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Tree planting question

S

singlecoyote

Proud member of the IBA
I am wanting to plant about 7700 feet of screening cover that doubles as bird habitat/food. I'm thinking 3 rows of cedars, shrubs with a few pin oaks.

I have a few questions:

1. I'm thinking this will require about 2300 trees/shrubs with an average of 10' apart (shrubs closer, trees further). How many can two guys realistically plant in a day using the 3-point planter.

2. Where can I get a three point tree planter?

3. Should I add any pines or spruce. I would like something that will grow quickly.

4. Best time frame - April 1st?

5. Any tricks I need to know?

Any other thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks
 
I'll try and help ya with a few of your questions. Sorry, it's going to be longer than I had hoped.

There are pros and cons to any route you take.

If you want a fast growing tree, I would avoid cedars. Though they would make good upland habitat and the deer will most likely leave them alone.

Pine or spruce will probably grow faster, but it would be a pain in the rear to attempt cage that many trees...

Shrubs like ninebark, dogwood, highbush cranberry, etc would help screen the area in a hurry and provide a food source for a lot of bird species. Depending on species and planting density, they may not screen much during the winter though.

Austrees are a willow hybrid that grow extremely fast, but I've heard that are not that hardy. They are deciduous, so they wouldn't be as effective during the winter. They do have a ton of branches, so you would still get some benefit. You can also grow them from cuttings, so they could planted relatively cheap if you found a neighbor or someone that had one.
I'm not aware of much habitat benefit for Austrees. Another positive is they won't reseed throughout your farm and become a nuisance.

If it was my farm, I would do a combination. I would do a row or two of Austrees to provide a screen very early. I'd say you could have a 15-20' tree in about 3 years. At the same time, I would plant my shrubs and conifers. They would be my long term solution. If a few Austrees were winter killed, I'd just replace them with cuttings from another tree. After my conifers were well established, I wouldn't care what happened to the Austrees.

Regarding hardwoods, personally I wouldn't want my screen to attract deer because I most likely wouldn't hunt that area anyways and it'd probably just attract unwanted attention from the road. Also, hardwood trees would be a perch for raptors that would/could hurt the pheasant population on the farm.

Main thing with planting trees is to keep them free of competition from grasses. Spray the rows with roundup before planting and then apply a pre-emergent for a few years until the trees become established. I think Princep and pendulum were the ones I've heard of most.

Whatever you go with, make sure to stagger the rows. It'll help fill in the screen a little better.

Regarding the 3-pt planter, I'd check with your County Conservation Board, Pheasants Forever, or even some NRCS/Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD)will rent them out. I can't remember the cost, but it's relatively inexpensive.

Sorry, I can't help you with your other questions. I'm sure some other guys on here will be more help.

Check out the IDNR Forestry site for more info. http://www.iowadnr.gov/forestry/files/09catalog.pdf
Says they fill spring orders in March. October for fall plantings.

One last note, again sorry for the length of the post, but the area may be able to qualify for some continuous CRP practices (field windbreak, living snow fence, etc.) It would have to meet some program requirements, but it'd get you some cost-share (up to 90%) and also some yearly rental payments for 15 years. If it wouldn't qualify for CRP, you should be able to at least get some cost-share for the trees through REAP, etc. If you do the work yourself, keep track of your hours and turn em in with all your bills. Check your local SWCD for more info.

Hope this helps ya out.
 
I would make sure and include some wild plums, dwarf chinkapin oaks, hazelnuts, shrub dogwoods, black raspberry/blackberry, false indigo, elderberry, and arrowwood for your shrubs. Pin oaks are great cause they will have really low hanging limbs and hold the leaves till late in the year. Dwarf Chinkapin Oaks will have tons of acorns on shrubs that can be waist high.

Plant them as early as you can in the spring for better success and I would think with a tree planter you could plant all those in 1-2 days if you work for 8 hours a day and it is smooth sailing.
 
-Tree planter for tractor- CHEAP if any cost at all, reserve WAY in advance (conservation board, etc).
-If it were ME, I'd plant say 4 rows deep. I'd take advantages and disadvantages and plant 3-4 varieties of trees shrubs. So, for example, 1 row cedars, 1 row willow/fast growing tree, 1 row shrubs and 1 row some kind of hardwood- WHATEVER. If you have 4 rows staggered, each row will offer the benefits of that type of tree/shrub- FAST GROWING, HOLDS COVER LATE, GOOD COVER FOR WILDLIFE, etc, etc. The weaknesses of the certain rows will be eliminated by the strengths of other rows. I've even gone so far as to combine 4 rows like above + a native grass + an annual planting like CORN or EGYPTIAN wheat & I'm going to do some Miscantheus later too. With this over-kill method, I have INSTANT 1st year cover/screen and each year that goes by I get closer to full coverage/screening.

-For your selection, the only thing I might change is pin oak. I'd do some of them BUT there's better options (like fellas suggested above) and pin oaks die off in high #'s in IA from MY experience (I'd rather pick up FREE shingle oak acorns than pin oaks OR plant swamp oak with is more hardy- both hold leaves super late- Shingle especially. Just my personal opinion/experience). Letemgrow has some amazing shrub choices, I'd pick several of those. Good luck!!
 
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The cedars that I have planted have grown fairly fast, and they are tough (drought resistant), I would recommend them. Consider two rows of conifers, possibly Cedar and Spruce (Norway or White Spruce). Some would argue that tall trees such as Norway Spruce allow hawks and owls to perch and then pick off game birds. That should be a consideration?
 
On my way back from Omaha Sunday, I noticed lots and lots of pheasants hunkered down in plum thickets along with a ton of bunnies. There were several pheasants under some type of shrub that still has red berries in bunches from what I saw. This was along I-29 and I would have stopped to see what type of bushes had the red berries, but the shoulders were still not good enough to make me want to stop with traffic going by at 70 mph. These shrubs were in between the on/off ramps and looked like a great draw since they are still holding food!!!
 
I would agree with letemgrow (wild plum) or American Plum... Very good shrub! They really shoot up fast and they provide good cover for pheasants and deer.
 
Should get 500 trees per hour in the ground planting long straight rows if your help is any good. I did a planting 9 years ago with red cedar, white spruce and norway spruce and white pine. The cedar are now 10-15 feet tall, the spruce are 3-4' tall and the white pine were digested in 2001. Double lung all of grass prior to planting.
 
Call your local forester or talk to your local NRCS office first, and also with local Pheasant Forever chapter. Some PF chapters loan out planters if your a member.

There are programs out there that may help you with all this. I mean cost share. I had no idea when I planted my 4000 trees on my place there was a program until I asked the local NRCS. I had to pay all up front but was 80 % payback after planting was complete. So cost me about 200 bucks to plant and they hired a guy to plant the trees for me....bonus!!
 
Everyone has already covered your questions very well and the tree planting thread has pictures of the 3 pt planter Skip and I used.

Only thing I will add in regards to the planter is that planting in wet soil is a real bear! The planter clogs up and you have to constantly stop and use some type of pry bar or spade to clean off the plugged up plow.

If the soil is dry...piece a cake!! Just remember to keep the seedlings in water while planting and not exposed to drying winds. Heel them in or keep them in a cool basement in the packages until you can plant.

As mentioned...personally I would keep oaks out of a screen if possible unless your using short shrubby oaks such as the dwarf chinkapin oak.

Usually 600 trees per acre (roughly) plant shrubs 4-8' apart in rows 10' a part.

make sure you check on cost share...REAP will pay for 75% on a minimum of 3 acres...:)
 
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