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How to grow a forest.

T

TimWafer

Member
OK, this might sound bizarre but Ive been thinking about it for a couple years. I have some land currently under cultivation but not ideal farm land, as its rolling hills and somewhat steep in areas. Lets say about 10 acres to start with. I would like to see this land eventually return to a hardwood forest. I realize it would not happen in my lifetime but that really doesnt matter. I would just like to know its on its way to becoming a forest again.
Now I could just stop doing anything to it and let it naturally go back to woods. Neighbor essentially did that about 30 years ago and its grown up considerably in that time. Just wondering what I could do to kick start the process in my case.
I was thinking of planting oats on it this year but the idea occurred to me of mixing in a bunch of various hardwood tree seeds into the oats when I drill them. Then harvesting the oats and maybe cutting them a little high and leaving the stubble & straw. Hoping some of the tree seeds would germinate and take hold . From that point on letting nature take its course.
Anybody think this would do anything or just a waste of time?
 
Hickory nuts or acorns won't work thru a drill.
Contact state forestry department. Plant seedlings.
If you have deer, they tear the h out of little trees and eat the buds.
 
We planted 100 Doug fir we bought from Weyerhaeuser here in wash state they are hybrids which grow 3 ft a year they where 2 ft when we plated them 15years ago there well over 30 ft now
 
I have hickory and oaks but wanted to start some Cypress in the bottoms. Deer had different ideas, liked the smell rubbed on their antlers. The only survivors were along a pond bank I had put tomato cages around to keep beaver away.
 
Here in central VA to grow a forest all you have to do is nothing,all sorts of trees and bushes will grow.Oaks,Hickory,Maples,Persimmon,Black Locust,sycamore,Dogwood,Pine,Cedar and others.Just thin out the ones you don't like.
 
(quoted from post at 13:45:10 03/24/21)
Was thinking more of maples. I think some variety's should go through a drill.
Click to expand...

Is there anyone that could even supply the quantity of seeds you would need?
 
If it were me I would want to see it in my lifetime. You couldn't do that with hardwood. I would recommend doing it with white pine. Under the right conditions a tree can grow two to three feet per year. Fox River Nursery will sell them for 7 bucks a tree.
 
Oaks and Maples come up readily from their seeds but as Roger says, unless protected, deer will take most of them when they become young seedlings.
The NYS Dept. of Env. Conservation planted about an acre of White oaks just across the road from me about 15 yrs ago. They planted seedlings that were about 12" to 15" tall.
They installed plastic tubes about 5" in dia. and 5' tall over each one which they never removed. This keeps the deer from feeding on them. Nearly all of them have survived and they are now 20' to 30' tall. My late F.I.L. dug up maple trees about 3 to 4 ft high back in the mid fifties and planted them along the road. Most have been large enough to tap for the last 4 or 5 years.
If you let nature take it's course, you will get a conglomeration of all sorts of trees. I helped cut hay off this "field" back in the late 50s when I was a teenager. I think the last time it was mowed was in the late 60s. It is under new ownership and is being cleared to become an apple orchard. There were a lot of Ash and Poplar and in one corner there was a whole passel of beautiful straight sugar maples about 4 to 6 inches in dia. I wish I had the equipment to dig them up and move them. There were white pines mixed in with dias. up to 24". The pictures of the tapped Maples was taken in Mar 2017; the others today. It is good to reforest but the fruits of your labor will have to be enjoyed by future generations.

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I would consider contacting a government agency to see what would do best in your soil. Plant in rows quite close together. You want the trees to have to reach for sun light, that makes them grow tall. Plant a mix of quality hard woods. Red oak, walnut etc.
Good luck keeping the deer out, that's my biggest problem.
Dave
 
I agree with Dave about contacting an agency about advice and conservation grants. You may even get some tax credits for growing trees. Illinois has ILLINOIS FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT ACT Around here (Forgottonia/Western Illinois) we are having disease and insect problems with trees. Red oaks are getting wilt, something is killing white pine, and emerald ash bore is taking out ash trees. Maples grow like weeds because the seeds spread with the wind. Sycamore is difficult to transplant and have survival. If you 'drilled' seeds how would you control the spacing to the required separation? Some places have a custom built 'rider' that is pulled by a tractor. It opens the ground and seedlings are manually inserted.

Good luck on your proposed project
 
How are you is going to the property taxes and insurance if you turn 10 acres into a woods and take it out of producing a crop?
George
 
We planted 25 acres of marginal farm land to hybrid poplar/cottonwood 30 years ago, and 5 years ago they were harvested and went to the paper mill. 30 years ago there was a concern about running out of hardwood pulpwood, boy has that changed! With so many paper and board mills shutting down since then now there is a surplus of timber. We re-planted the hybrid plantation to white spruce, will plant the last 1,500 this spring. If the stud mill at Bemidji is still running in 60 years they can be made into 2x4's, there will always be a demand for them.
 
> Is maples considered a hardwood?

Hardwood and softwood are synonyms for deciduous and coniferous; the terms don't necessarily describe the relative hardness of particular woods. Maple is deciduous and it's also very hard.
 
Whatever you do, don't plant the juniper weeds. They are invasive.
Some people buy them and plant them on purpose, fooled by the marketing
name: Eastern Red Cedar.
I tried planting some hedge apples (Osage Orange). The rabbits ate them
off almost instantly. I had a few nice black locusts, but the beavers
chewed them down.
 
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