Tons of good info there from Dbltree. I've only planted maybe 4,500 or so trees in the last 4 years so I'm no pro, but here are some things I have observed. Most of this has already been covered in the last 4 pages, but I'm in the mood to type I guess.
1. You simply cant plant them and forget them. Doesnt work, with the possible exception of Red Cedar which are just plain tough. If you cant devote a fair amount of time to trees for the first 4 or 5 years, plant NWSG instead and you'll be happier.
2. Herbicide definately makes a difference in both survival and growth rate. Unless you use the high dollar stuff, you will probably need to spray twice during the season to get really decent control.
3. If you have many deer at all, no, make that ANY deer at all, you need to protect the trees in some way. The most deer I have ever saw on my property at one time is 16, average is 6-8 per day. Still, you cant find a one of those 4,500 trees which has not been effected by deer, and they have outright killed many of them. I wish I had used tree tubes for the hardwoods. I really like white pine, but they are deer candy and its a waste of time and money to plant them unless you can fence them. The local county conservation board told me they have given up on white pine for that reason and strictly plant cedars now. Fence them and you'll be ok. Norway Spruce suffer a little less damage.
4. Deer damage does not seem to be detrimental to my shrubs (Red Dogwoods), even though they browse them heavily. The Plums and Nanking Cherry dont seem to be bothered much by deer.
5. Mechanical planting is the only way to do large numbers, but if your only doing a few hundred you will have much better survival by hand planting.
6. Mechanical planting is very difficult in rough areas and sod doesnt help either. Crop fields work MUCH better for mechanical planting because the soil will close up better around the roots keeping them from drying out.
7. I'd rather plant 100 trees and protect and care for them well than plant 1,000 and hope for the best. I thought I could plant so many the deer wouldnt be a factor, I was wrong. Despite the 1,000's of acres of crops surrounding them they still ate the trees.
8. Mark you seedlings with flagging tape or some other means. If you dont get herbicide on early enough, you'll have a hell of a time finding those green seedlings in a sea of green weeds w/o some sort of markers. Makes mowing much easier too.
9. I believe Poast herbicide can be applied over deciduous trees for grass control, but check the label.
10. I wish I had just put down weed mats 4 years ago. In the long run it would have been cheaper and definately alot less work. Some of my trees are in the 5th year and they still havent outgrown the weed competition.
11. If your going to borrow a tree planter from a local agency, get on the list as early as possible. You dont want thousands of seedlings setting around in warm weather because you are waiting your turn with the planter. If you do have to wait a long time look for cold storage. I knew some folks at the local beverage distributor and a little begging got me a place to house several thousand trees in their refridgerated warehouse for a couple weeks. Use your imagination and you can find a cold place to store them if you have to wait.
1. You simply cant plant them and forget them. Doesnt work, with the possible exception of Red Cedar which are just plain tough. If you cant devote a fair amount of time to trees for the first 4 or 5 years, plant NWSG instead and you'll be happier.
2. Herbicide definately makes a difference in both survival and growth rate. Unless you use the high dollar stuff, you will probably need to spray twice during the season to get really decent control.
3. If you have many deer at all, no, make that ANY deer at all, you need to protect the trees in some way. The most deer I have ever saw on my property at one time is 16, average is 6-8 per day. Still, you cant find a one of those 4,500 trees which has not been effected by deer, and they have outright killed many of them. I wish I had used tree tubes for the hardwoods. I really like white pine, but they are deer candy and its a waste of time and money to plant them unless you can fence them. The local county conservation board told me they have given up on white pine for that reason and strictly plant cedars now. Fence them and you'll be ok. Norway Spruce suffer a little less damage.
4. Deer damage does not seem to be detrimental to my shrubs (Red Dogwoods), even though they browse them heavily. The Plums and Nanking Cherry dont seem to be bothered much by deer.
5. Mechanical planting is the only way to do large numbers, but if your only doing a few hundred you will have much better survival by hand planting.
6. Mechanical planting is very difficult in rough areas and sod doesnt help either. Crop fields work MUCH better for mechanical planting because the soil will close up better around the roots keeping them from drying out.
7. I'd rather plant 100 trees and protect and care for them well than plant 1,000 and hope for the best. I thought I could plant so many the deer wouldnt be a factor, I was wrong. Despite the 1,000's of acres of crops surrounding them they still ate the trees.
8. Mark you seedlings with flagging tape or some other means. If you dont get herbicide on early enough, you'll have a hell of a time finding those green seedlings in a sea of green weeds w/o some sort of markers. Makes mowing much easier too.
9. I believe Poast herbicide can be applied over deciduous trees for grass control, but check the label.
10. I wish I had just put down weed mats 4 years ago. In the long run it would have been cheaper and definately alot less work. Some of my trees are in the 5th year and they still havent outgrown the weed competition.
11. If your going to borrow a tree planter from a local agency, get on the list as early as possible. You dont want thousands of seedlings setting around in warm weather because you are waiting your turn with the planter. If you do have to wait a long time look for cold storage. I knew some folks at the local beverage distributor and a little begging got me a place to house several thousand trees in their refridgerated warehouse for a couple weeks. Use your imagination and you can find a cold place to store them if you have to wait.
