Does that mean the oaks are doomed?

[shedder]

This was cut last year. I planted oak seed in bare ground. I didn't expect the aspen suckers. Does that mean the oaks are doomed?

 

[CAS_HNTR]

I wouldn't say doomed, but they have an uphill battle and you will have to lead the charge!

 

[Sam]

looks like a lot of mulch just waiting for you to chop and drop for your oaks

 

[Brushpile]

You could isolate select oaks with weed mats, and spray everything around them with gly.

 

[Chainsaw]

That's a great aspen regeneration; You may get an additional crop of aspens next spring. I'd pick a non-aspen spot to Plant oak seeds as I'd favor the aspen--different grounds= different objectives.

Clear cutting aspen when the trees are near dormant can result in 8,000 to 15,000 shoots per acre. Cutting in the summer results in "poorer" regeneration but still clear cutting like around June is supposed to result in the least amount of regeneration. There are other factors of course.

 

[j-bird]

Wow - they may make it, but they are obviously at a disadvantage.....if they made it.

That aspen is going to grow far faster than the oaks so you will have to address that at some point in some manner - if they are to ever have a chance.

 

[dogdoc]

This kinda happened to me. I had an old fescue field which I sprayed March of last year and then direct seeded a bunch of bur and schuette oaks. By May I knew there was no way the oaks were going to survive all the competition. I wish I had flagged where I planted the acorns. I walked the field and found as many small oak seedlings as I could and tubed everyone and sprayed gly around the tubes.

I don't think your oaks are going to survive without some help.

 

[wbpdeer]

Four things: 1. Flag them, 2. Weed Eat them, 3. Landscape fabric helps with moisture & competition, & 4. Spray to kill competition

Best way to solve a problem - work it to death.

My 2 cents...

 

[Fish]

Go through and find what you can next spring at leaf out, or over winter, but leaf out would be easier. Then clear around them with cut and herbicide. Repeat the following year. Im sure they are in there if the seed was good. But they wont last very many years in that canopy.

 

[shedder]

I need one of these.

 

[George]

It may be that the aspen provide benefit to the tiny oaks. It is the natural progression 1st phase aspen followed by oak.

G

 

[shedder]

If I apply gly to some cut shoots will it go to the roots and kill the whole clone?

 

[almanac12]

Foliar gly, followed by some sort of annual ground cover might be enough to suppress the aspen if you want them gone. Aspen are very shade intolerant, so it shouldn't take much to suppress them.

My neighbor clear cut a 5 acre aspen stand. In 3 years the shoots were up 10 - 12'. So this could be great deer bedding habitat. I also believe aspen shoots are a preferred food.

 

[JFK52]

I am in agreement with"Chainsaw" that you should pick a different area to plant oak seeds. I would be very happy to see that kind of regeneration on the aspen clear cuts I did this winter. Deer use aspen at this stage as a preferred browse. Also a plus for any grouse you have on the property.

 

[shedder]

I am in agreement with"Chainsaw" that you should pick a different area to plant oak seeds. I would be very happy to see that kind of regeneration on the aspen clear cuts I did this winter. Deer use aspen at this stage as a preferred browse. Also a plus for any grouse you have on the property.

The oak seeds were planted before I knew popple would explode.

With 5 deer sq mile here and cuts everywhere I don't see much pressure on popple.

 

[THE LLC]

I'd like to have some cuttings off those things (aspens) to see if I could root them. I've had great luck rooting cottonwoods.

 

[1yellowdog]

My neighbor and I have clear cut areas on our properties that have produced similar results with the Aspen/Poplar regeneration. We have no issues with the oaks surviving. Obviously oak seedlings will not grow as fast as the aspen/poplar but be patient with the oaks. I wouldn't touch the aspen seedlings; the deer will help you thin those out.

 

[MarkDarvin]

Does that mean the oaks are doomed?

I wouldn't worry yet. Wait and see what the deer do to that area over winter. They may mow all that off if the area is as small as it looks. I'd be more concerned right now with getting a bow stand set up to hunt that.

How I'd address that is this. I'd get in there and find your best oaks and tube them. The biggest reason for the tubes is simply so you can find your trees. Then I'd spend about 90 seconds per tree each year buzzing off that brush low enough with a silky to keep the sun on your oaks. I've been doing the same thing with some oaks on my property. It just happens to be the single half-acre that regens like crazy. The rest of the property, I can't buy any regen.

Here's my area. Right now, you can only see one of my 12 burs in a tube. I haven't done my mow job yet for the year, but they're also ok. Some of this brush is 7-8' tall, but my oaks are up to 6', so it's no emergency yet.

 

[George]

I'd like to have some cuttings off those things (aspens) to see if I could root them. I've had great luck rooting cottonwoods.

Aspen do not propagate from cuttings as do cottonwood.

G

 

[Chainsaw]

I'd like to have some cuttings off those things (aspens) to see if I could root them. I've had great luck rooting cottonwoods.

As Geo has stated according to this study Dormant Quaking Aspen cuttings rarely if at all can be can rooted. Also according to this study they can however be successfully propagated doing the opposite of rooting stems; that is root cuttings are used to grow stems and then the root and new stem is planted. It states that generally one stem per inch of root can be expected. I had found this when researching aspen regeneration a while back and had looked at rooting the stem cuttings.
file:///C:/Users/Anne/Downloads/Techniques%20for%20Rooting%20Aspen%20Root%20Sprouts.pdf

Roots from aspen trees shown to grow well in your area have the best chance of fitting in to your environment. If there are no aspens in you area, occasionally we bulldoze an aspen down and whenever it occurs again I'd be glad to send you some roots if you would like. There are no set plans for bulldozing down any aspens but I'm sure we will again sometime.