ones to survive vs the ones left out in the wide open that first year.
But somehow we had some trees that survived through their first year!
Year 2 - 2013
I again applied a herbicide mix of Oust XP, Gly, Prowl H2O and Simizine to keep the weeds at bay. I kept the same large circles as the previous year and they were still bare dirt around each tree. Seems like a great thing to have no weed competition near the tree right? You'll see later that I changed my mind on that a little bit...
The spring started off with some good growth on a couple trees out of the approx. 1500 we planted. It quickly became obvious these red oaks really like their new home.
Some of the cedars had put on some great growth in year 2
By the end of year 2 the first tree, a red oak, had made it's way out of the tube
Year 3 - 2014
Again, I applied the same herbicide mix as the previous two years in the spring of 2014. 2014 turned out to be a pretty decent year for rain fall. The trees really bounced back in year 3.
By the end of yr 3 that single red oak that made it out of the tube the previous year had put on some great growth and had some friends join in breaking out of the tops of the 5ft tubes
Chinkapin oak at the end of yr 3's growing season
Alright, now to get to the point where I changed my mind on weed control... or at least how extensive I thought weed control should be. At this point we had gone three years with a pretty good mix of herbicides and to a decent sized area around each tree. The soil in this planting is fairly light, loamy soil and when we expose soil like that to sun/wind/rain over three years it erodes away. And in our case being on a fairly sloped hillside it eroded away pretty well in some places. :? The evidence was clear when you looked at the soil line inside the tube vs outside. So lesson learned, don't burn the entire area off with fire before planting, just kill small spots for each tree and leave the grass mat there to act as a natural weed mat and hold soil moisture.
But over all yr 3 really brought my hopes back for this tree planting, it was obvious we had some tough trees to still be alive after what mother nature and ourselves put them through.
**Up to this point I haven't mentioned the mice nest problem we had in any of the tree tubes. But it will happen, if you use tree tubes you will have field mice make homes in them. I can almost guarantee it. The best way to fight this we've found... just taking time to walk the planting during the fall and winter and clean out the mice nest. I like to do it early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is shining "through" the tube and those nest stand out very well. This is a very important step otherwise those mice will girdle a tree you've pampered for years... and just like that it will be gone. :x
Year 4 - 2015
In the first part of spring of 2015 it was apparent the cedars were beginning to grow and you could "row" them
I started off this year on a different foot, zero herbicide was applied to any tree in this planting. There was honestly only one species of weed that was able to grow around the trees, all other weeds still failed to sprout (I'm assuming this soil was pretty nasty to small weed seeds after 3 yrs of residual herbicide applications). I was excited to see some weed growth around the trees. This would provide shade for them and also protect the soil from hard rains and further erosion.
2015 has been an excellent year for growing trees. Cool wet weather had the oaks putting on growth like crazy. Here is what they looked like in mid May
White oaks are generally slower growing so we're just starting to get some out of the tubes early on in yr 4.
Chinkapin oak in mid-May
I did direct seed some acorns in the spring in areas we had high loss from the original tree planting
And also transplanted some "wild" cedars from our pasture in areas we had lost a lot of cedars from the original planting
Up to this point I've only shared the "good" results of the tree planting but we've lost probably 50% of the trees we planted. Some are still hanging on and even after 4 yrs they die back and resprout from the base like this oak did at the beginning of yr 4.
But it appears to be doing ok mid-way through July, we'll see if it actually turns out to be a legit tree over the next couple yrs.
Two years in a row this tree has been girdled by mice. Last year it came back and grew 6ft in one year and this yr again it is having to do the same. If we'd keep the mice out of here who knows how tall this tree would be. We're just lucky it's spring back from the mice chewing and not dying completely.
At the beginning of yr 4 some of the oaks put on so much growth they were like wet noodles and the dewy mornings would have them folded right over into the deers browse range, and the deer took advantage. Luckily I caught it before the deer could eat the leaders on any trees. I braced the trees for the next two months and they quickly put on a strong back bone and I was able to take the bracing off.
We are currently mid-way through yr 4's growing season and we have more and more trees popping out of the tops of the tubes all across this planting.
Chinkapin oak mid-July of yr 4
More growth mid-way through yr 4
The bugs have really been hard on the oak leaves this year
Notice the weeds around the trees this year as well. I've been using the machete to keep them from getting too out of conrol but I like the idea of having some protection from the wind and sun. But something to keep in mind is the weeds will compete with the tree for water and nutrients. This year we happen to have an abundance of water so that isn't a concern
This end of the planting had nearly 100% loss after year one. It was more southern facing and during the drought of that first year, 2012, it smoked literally all these trees. I've been working on replanting acorns in here and will continue to do so until we get some trees established!
Cedars mid-way through yr 4
That is all for now. I wanted to share how this particular tree planting has progressed over the past 4 yrs. It has been a HUGE learning experience and we've done a number of things "wrong". Tree planting is my favorite habitat project to do and it tests my patience but to finally see results like is just motivation to do it all over again! Hopefully this helps someone out there with their tree plantings!
This planting consisted of Red, white, pin, and chinkapin oaks, black walnuts and eastern red cedars.
Year 1 - 2012
Late in the fall of 2011 I sprayed gly on the unmowed brome grass in an attempt to kill it. Here is what the area looked like in early spring 2012.
In late March 2012 I thought it would be a huge help to burn off the dead brome thatch. In the past we had struggled digging/drilling holes to plant trees because the brome roots and thatch were so thick so burning off the thatch seemed like a good solution... later we'll find out how wrong this idea was... The fire got hot, burnt up some awesome cedars, and then got away from us due to us attempting to burn our burn lines on a windy day. The back burn line was put "out" but reignited while nobody was watching. With the winds it didn't take long for it to get out of control.
Anyway - lesson learned there was burning off the entire area before planting was a horrible idea. #1 it killed a bunch of nice cedars mother nature had started for us and #2 you'll see it eventually released a TON of weeds we had to deal with.
In early April we picked up the trees from the IA State Forestry Nursery in Ames. We had some family members down to help get the trees planted. We were planting ~1500 trees of 4 acres if memory serves me correctly.
Shortly after planting I applied herbicide (Oust XP, gly, prowl H2O, and simizine) around each tree. I sprayed a fairly large circle as you can see and with us having just burnt this area off it was basically down to bare dirt around each tree.
With the lack of cover (i.e. grass and cedars) due to burning them off this now open hillside got lots of winds. The tree tubes took a major punishment that first year. When planting the trees we did not bury the tubes in the ground which would've helped a LOT to give the tubes more strength. I had to go through the junk piles at the farm and find any scrap metal I could use to add extra support to the tubes. This was a bunch of work and still left a gap below the tube which really decreased the effectiveness of the tubes. It didn't allow it to be sealed and create the green house effect they are designed to.
2012 also turned out to be a major drought year and we had set ourselves up for a huge failure on this tree planting. The lack of wind protection from burning off the cedars, killing the grass and burning it, and then removing all grass thatch and exposing the soil after the burn just left the trees to bake in the wide open south and west facing hillside. It was apparent years later that the trees who were protected by some shade from larger trees were the ones to survive vs the ones left out in the wide open that first year.
But somehow we had some trees that survived through their first year!
Year 2 - 2013
I again applied a herbicide mix of Oust XP, Gly, Prowl H2O and Simizine to keep the weeds at bay. I kept the same large circles as the previous year and they were still bare dirt around each tree. Seems like a great thing to have no weed competition near the tree right? You'll see later that I changed my mind on that a little bit...
The spring started off with some good growth on a couple trees out of the approx. 1500 we planted. It quickly became obvious these red oaks really like their new home.
Some of the cedars had put on some great growth in year 2
By the end of year 2 the first tree, a red oak, had made it's way out of the tube
Year 3 - 2014
Again, I applied the same herbicide mix as the previous two years in the spring of 2014. 2014 turned out to be a pretty decent year for rain fall. The trees really bounced back in year 3.
By the end of yr 3 that single red oak that made it out of the tube the previous year had put on some great growth and had some friends join in breaking out of the tops of the 5ft tubes
Chinkapin oak at the end of yr 3's growing season
Alright, now to get to the point where I changed my mind on weed control... or at least how extensive I thought weed control should be. At this point we had gone three years with a pretty good mix of herbicides and to a decent sized area around each tree. The soil in this planting is fairly light, loamy soil and when we expose soil like that to sun/wind/rain over three years it erodes away. And in our case being on a fairly sloped hillside it eroded away pretty well in some places. :? The evidence was clear when you looked at the soil line inside the tube vs outside. So lesson learned, don't burn the entire area off with fire before planting, just kill small spots for each tree and leave the grass mat there to act as a natural weed mat and hold soil moisture.
But over all yr 3 really brought my hopes back for this tree planting, it was obvious we had some tough trees to still be alive after what mother nature and ourselves put them through.
**Up to this point I haven't mentioned the mice nest problem we had in any of the tree tubes. But it will happen, if you use tree tubes you will have field mice make homes in them. I can almost guarantee it. The best way to fight this we've found... just taking time to walk the planting during the fall and winter and clean out the mice nest. I like to do it early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is shining "through" the tube and those nest stand out very well. This is a very important step otherwise those mice will girdle a tree you've pampered for years... and just like that it will be gone. :x
Year 4 - 2015
In the first part of spring of 2015 it was apparent the cedars were beginning to grow and you could "row" them
I started off this year on a different foot, zero herbicide was applied to any tree in this planting. There was honestly only one species of weed that was able to grow around the trees, all other weeds still failed to sprout (I'm assuming this soil was pretty nasty to small weed seeds after 3 yrs of residual herbicide applications). I was excited to see some weed growth around the trees. This would provide shade for them and also protect the soil from hard rains and further erosion.
2015 has been an excellent year for growing trees. Cool wet weather had the oaks putting on growth like crazy. Here is what they looked like in mid May
White oaks are generally slower growing so we're just starting to get some out of the tubes early on in yr 4.
Chinkapin oak in mid-May
I did direct seed some acorns in the spring in areas we had high loss from the original tree planting
And also transplanted some "wild" cedars from our pasture in areas we had lost a lot of cedars from the original planting
Up to this point I've only shared the "good" results of the tree planting but we've lost probably 50% of the trees we planted. Some are still hanging on and even after 4 yrs they die back and resprout from the base like this oak did at the beginning of yr 4.
But it appears to be doing ok mid-way through July, we'll see if it actually turns out to be a legit tree over the next couple yrs.
Two years in a row this tree has been girdled by mice. Last year it came back and grew 6ft in one year and this yr again it is having to do the same. If we'd keep the mice out of here who knows how tall this tree would be. We're just lucky it's spring back from the mice chewing and not dying completely.
At the beginning of yr 4 some of the oaks put on so much growth they were like wet noodles and the dewy mornings would have them folded right over into the deers browse range, and the deer took advantage. Luckily I caught it before the deer could eat the leaders on any trees. I braced the trees for the next two months and they quickly put on a strong back bone and I was able to take the bracing off.
We are currently mid-way through yr 4's growing season and we have more and more trees popping out of the tops of the tubes all across this planting.
Chinkapin oak mid-July of yr 4
More growth mid-way through yr 4
The bugs have really been hard on the oak leaves this year
Notice the weeds around the trees this year as well. I've been using the machete to keep them from getting too out of conrol but I like the idea of having some protection from the wind and sun. But something to keep in mind is the weeds will compete with the tree for water and nutrients. This year we happen to have an abundance of water so that isn't a concern
This end of the planting had nearly 100% loss after year one. It was more southern facing and during the drought of that first year, 2012, it smoked literally all these trees. I've been working on replanting acorns in here and will continue to do so until we get some trees established!
Cedars mid-way through yr 4
That is all for now. I wanted to share how this particular tree planting has progressed over the past 4 yrs. It has been a HUGE learning experience and we've done a number of things "wrong". Tree planting is my favorite habitat project to do and it tests my patience but to finally see results like is just motivation to do it all over again! Hopefully this helps someone out there with their tree plantings!
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