Retirement and Trees

[Murdog]

Looking for some input on a possible retirement 'project.' Im probably going to retire in about 4.5 years and am thinking about growing some trees for profit for some additional income. Heres the rough plan and a couple questions:
Im going to start with 500/yr and eventually (yr or 3) get to 1000.
Mixed evergreens for landscaping/windbreaks/xmas trees
This spring Im going with 100 each of canaan fir, blue spruce, white spruce, norway spruce white pine.
After a bunch of research (time will tell) Im going with 5 gallon boxer brown root pouches with handles.
My concern is what to use for my planting medium? Some options are 1) screened topsoil 2) 50/50 topsoil/compost 3) compost 4) soil less mix?? 5) something else? thoughts?
Im also planning on seedling plugs rather than bare root - yeah a hair more expensive but 2 advantages of ease of planting and no transplant shock - worth it?? Im leaning yes. thoughts?
I figure if I start now - by the fall of 2022 (retirement) I should have some decent trees (maybe 24 -30 in) and 3 smaller crops behind those.
Crazy?? or Reasonable
Thanks for any input.
LOCATION: Lockport NY

 

[j-bird]

I would suggest contacting Turkey Creek - he is a member here and he has his own orchard tree business (I am actually getting some trees form him yet this spring). I am sure he can be a great resource for you. Sorry I can't be more help.....

 

[Turkey Creek]

I am definitely not an expert on conifers. I also dont grow in bags either. Bags would be fine for your landscape and windbreak trees but you wont be able to get Christmas trees to size in them. Takes 5-7 years from what I have heard to get Christmas trees to size. With bags you will not want to go with straight topsoil. It is hard to water thoroughly and most soil tends to compact in bags, you want good aeration to promote root growth. I would suggest you set your operation up on a drip irrigation system. It is a going to be extremely time consuming to water by hand.

 

[swat1018]

It would help to know where you are located, did I miss it?

 

[catscratch]

I think it's awesome that you using your love habitat to create cash-flow for your retirement. Have no clue if it will work for you but I still think it's a great idea. I wanted to plant walnuts for similar reasons until I talked with a local forester. Turns out in my area it would be my kids's kids who "might" have seen a profit from the project. Went a different direction...

 

[THE LLC]

I gotta vote for crazy. That's a lot of dang work for a retired man. Grow cortunix quail for meat and eggs!

 

[Murdog]

I am definitely not an expert on conifers. I also dont grow in bags either. Bags would be fine for your landscape and windbreak trees but you wont be able to get Christmas trees to size in them. Takes 5-7 years from what I have heard to get Christmas trees to size. With bags you will not want to go with straight topsoil. It is hard to water thoroughly and most soil tends to compact in bags, you want good aeration to promote root growth. I would suggest you set your operation up on a drip irrigation system. It is a going to be extremely time consuming to water by hand.

Thanks TK
the growing medium is my biggest decision right now. Ive been leaning towards a 50/50 mix topsoil and compost. I might need to go with a bigger bag (7 or 10 gallon) if I want to get trees to 5-6 feet. Havent planned too much on irrigation yet but am thinking just a sprinkler system to start (500 seedlings are only about 1000 square feet foot print) thanks again!

 

[Murdog]

I gotta vote for crazy. That's a lot of dang work for a retired man. Grow cortunix quail for meat and eggs!

LOL

 

[Murdog]

I think it's awesome that you using your love habitat to create cash-flow for your retirement. Have no clue if it will work for you but I still think it's a great idea. I wanted to plant walnuts for similar reasons until I talked with a local forester. Turns out in my area it would be my kids's kids who "might" have seen a profit from the project. Went a different direction...

Catscratch - Interesting you mention walnuts. I attempted a small walnut tree plantation about 10 years ago. The projections were closer to 25-30 years. I think I went into detail on the subject on the old site. Sadly it didnt work out for me and I ended up selling the property and moving - long story. Its something thats still on a back burner in my mind for a "someday" project. Check out the website advancedtree.com
thanks

 

[catscratch]

Catscratch - Interesting you mention walnuts. I attempted a small walnut tree plantation about 10 years ago. The projections were closer to 25-30 years. I think I went into detail on the subject on the old site. Sadly it didnt work out for me and I ended up selling the property and moving - long story. Its something thats still on a back burner in my mind for a "someday" project. Check out the website advancedtree.com
thanks

Too bad you don't still have that project.
I've been on advancedtree.com before. It was part of my research (all of which pointed towards the 25-30yrs that you stated). It all looked like a good idea until the forester I talked with showed me that due to our climate and soils that walnut groves just go slower than advertised. Pecans where the money maker here as they start producing comparatively early and create a yearly income from nut sales that eventually out perform log harvests. I didn't go that direction either though because I don't want to harvest and sell nuts every yr. Like The LLC said; that's a crazy amount of work for a retired guy.
I hope you get your chance to plant a grove and it works well for you!

 

[Turkey Creek]

I dont think you can go with bags on a 5-6' conifer. You are going to be severely restricting root growth on that size of tree and how would you get water in the bags? The trees will over hang the bags considerably. Watering with over head irrigation is typically a no - no in tree production depending on amount of irrigation needed. Leads to increased amounts of leaf disease.