Compromise is the key to everything.... That's my wife's new vehicle too. Sold her SUV and talking her into driving this around town. Baby seat inside, we're hoping this works, I really had to sell her on the idea! 
Got it going tonight. 7-8' tall cedar trees, I'm gonna say, realistically, start to finish, 5-ish mins a tree if you got em close by (which I do). Gonna line my road where there's lots of innocent "deer viewers" but enough that I don't think are innocent, just gonna add some privacy. But, also putting cedars, etc in areas that need em for cover, etc. Fun toy!!! I do wonder if I could get enough work to do this as a job but probably not, who knows. It's FUN and man does it speed life up!!!!! Probably saved myself 10 years of growing time, for real.
Got it going tonight. 7-8' tall cedar trees, I'm gonna say, realistically, start to finish, 5-ish mins a tree if you got em close by (which I do). Gonna line my road where there's lots of innocent "deer viewers" but enough that I don't think are innocent, just gonna add some privacy. But, also putting cedars, etc in areas that need em for cover, etc. Fun toy!!! I do wonder if I could get enough work to do this as a job but probably not, who knows. It's FUN and man does it speed life up!!!!! Probably saved myself 10 years of growing time, for real.
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Please take some pics from your work today using this sweet machine!
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Anyone transplanting cedars lately? Planning on starting here soon but first got to find a place to get some young cedars.
Ditches or pastures are a great place to get some easy ones. 99% of farmers would love to have you dig up their cedars in the pastures.
It is pretty crazy how many can be out there when you start looking, these ones we'll leave for a few years to grow before transplanting
7 years ago Russ pulled a cedar out of the wet spring ground and just took the shovel and put it in the ground. 7 years later and having paid zero attention to it or controling the grass around it it is about 5ft tall. Not bad. I'm certain it would've been much larger if we had controlled the grass competition but regardless, here is an example of what a cedar can do in 7 yrs. From less than 1ft tall to 5ft+ tall.
Or you can get a machine like Skip and transplant 6ft tall cedars all day long and save yourself a few years. lol
Ditches or pastures are a great place to get some easy ones. 99% of farmers would love to have you dig up their cedars in the pastures.
It is pretty crazy how many can be out there when you start looking, these ones we'll leave for a few years to grow before transplanting
7 years ago Russ pulled a cedar out of the wet spring ground and just took the shovel and put it in the ground. 7 years later and having paid zero attention to it or controling the grass around it it is about 5ft tall. Not bad. I'm certain it would've been much larger if we had controlled the grass competition but regardless, here is an example of what a cedar can do in 7 yrs. From less than 1ft tall to 5ft+ tall.
Or you can get a machine like Skip and transplant 6ft tall cedars all day long and save yourself a few years. lol
Wow- that's great. I did a lot by hand. I still would but I just have way more work to do and less time than I did before. Digging em up works great. Good weed control- like "perfect", 5-7' trees in 5 yrs is doable. Looks great!!!!
Did do 7-8' trees last night. We're talking maybe 10 yr old trees? Instant screen. Like NOW. I do like that.
Another benefit of cedars.... I spend so much time traveling & transporting equipment among the farms for EGYPTIAN WHEAT screens. Which I love and work awesome BUT- in a lot of cases now- I never have to go back to put in EW each yr. screen is done and saves me all that yearly work.
Did do 7-8' trees last night. We're talking maybe 10 yr old trees? Instant screen. Like NOW. I do like that
.Another benefit of cedars.... I spend so much time traveling & transporting equipment among the farms for EGYPTIAN WHEAT screens. Which I love and work awesome BUT- in a lot of cases now- I never have to go back to put in EW each yr. screen is done and saves me all that yearly work.
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LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
I moved three tonight quick before burning - they were 6-10" but I want to try bigger this weekend, up to 18" I'm hoping to try. We'll see how big the roots get on those larger ones. And the shovel I happened to have was not ideal, it'd have worked better to have a sharp nosed, narrow type of spade vs this tile spade to cut through the thick brome roots.
You can barely see them in the grass I popped them into, untreated/killed grass so not ideal. I just happened to have a shovel and wanted to try transplanting a few
You can barely see them in the grass I popped them into, untreated/killed grass so not ideal. I just happened to have a shovel and wanted to try transplanting a few
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LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Anyone ever grow shrubs from cuttings? Going to be trying this myself this year.
Got all the cuttings gathered the other night. This was the first time using the cheap fiskars pruners I got at Home Depot and after pruning apple trees and cutting some "larger" branches the dang pruners took a crap on me. The tip wouldn't close all the way and it sometimes wasn't making clean cuts. I need to invest in a good pruners.
First cuttings I took were from some red osier dogwood.
This being the first time I've really done cuttings I took a few different t types of wood as you can see. They say you want to get one year old wood. I thought I had gotten one year old wood but some of it got pretty woody towards the base and notice the color difference in it. Also note that I tried to get at least two bud points on each cutting, I remember reading that tip somewhere online.
I looked for portions of the shrubs that had large, straight, branch free growth. Most of this was stuff that had suckered out from the stump or was growing more towards the center of the shrubs. I got arrowwood, plum, red osier dogwood, ninebark, and silkly dogwood (I struggled to find which part of the silky dogwood I should be cutting, I didn't take pictures but this shrub didn't have as many nice long, branch free sections :think: )
I made each cutting 8-12" long, so I had varying lengths and types of wood. It is absolutely a must to plant the cutting the correct direction, the bottom of the cutting goes in the ground. So in order to help with this I cut the top of the cutting flush off and made sure to leave a bud near the top
And cut the bottom of the cuttings at an angle. This will help to push the cuttings in the ground too
Got home and soaked the cuttings in water quick and then put them in two 2 gallon ziploc baggies and stored them in the top of the fridge. I know this won't be quite 28 degrees but we'll see how they work being held in there for 6-7weeks before planting
I took a couple cuttings and dipped the pointed end in rooting hormone and put them in a glass of water to see if they'll start roots.
The game plan is to plant these in trenches in the backyard and baby them over the summer. Then next year we'll dig them up and plant them to their permanent home on the farm. We'll see how this goes. If it works we'll have a source for shrubs off the farm, an unlimited supply of cedars we can transplant, and then grow the oaks/hardwoods in rootmakers as needed.
Got all the cuttings gathered the other night. This was the first time using the cheap fiskars pruners I got at Home Depot and after pruning apple trees and cutting some "larger" branches the dang pruners took a crap on me. The tip wouldn't close all the way and it sometimes wasn't making clean cuts. I need to invest in a good pruners.
First cuttings I took were from some red osier dogwood.
This being the first time I've really done cuttings I took a few different t types of wood as you can see. They say you want to get one year old wood. I thought I had gotten one year old wood but some of it got pretty woody towards the base and notice the color difference in it. Also note that I tried to get at least two bud points on each cutting, I remember reading that tip somewhere online.
I looked for portions of the shrubs that had large, straight, branch free growth. Most of this was stuff that had suckered out from the stump or was growing more towards the center of the shrubs. I got arrowwood, plum, red osier dogwood, ninebark, and silkly dogwood (I struggled to find which part of the silky dogwood I should be cutting, I didn't take pictures but this shrub didn't have as many nice long, branch free sections :think: )
I made each cutting 8-12" long, so I had varying lengths and types of wood. It is absolutely a must to plant the cutting the correct direction, the bottom of the cutting goes in the ground. So in order to help with this I cut the top of the cutting flush off and made sure to leave a bud near the top
And cut the bottom of the cuttings at an angle. This will help to push the cuttings in the ground too
Got home and soaked the cuttings in water quick and then put them in two 2 gallon ziploc baggies and stored them in the top of the fridge. I know this won't be quite 28 degrees but we'll see how they work being held in there for 6-7weeks before planting
I took a couple cuttings and dipped the pointed end in rooting hormone and put them in a glass of water to see if they'll start roots.
The game plan is to plant these in trenches in the backyard and baby them over the summer. Then next year we'll dig them up and plant them to their permanent home on the farm. We'll see how this goes. If it works we'll have a source for shrubs off the farm, an unlimited supply of cedars we can transplant, and then grow the oaks/hardwoods in rootmakers as needed.
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Will do, figure we gotta keep these going for Paul, he's taught us everything we know about habitat improvements!
Transplanted some cedars today - 53 in all. Didn't take long at all to do!
Picked up a nice long nosed spade with larger spots to step on with your boot to push it into the soil. Ground a sharp tip on the end and it worked great
Depending on the size, I could get most trees out in 3 pushes with the spade. Then hit the dirt ball with my hand to break it up and shake the dirt out
I tried to knock most of the dirt and brome grass roots off the tree and put it back in the hole, that way we don't have a bunch of holes in our pasture. Not necessary to do but that's just how I did it
Gathered the cedars and put them in a rubbermaid container to help protect their roots from the wind.
I took out various height of cedars, some smaller that were less than 1ft and some that were nearly 3ft tall. We'll see how those larger ones do over the summer
My biggest fear was the roots drying out... that would lead to dead trees pretty quick
So I threw some loose dirt over the roots and had a water pack along we used to burn prairie in the morning but had water left over in it. So after throwing the loose dirt on I soaked the trees down real well and kept them in the shade and out of the wind
And off to put them back in the ground
Planting them was pretty easy. It was of course harder digging the holes in the brome grass because the roots are thick but if a guy had spots in the grass killed before hand that'd be a huge help
The ones I put in the timber went in really easy, much looser soil without all the grass roots
Cedars make for some great wildlife cover and it's a quick and free way to create a big buck bedding area.
Transplanted some cedars today - 53 in all. Didn't take long at all to do!
Picked up a nice long nosed spade with larger spots to step on with your boot to push it into the soil. Ground a sharp tip on the end and it worked great
Depending on the size, I could get most trees out in 3 pushes with the spade. Then hit the dirt ball with my hand to break it up and shake the dirt out
I tried to knock most of the dirt and brome grass roots off the tree and put it back in the hole, that way we don't have a bunch of holes in our pasture. Not necessary to do but that's just how I did it
Gathered the cedars and put them in a rubbermaid container to help protect their roots from the wind.
I took out various height of cedars, some smaller that were less than 1ft and some that were nearly 3ft tall. We'll see how those larger ones do over the summer
My biggest fear was the roots drying out... that would lead to dead trees pretty quick
So I threw some loose dirt over the roots and had a water pack along we used to burn prairie in the morning but had water left over in it. So after throwing the loose dirt on I soaked the trees down real well and kept them in the shade and out of the wind
And off to put them back in the ground
Planting them was pretty easy. It was of course harder digging the holes in the brome grass because the roots are thick but if a guy had spots in the grass killed before hand that'd be a huge help
The ones I put in the timber went in really easy, much looser soil without all the grass roots
Cedars make for some great wildlife cover and it's a quick and free way to create a big buck bedding area.
6Popes1Booner
Member
Looks good. I've personally moved 4-5' cedars and they've all done well. none died.
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Wow! By hand I take it? How much of the roots did you have to dig up? Going to have to try this this week with the brother!
6Popes1Booner
Member
Yes by hand, I usually take about the size of a basketball I guess. You will chop through the roots etc, but I've never lost any at all and they've been up to my height and I'm 6'.
JayEC
Member
Relocated 30 yesterday afternoon and this morning, excited to start my sight/ wind block and help the deer feel more secure in this wide open fence row!
View attachment 2884
View attachment 2885
Pretty sandy so the native grass mix is pretty sparse.
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View attachment 2885
Pretty sandy so the native grass mix is pretty sparse.
DoneRight
PMA Member
View attachment 2896
Didn't have much time today, but I got some cedars transplanted to start a screen along a bedding area where we've lost a lot of cover. Dutch elm has been hard on some of our timber stand. I hope to do more in the next few weeks. I transplanted 13 anywhere from 2 ft to 4 ft tall.
Didn't have much time today, but I got some cedars transplanted to start a screen along a bedding area where we've lost a lot of cover. Dutch elm has been hard on some of our timber stand. I hope to do more in the next few weeks. I transplanted 13 anywhere from 2 ft to 4 ft tall.
skyleralan
PMA Member
I have an area that I need to screen off the deer from, don't call me lazy for not back tracking on transplanting cedars, but anything major you really have to do?
I planted 10 apple trees today, so that was my big project.
I planted 10 apple trees today, so that was my big project.
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Great pictures fellas!!! Let us know how they do over the summer, especially the larger ones. I popped 40 out of the ground in 25 minutes last night. Doesn't take much longer to plant them either. Helps to have the ground killed before hand, especially if planting into grass. I planted the 15 larger ones (3-4ftrs) and put the rest in a bag after dipping their roots in water, and stored them in the cooler. I'll plant them tomorrow.
From what I've ready nothing special at all, pop them out of the ground, keep the roots moist and transplant. A few rules we follow when planting trees in general that might help are:
-do not let the roots dry out
-try to not curl the roots up when planting
-if there is a long piece of root go ahead and trim it off vs curling it up
-don't leave air around the roots, pack them in well
Everyone says cedars are super tough. Hard to kill and easy to transplant. Good luck with the planting!
From what I've ready nothing special at all, pop them out of the ground, keep the roots moist and transplant. A few rules we follow when planting trees in general that might help are:
-do not let the roots dry out
-try to not curl the roots up when planting
-if there is a long piece of root go ahead and trim it off vs curling it up
-don't leave air around the roots, pack them in well
Everyone says cedars are super tough. Hard to kill and easy to transplant. Good luck with the planting!
LoessHillsArcher
PMA Member
Update on the shrub cuttings I put in a glass of water. Here is what they looked like on day 1 - March 19th
Here is what they looked like on day 13 - March 31st
At first glance you think, man those look great! But I've still got my concerns about how long these will survive since they've put down no root growth. It appears they are living on their own stored energy for now. I think I'm going to take two more out and actually put them in dirt vs water and see if they actually produce roots. Also going to take a knife and scrape off some of the outer layer on the bottom 1" of the stem when I stick them in dirt. Lastly I'm going to do some research to see if the rooting hormone I have is the proper one for rooting hardwood shrub cuttings.
Here is what they looked like on day 13 - March 31st
At first glance you think, man those look great! But I've still got my concerns about how long these will survive since they've put down no root growth. It appears they are living on their own stored energy for now. I think I'm going to take two more out and actually put them in dirt vs water and see if they actually produce roots. Also going to take a knife and scrape off some of the outer layer on the bottom 1" of the stem when I stick them in dirt. Lastly I'm going to do some research to see if the rooting hormone I have is the proper one for rooting hardwood shrub cuttings.