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Creating The Most Cedars The Fastest

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corygnc

New Member
I have a pasture in Kansas that I just bought next to another property I own and the pasture has been well taken care of for getting rid of cedars.

It is a brome pasture with a lots of cedars in the ditches but not in most of the areas in the pasture.

I was thinking of going in and discing the spots that I can. I thought by opening up the ground it would possibly get the cedars to spread more.

Any Ideas/Thoughts?
 
They spread pretty fast by just leaving it alone around southern Iowa, take the cattle out and the cedars will start spreading.

Birds are the key as they drop seed and if youlet tall grasses grow the birds will nest in the grass and spread the red cedar seed via the berries...:)
 
Try getting the blue cedar seeds from the trees. Not sure if there is anything you need to do to them (such as how birds digest them and possibly break down seed-coat) BUT you could just broadcast them out every year.
 
Corygnc,

I don't like the idea of letting cedars come in on their own. This may or may not happen.

Instead, I suggest transplanting small cedars from neighboring properties onto your property. Cedars that are less than 2 feet tall can be hand-pulled from the ground, put in a 5-gallon bucket of water, and then hand planted with a spade where you want them on your property. Most of your neighbors would likely be happy if you volunteered to remove their cedars. I would do the transplanting during late winter or early spring, but you can transplant anytime of the year.

Another option is to purchase seedlings from your state forest nursery and then either hand plant them or hire a private forester to use a tree planter and plant them.

With either method above you can get the cedars planted this next spring where you want them!

Mick
 
has anyone tried spreading the cedar berries is there a process that needs to be done to seeds i have gathered and broadcast but not much sucess
 
olafoggy said:
has anyone tried spreading the cedar berries is there a process that needs to be done to seeds i have gathered and broadcast but not much sucess
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Some seeds, and I believe cedars are included in this, need to have their hard seed coating broken down (i.e. be digested by birds) before being able to sprout. I've tried growing cedars from seed by using citric acid or sand paper to mimic the digestive process of birds but didn't have much luck. Found it easier to just go dig up small cedars in the pastures and transplant them.
 
ELKY said:
Yes...tried this a year ago with no luck.
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That's the key, they will take an extra year if they were not stratified (say, eaten by bird like above). So, in actuality, they should come up the year after you intended. If you're grabbing loads of free seed off trees, that's a no cost, easy way to do it but takes more time.

Your next step to progress faster would be doing the stratification process yourself OR buying stratified seed. I'd recommend the 2nd. I looked into purchasing the de-pulping machine for seeds and you're into the thousands. If you want a contact where you can purchase stratified cedar seed, let me know.

Your last very viable route is buying cedar trees from nursery or transplanting. Transplanting takes a lot of time to dig up, etc but of course your success will go up. If it's large scale, I wouldn't transplant, I'd buy bare roots. Small scale, dig em up and move em. I'm a lunatic and actually have a tree spade for the bobcat that can transplant 6' tall trees or WHATEVER but of course, that's kinda nutty and expensive, sure is handy though ;) Then, i have a tree planter that goes behind the tractor for little trees. Can do couple hundred an hour BUT the only thing I don't like about that is that the trees are in LINES. Sometimes that's ok (screens or it is still really good for cover too) but sometimes I want the natural disbursement of trees here and there like nature pops em up. Good luck!
 
Cedar berries have to be scarified to remove the outside husk.This can be done in a blender then soaked in hydrogen peroxide.There is a good thread over on qdma on this.I found a place where thousands of birds roost on a tower.After a rain there are piles of clean passed through cedar berries.I tilled up some and broadcast these so we will see what happens.Another option is to buy cedars from Missouri forestry or arborgen.These are the 2 cheapest I have found.They do transplant easily.I wouldn't put in a bucket of water,instead put in root slurry before planting.if you transplant try to get as much dirt on root ball.I just dig a circle out and pop them up.I have moved 50 in last month.After you break a couple shovels get you a razorback from forestrysuppliers.com it has a 15 inch blade and solid steel handle.they have free shipping through presidents day
 
BJohnson said:
Skip, you just need hit the bar before you hop on the tractor - problem solved. :D
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I'm dangerous enough on any machinery with no booze. Me, booze & equipment, uh oh! You'd all be reading about that in the paper & someone would posting the link here about the lunatic driving his tractor off a cliff or something or a guy planting trees down the center of I-35.

Ok, Hydrogen pyroxide, that may be what I did years ago. Good tip on that. I spoke with the Ames nursery many years ago and they had the method to stratify and I think that could have been it, I'm sure there's a few ways.
 
There is a difference between scarification and stratifying.Actually for the price if you are moving and planting small ones I would buy from MDC or arborgen.Thats if you need hundreds.If my bird deal works I may try it again but right now I am moving some that range from 14-36 inches with a shovel
 
If you've found a mama around with berries, probably already a lot of seedlings nearby that can be dug and planted. Late winter-early spring when the snow has melted off, seems easy to find them when everything else is brown. I've found a lot of seedlings under the shade of the forest that will never amount to anything and replanted in the sun for a new life.
 
BigfootWillow.com said:
If you've found a mama around with berries, probably already a lot of seedlings nearby that can be dug and planted. Late winter-early spring when the snow has melted off, seems easy to find them when everything else is brown. I've found a lot of seedlings under the shade of the forest that will never amount to anything and replanted in the sun for a new life.
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Very true.............
 
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