White Cedar Planting in Quaking Aspen Wetlands

[Jerry D]

We have an area roughly 4 acres that is seasonally quite wet and full of quaking aspens that are up to about 12" diameter.

I am considering planting white cedar in this area. I figured 1 tree every 100 square foot. 1750 trees roughly. Cost on seedlings is about 0.75 cents for a 2+2.

There are some cedars in this area but the natural process is slower than I would like.

Sounds like a good idea?

 

[Chainsaw]

We have an area roughly 4 acres that is seasonally quite wet and full of quaking aspens that are up to about 12" diameter.

I am considering planting white cedar in this area. I figured 1 tree every 100 square foot. 1750 trees roughly. Cost on seedlings is about 0.75 cents for a 2+2.

There are some cedars in this area but the natural process is slower than I would like.

Sounds like a good idea?

Sounds like a very interesting project.Here aspens top out around twelve inches so clear cutting them for wood chips works pretty well.The aspens then send up thousands of shoots per acre which the deer eat the heck out of and it makes for great field edgeing as well. It reaches seven feet high so far in its first year of regrowth. I'm guessing in your area maybe aspens grow to twice that 12 inch size before topping out? Back to your question; I do not have an answer but do have a question. How will the cedars grow if shaded by the aspen? I'm thinking -not very well.

And why is natural repro so slow?Is it that the deer are eating them as fast as they germinate? If that is the case then 1750 trees would need to be fenced, I guess. Note-have little experience planting white cedars (only ever planted 100 which were eaten in the first week) --just thinking it through.

 

[Jerry D]

I would say there is enough open light for the cedars to grow from underneath as the aspens aren't too solid. In our area, on good soil the aspens can probably grow up to 3' diameter and 60+ feet tall.

With the freezing rain, the aspens tend not to develop much of a canopy. They are more like a pole with leaves. The rain builds up on the limbs, and then the soft wood snaps.

I don't think deer browsing the cedars will be a problem because there are natural cedars in the area that I haven't noticed it being a problem but I will make an effort to do some scouting this weekend before I place an order for seedlings this fall.

I have thought about hinge cutting but I don't think aspens hinge cut well?

 

[Chainsaw]

I would say there is enough open light for the cedars to grow from underneath as the aspens aren't too solid. In our area, on good soil the aspens can probably grow up to 3' diameter and 60+ feet tall.

With the freezing rain, the aspens tend not to develop much of a canopy. They are more like a pole with leaves. The rain builds up on the limbs, and then the soft wood snaps.

I don't think deer browsing the cedars will be a problem because there are natural cedars in the area that I haven't noticed it being a problem but I will make an effort to do some scouting this weekend before I place an order for seedlings this fall.

I have thought about hinge cutting but I don't think aspens hinge cut well?

Almost 1/2 snap off for me. I cut a line of them around halfway thru in January and February last winter;with a few good winds they all came down in a week or two with 1/2 staying attached and making nice cover. Some regeneration(root sprouting) occurred. I'll check for any sign of life on the successful hinge cut ones but I'm not expecting it.The way they snap I didn't want to test my luck by cutting too many thru to felling via hinge cuts. Cutting 1/2 way and stepping away worked out fairly safely.