Would like to add some hard mast to my 8 acre woodlot. It's mainly cherry/ash/red maple, only hard mast I have now is some beech. I'm planting chestnuts all over (I love to eat them) and was thinking some hybrid oak and hazelnut. Thru some googling I found some nurseries claiming hybrid oaks will produce as soon as 4 years? Don't really want to wait 20 years if other options are out there. Looking for any advice on planting varieties, nursery sources, etc Any considerations on planting trees in a forest setting vs edge habitat? I don't hunt, but deer, turkey, fox, partridge kind of what I'm looking to encourage. I have a 3/4 acre orchard started with apples, pears, peaches, persimmon, and berries. I was looking at mulberries too.
What you should plant depends on how much sun the trees will receive and what kind of soil you have.. I don't doubt that some of the hybrid oaks can produce soon, but it will take plenty of water, sun and nutrients for the tree to determine it is ready. It takes a ton of energy to produce flowers, fruits and seeds. That said, an older tree will be much more likely to be well established for production but shade, drought and disease can all impact how much you get.. I'm a fan of white oak. Just planted a bunch of acorns this fall and will see which ones come up. What you can do in the near term is cut some of that red maple. Deer love the stump sprouts and a healthy root system will produce a bunch of them for deer to browse on. When you cut the red maple, you will open the forest canopy to let sun to the forest floor thus speeding the growth of your new trees. You can plant some raspberries and blackberries in the space between your trees for wildlife to eat while waiting for acorns... Absent a clearcut, changing a forest is a slow process unless you have the money to plant fully grown trees. You can go here to buy trees http://www.arborday.org/index.cfm or contact your local extension service to see what they have/recommend. http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/9395.html
Thanks Muck. A little more info on my land: I had a light timber harvest 5 years ago and have a nice mix of brambles coming up and semi open spaces for trees to reestablish. I have a sandy loam with a pH around 5.5-6.
Sounds like conditions that just about any of the northeastern hardwoods/softwoods can grow in. The brambles will be good cover for the smaller wildlife. Depending on how tall the trees are that you get, you might need to cut back the brambles to ensure that they don't choke out the seedlings... You could also plant a small stand of spruce/fir for a place for the deer to bed down..
Deer will frequently visit the edges created in your property. I suggest planting some of whatever you decide on on the edges and not all of them in the woods itself. Another place for info is the qdma forum. They have scuds of discussions on exactly what you are doing. warning. ..those guys are as ate up with planting trees and cover for animals as we are about wood and saws! Tons of info on grafting rootstock,growing trees from seed, growing conditions and much more.
Keep us posted on what your doing and how things are going dutch. Very interested here. I have to thin out many areas of my woods. Wish I had some info for you. But I am in the same boat you are. I have a lot to learn in the years to come because as I thin I want to clear a few areas of brush and some dead trees and get some new trees going. So much work I want to do but not enough time in the day. Oh well, a little at a time. It will still be there tomorrow. I have 81 acres to work on. Should be fun.
Perfect thanks for the lead! I'll check them out Well I have 1 Meader persimmon, it was in a pot last year and transplanted this spring. It dropped its leaves in August though so not sure what happened, will be waiting to see if it leafs out in the spring Will do Gassy
Persimmon drop leaves early, I wouldn't worry too much. You'll probably need more than one for pollination when they get to fruit bearing age. If you already have some fruit bearing ones in your area keep an eye peeled for scat containing the seeds - looks like kidney beans. The seeds need to stratify during a winter cold snap
x2 on keeping the brambles in check. I have an area towards the back of the property that I'll be "re-engineering" at some point. A good 1/2 acre where the canopy was opened up, but the forest floor is totally choked off with brambles, and a few small undergrowth trees, which are being choked to death by vines. I'll be planting for timber - I'd like to increase the amount of oaks I have. I already have tons of wildlife - hit one of my own deer the other day!! Time for some population control!
If you plant seedlings definitely cage them. I've had deer browse the buds which stunts growth. Even had some black walnuts 3-6" in diameter turn into a buck rub. Sometimes this will kill a young tree. I cage them with wire 3' in diameter and 4'+ high.
Briars aren't always a bad thing.If you can keep them topped off so the sun hits the ground most saplings will do well in heavy slash. It keeps the deer from browsing buds. Ive marked off study areas of heavy slash and briars on timbered ground and 10 years later when the tops and briars die off it's usually thick with saplings.
Interesting... I assumed this spot had been that way for a long time, but I guess I don't know for certain. Any stumps or fallen trees in this area seem to be long gone, and replaced by "clumps" of 2-3" diameter elm (or maybe it's witch hazel?), maybe 10' tall, which have become a trellis for wild grape vines. No seedlings are growing there, unlike the areas that aren't choked off so much. No sunlight is reaching the forest floor underneath though. Topping them off might save a lot of time, I'll have to give that a try... Thanks!
