Larger scale tree planting

CentralKyHunter

CentralKyHunter

Active Member
I'm working toward another USDA contract to plant about 9 acres of Riparian Buffer area in trees. 80% has to be in oaks with the remains 20% my choice of any hard or soft mast tree.

I am considering a couple 100 " common Bartlett " pears and want to do atleast 100 mulberry ( probably more)

Let's hear some more ideas !! 20% will be about 1400 trees .
 
You are a tree planting fool! Lol... When you do these large scale plantings, where do you get your trees? State nursery? Persimmon would probably be a decent one to throw in if you don't already have natives on the farm. I wish I had your ambition. I am overwhelmed with a 100 tree planting.


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Goldentriangle said:
You are a tree planting fool! Lol... When you do these large scale plantings, where do you get your trees? State nursery? Persimmon would probably be a decent one to throw in if you don't already have natives on the farm. I wish I had your ambition. I am overwhelmed with a 100 tree planting.


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I am def a fool!!! I've strongly considered black cherry and it was traditionally a favorite of mine as a Coon hunter!!

I've got tons of native persimmons and planted 200 @ my last planting.

It is gonna be a big job taking proper care of both plantings the next 5+ years but I think I will be happy with what I have in 15-20 yrs .
If I get this one done it will prob be my last on this property ( maybe )


Will prob throw in 100+ chestnuts .

My last planting was white /red / black oak with the 20% being walnut, pecan, and persimmon. Good chance I will do some more walnut also in some bottom ground


I've planted trees from Viginia nursery ( pears , DCO's , chestnuts , and sawtooths ). Many varieties from Ky & Tenn nurseries, and quite a few from Superior Nursery in Lee , Fl
 
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Does Bartlett Pear have any disease issues? I am just asking.

I would definitely put in some chestnut trees.

Sounds like a great program. I am sure you will do a great job with it. :)
 
I assume with a riparian you will have a couple rows of trees closest to water source and then maybe shrubs.I have about 8 acres total that was done 8 years ago.In fact my bur oaks are producing this year for the first time.I did a test for NRCS with tree tubes and they are now cost sharing these in Kansas.After 2 years i had 74% survival of the trees in tubes.I planted the area in wheat the fall before then did a burn down in the spring.We used a pull behind tree planter where it was dry enough and dibble bar where it wasn't.With a pull behind you could plant those pretty easily in a day.Tubing will take longer.One thing I didn't like was they set me up for 20ft spacing and that was to close,they wanted me to cut every other one down but we worked around that.Can't wait to see more of your plan
 
buckdeer1 said:
I assume with a riparian you will have a couple rows of trees closest to water source and then maybe shrubs.I have about 8 acres total that was done 8 years ago.In fact my bur oaks are producing this year for the first time.I did a test for NRCS with tree tubes and they are now cost sharing these in Kansas.After 2 years i had 74% survival of the trees in tubes.I planted the area in wheat the fall before then did a burn down in the spring.We used a pull behind tree planter where it was dry enough and dibble bar where it wasn't.With a pull behind you could plant those pretty easily in a day.Tubing will take longer.One thing I didn't like was they set me up for 20ft spacing and that was to close,they wanted me to cut every other one down but we worked around that.Can't wait to see more of your plan
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We used a single row pull behind for my first planting and did about 5000 trees in less than a day and it was much rougher ground.

I've got a meeting set for next Fruday to finalize some details and make my decision . As per previous meetings I Will be required to plant 80% oaks and the other 20% has to be either soft or hard mast trees of my choice .
As for spacing , I was previously required and will be again to go on 12x6 spacing . I wish tubes @ lighter density was an option and I'm going to ask but I don't think it's gonna be .
 
So are they going to require you to tube 100%,will you be doing shrubs then NWSG out towards the edge?It's kind of interesting to see how different areas designers set the same plans up.
 
I have nothing to add but i want to follow the progress cause it sounds like an amazing place and 15-20 holy crap its going to be amazing!
 
buckdeer1 said:
So are they going to require you to tube 100%,will you be doing shrubs then NWSG out towards the edge?It's kind of interesting to see how different areas designers set the same plans up.
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I don't think I will be allowed to tube any unless I want to do so at my own cost.

I am doing this through the Forestry Dept as the lead agency and not the Fish & Wildlife or NRCS which makes a difference. The main goal is to protect the soul & nutrients in the area but the way you go about it can be slightly altered depending on personal goals and farm plan. For my project it will be more tree driven so I prob won't do many shrubs or NWSG's unless I personally decide to.
Our dept uses the over planting method and then allow for natural culling and future culling as needed. Will be 600 trees / acre.

Site planted this spring in red oaks :



Black Oaks:






Mixed Site at planting

 
i would definitely not plant the Bartlett pears due to disease issues (fire blight). I planted a 10 acre wildlife corridor about 5 years ago and besides Nuttall, Shumard and, of course, Sawtooth oak, my best trees/shrubs are chickasaw plums and dwarf chinkapin oaks....all good wildlife trees and shrubs.
 
DrDirtNap said:
i would definitely not plant the Bartlett pears due to disease issues (fire blight). I planted a 10 acre wildlife corridor about 5 years ago and besides Nuttall, Shumard and, of course, Sawtooth oak, my best trees/shrubs are chickasaw plums and dwarf chinkapin oaks....all good wildlife trees and shrubs.
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Thanks for the info, how have your trees grown and how often did you spray or mow them?

I've got a couple hundred sawtooths & DCO potted that I've been planting around the farm now
 
I don't have any current pictures to post but I can tell you without any doubt that a sawtooth oak is the easiest to grow and fastest growing tree I've planted. I planted around 400 in January 2011 and several are bearing this year. Several of the chickasaw plums and dwarf chinkapin oks are also bearing. I did spray around them and mow around them the best I could for the first three years. I say the best I could because with 10 acres I couldn't keep on top of it very well. I remember the first year the marestail almost took over the entire 10 acres. Thought I lost every tree but I got it back under control with some mowing.
 
DrDirtNap said:
I don't have any current pictures to post but I can tell you without any doubt that a sawtooth oak is the easiest to grow and fastest growing tree I've planted. I planted around 400 in January 2011 and several are bearing this year. Several of the chickasaw plums and dwarf chinkapin oks are also bearing. I did spray around them and mow around them the best I could for the first three years. I say the best I could because with 10 acres I couldn't keep on top of it very well. I remember the first year the marestail almost took over the entire 10 acres. Thought I lost every tree but I got it back under control with some mowing.
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Thanks for the info, I've been trying to keep 8 acres mowed and it's a task no doubt . I have been putting orange stakes throughout and at row ends as a guide when needed. Seems to help me .

One of the prettiest plantations and probably what honestly sparked my love of trees was a 10yr old sawtooth plantation



 
Was there a reason to go through the forestry instead of NRCS and a CRP program?I know what you mean with the marestail.That stuff is nasty.I spent more hours than I could count weed eating around thousands of shrubs just so I could find them.For the cost of that project it still may be worth it to tube some,maybe every 10th.I have 25ft trees in 8 years and no way would that have happened without tubes.I tubed 400 trees this yr
 
I did go through a cost share NRCS program but it did not specify where to get the trees. I did some research and ended up buying them from several different sources.
I agree that tubing seedlings is definitely the way to go. It gets expensive. If you've tubed 400 this year you've got a lot of money tied up on that planting. I tubed 120 this year myself and have about decided that if you can't afford to plant tree seedlings with tubes then you either need to cut back on the number of trees you are planting so you can afford the tubes or not plant at all. That's my experience anyway.
 
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I am going through the forestry dept simply bc that's who I've been working with on other projects. They will be making recommendations but the Fish & Wildlife dept will be involved and everything then runs through the NRCS & FSA agencies. They recommend the majority of species I will plant with some room for my choice but as mentioned it has to be a mast producing tree.
The first project I did was simply a cost shared project with no annual rental . This project will be cost shared with annual rental for 15 yrs
 
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