The art of freeing up trees

Not much found on the topic of getting rid of less desired trees to allow better growth for beneficial trees.
I have lots of smaller oaks and Holly's which are certainly struggling due to competition with gums and such. Many of these desired trees have several less desired trees within an impact range of 1'-5' from them.
Would the drip edge(crown)? be a factor on decisions as well on what to girdle or remove in areas?
Also, would fertilizing a 3'holly or a 8'oak be idea?

Welcome to the forum Buckbuilder. Absolutely "crop tree releasing" is a major and beneficial tool used by most deer managers and is not discussed as much as it could be. Crop tree in this reference would be any tree you choose to consider important whether it be a high value timber tree or of value to wildlife like oak, apples, generally most fruit and nut trees and even preferred browse species. Yes removing tree competition to the drip edge is a good first step in allowing better tree growth of desired individual trees once those trees are identified. Actually any tree that is not a crop tree itself that touches the crown of a crop tree is considered fair game for removal. In the case of a tall oak tree that could put competing trees out twenty or thirty feet or more out from the oak tree trunk on the consider for cut list. Under story trees beyond the drip line which are not competing with the crown are fine and even many within the drip line may not be hurting the larger dominant crop tree. Freeing up the crown is step 2 and is very important as well. Sometimes it is beneficial to remove even some oak trees or apple trees when they simply are competing with each other. One simply picks the best one for the crop tree and removes the others. And sometimes a tree is too far gone to benefit from release. Experience with releasing quickly teaches one that though.

"Crop Tree Management In Eastern Hardwoods" is a great read on tree releasing, but is out of print and difficult to find. It is referenced and referred to by many write ups on "Crop Tree Management" that have followed it. Here is one such related link.

https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2007/nrs_2007_miller_001.pdf

Most in depth articles about Crop Tree Releasing are written for the forest industry but the techniques can be applied well to our apple, pear and persimmon trees and all other trees we want to encourage on our properties.

I didn't ignore your fertilizing question but I do not have any proven positive experiences in fertilizing trees.

Welcome to the forum.

I do it the old fashioned way - cut the undesirable with a chain saw (or DR mower) and treat the stumps. It's great exercise and enjoyable work for me. I'm close to finishing 12 acres in the last few weeks - mainly whacking sweet gums that are competing with oaks.

^^^^^Thats cool Native how you get trees to levitate off the cut stump!

As to the OPs question. The above comments answer quite well. I personally cut any tree that looks to be crowding my mature oaks either at present or into the future. Gives better acorn production and timber production of tree as its competitors are removed. In addition, if done in winter, puts browse within deer level for additional food during hard months. And opening canopy allows new deer friendly growth to occur such as browse and acorn producers as opposed to the shade tolerant plants a thick overstory tends to promote.
As for fertilizing, I've actually read of hardwood forests being Fert by planes to study if timber growth was improved but never saw the results. I suppose it wouldn't hurt but here is my theory... hardwood forests in my area thrive on so-called acidic, poor nutrient soils. So to me much change to a prime acorn producer would do very little. Now for other trees, in different areas, it may be another case.
You might read thru the thread Theory of Random Clusters on this page http://deerhunterforum.com/index.ph...-clusters-or-hinge-cutting-manipulation.4759/ and the thread The Mighty Acorn , http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/the-mighty-acorn.1814/ which might give you some ideas on various ways of managing timber.

What you are proposing to do is by far the best thing that you can do for your woods! Gum is like a weed, about worthless for anything, like native said, cut them, and be sure to spray the stumps with a 25% mixture of triclopyr and diesel fuel, if you don't treat them they will pop right back out again and take water, sunlight, and nutrients away from your oak trees. Spending your time killing the gum trees is worth way more than spreading fertilizer, and the oak trees will double in growth rate if not crowded. I like to see twice the area open, rather than just cutting to the drip line.

I call this harvesting sunlight.

This is probably my favorite habitat work to do. It helps that it can be done in a sweatshirt when it's 10 degrees outside, and there are no bugs. I take a pretty wide swath when it comes to what's good. There are really only three trees I cut on my property and those are all tag alder, some swamp ash, and some aspen.

I've ID'd quite a few favorable species on my place, and I go look for them in the understory before I start cutting. I've got decent to very good populations of bur oak, red oak, viburnum, holly, red osier dogwood, beaked hazel, hazelnut, paper birch, yellow birch, balsam fir, and black spruce.

Think of it like planting trees with a chainsaw, not a shovel. I suppose apple and some other soft mast are the exception.

dogghr said:

^^^^^Thats cool Native how you get trees to levitate off the cut stump!

As to the OPs question. The above comments answer quite well. I personally cut any tree that looks to be crowding my mature oaks either at present or into the future. Gives better acorn production and timber production of tree as its competitors are removed. In addition, if done in winter, puts browse within deer level for additional food during hard months. And opening canopy allows new deer friendly growth to occur such as browse and acorn producers as opposed to the shade tolerant plants a thick overstory tends to promote.
As for fertilizing, I've actually read of hardwood forests being Fert by planes to study if timber growth was improved but never saw the results. I suppose it wouldn't hurt but here is my theory... hardwood forests in my area thrive on so-called acidic, poor nutrient soils. So to me much change to a prime acorn producer would do very little. Now for other trees, in different areas, it may be another case.
You might read thru the thread Theory of Random Clusters on this page http://deerhunterforum.com/index.ph...-clusters-or-hinge-cutting-manipulation.4759/ and the thread The Mighty Acorn , http://deerhunterforum.com/index.php?threads/the-mighty-acorn.1814/ which might give you some ideas on various ways of managing timber.

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I use "Wolf Whisper Magic" to make those trees levitate....

Thanks for the info guys, lots of continuous help here

MarkDarvin said:

I call this harvesting sunlight.

This is probably my favorite habitat work to do. It helps that it can be done in a sweatshirt when it's 10 degrees outside, and there are no bugs. I take a pretty wide swath when it comes to what's good. There are really only three trees I cut on my property and those are all tag alder, some swamp ash, and some aspen.

I've ID'd quite a few favorable species on my place, and I go look for them in the understory before I start cutting. I've got decent to very good populations of bur oak, red oak, viburnum, holly, red osier dogwood, beaked hazel, hazelnut, paper birch, yellow birch, balsam fir, and black spruce.

Think of it like planting trees with a chainsaw, not a shovel. I suppose apple and some other soft mast are the exception.

Click to expand...

I like that Mark. "Harvesting sunlight" is what we are really up to. Our properties individually are really just one big garden creating food and beauty for us and the critters that live there.

Chainsaw said:

I like that Mark. "Harvesting sunlight" is what we are really up to. Our properties individually are really just one big garden creating food and beauty for us and the critters that live there.

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You bet. I've been at this for three winters now. It's a ton of fun to watch these spots transform as the sun hits it. I've got low magnesium/ low sulfur sandy soil. In these spots, I throw in just enough lime to raise the pH from a 5.6 to maybe 6.1 and then I throw in a little gypsum just to give the plants some sulfur. Here's how my first one evolved.

In this spot, I went in and knocked everything down by folding it all inward and leaving it lay. There was nothing over 3' tall I wanted to save, but the understory was full of balsam fir, black spruce, dogwood, and more.


Here's 2nd summer regrowth.


The plant response from the sunlight and few minerals added was very cool to watch. After two summers, you wouldn't know there was a 3' tall brush pile in there.

Absolutely perfect Mark! Great picture success story.

Chainsaw said:

Absolutely perfect Mark! Great picture success story.

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I keep farting around with it too. One of the other things i've been trying is to throw some native tree/shrub/berry seed in those brush piles too. I found a good place to get cheap quantities and i just mix them into a bucket of crushed limestone and broadcast it in. I've done chokecherry, raspberry, black raspberry, RO dogwood, currants, and more. Haven't found anything yet, but it's a $20/year idea.

I always try to keep myself in a position to win. If nothing I sew grows, I've still got regen and what I released.

Unfortunately, any areas that I open up to more sunlight seem to immediately fill in with invasive species. And now that the ash borer has hit us hard, there's a lot more areas opening up naturally. It feels like it's tough to win sometimes. Don't mind me, I'm just in a b***chy mood this morning. Nothing a chainsaw won't cure...

MarkDarvin said:

I call this harvesting sunlight.

This is probably my favorite habitat work to do. It helps that it can be done in a sweatshirt when it's 10 degrees outside, and there are no bugs. I take a pretty wide swath when it comes to what's good. There are really only three trees I cut on my property and those are all tag alder, some swamp ash, and some aspen.

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Can you elaborate on knocking down the tag alders? Why and how do you do it, and what do you see as a result?

Chipdasqrrl said:

Can you elaborate on knocking down the tag alders? Why and how do you do it, and what do you see as a result?

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Mine are very tall, pushing 20+ feet and they've about killed the understory. Where I find desirable species among them, I set to wiping out the tag alders to let the sun hit the desirables in the understory.

My approach isn't complicated. Cut them as low as I can safely reach with the saw, and let them hit the ground. They're soft enough, I expect them to be dust in about 2-3 years, or at least stems laying flat on the ground. I have a square 40, so I keep all that work to the center 200 yard swat so as not to attract to much browsing and bedding pressure near my access trails.

The regen is very good. If there is nothing there to regen, the tags will regen, and my deer even browse them a little. But overall, the regen has been very diverse with a few flowers, a smattering of grass, stump sprouts, what I chose to liberate, and a few broadleaves. If it's too wet, the regen can be a little slower and not quite as diverse. It seems the light dose of lime and gypsum really helps it charge ahead.

MarkDarvin said:

Mine are very tall, pushing 20+ feet and they've about killed the understory. Where I find desirable species among them, I set to wiping out the tag alders to let the sun hit the desirables in the understory.

My approach isn't complicated. Cut them as low as I can safely reach with the saw, and let them hit the ground. They're soft enough, I expect them to be dust in about 2-3 years, or at least stems laying flat on the ground. I have a square 40, so I keep all that work to the center 200 yard swat so as not to attract to much browsing and bedding pressure near my access trails.

The regen is very good. If there is nothing there to regen, the tags will regen, and my deer even browse them a little. But overall, the regen has been very diverse with a few flowers, a smattering of grass, stump sprouts, what I chose to liberate, and a few broadleaves. If it's too wet, the regen can be a little slower and not quite as diverse. It seems the light dose of lime and gypsum really helps it charge ahead.

Click to expand...

I have a thick stand of tag alders surrounding a pond, and I never really thought about doing something about them from a habitat management standpoint. I don’t think they get much use other than cover.
You’ve inspired me to knock a section out and see if I like what comes up. Hopefully jewelweed...