After clear cut planting?

[mnbirddog]

So it looks like I'll be getting 11ish acres of 60 year old pine clearcut from my new land in southeastern MN (4b).

If you had a choice of what to plant into the cutting, what would it be? I'm leaning towards all shrubs, and have my own list in mind but let me hear some other ideas. Top 5 or 10 shrubs that would be on your list? I'll likely be looking at a few thousand to make sure that some survive after the deer go hunting.

 

[Telemark]

Pine or spruce that will be worth something as timber some day. Get some porcini mushroom spores on the roots somehow.

Reasons:
1. The pH and soil chemistry is right for evergreens.
2. You will probably get a lot of porcini, which are valuable.
3. Deer will use it as bedding.
4. It will be worth timber money eventually.

 

[mnbirddog]

Interesting thought. I've never even considered mushrooms but that's kind of a neat idea.

I'm not really worried about future value of trees. The place is zoned urban fringe now so the 105 acres will likely be worth much more in the future as development land than any trees on it. Plus there's 70 acres of mixed hardwoods already so waiting 60 years for some pines for my sons isn't really interesting.

I could have the soil amended after the cut, and I sort of assumed that due to the relative acidity I would have to if I wanted anything except buckthorn and rasberries to grow back

 

[Telemark]

so the 105 acres will likely be worth much more in the future as development land than any trees on it

When? How far in the future?

 

[Telemark]

I could have the soil amended after the cut

How much does that cost?

 

[mnbirddog]

When? How far in the future?

Maybe a decade or so. Not sure but when it became valuable enough I'd offload it and buy something else.

As for how much per acre to amend, I have no clue since I haven't done a soil test but money isn't much of an issue here. I'm not gonna plant 5,000 container trees or something like that but I have a budget that can range fairly wide.

 

[Telemark]

Could you plant Christmas trees? Would it be worth it?

 

[mnbirddog]

Honestly more concerned with wildlife than money on this piece, so Christmas trees wouldn't make much sense.

 

[Telemark]

Then I recommend red osier dogwood.

Reasons:
1. Grows fast.
2. Provides lots of deer forage.
3. It's cheap.
4. The berries provide food for birds.

 

[bueller]

What trees and shrubs grow naturally in the area? I think you'll be surprised how quickly that "free" stuff will pop up and thrive after the clear cut. Going to be plenty of young browse in there for years. I'd probably plant a bunch of spruce because in my area oaks, pines, and shrubs will all come on their own.

 

[mnbirddog]

What trees and shrubs grow naturally in the area? I think you'll be surprised how quickly that "free" stuff will pop up and thrive after the clear cut. Going to be plenty of young browse in there for years. I'd probably plant a bunch of spruce because in my area oaks, pines, and shrubs will all come on their own.

Buckthorn and rasberries

 

[JFK52]

Have you looked into any cost sharing programs that would help you out if you do decide to plant trees in the area? This area is probably so acidic from 60 years of pines that only other pines would grow in it. I guess you know that from your amended soil comment.

I left a 15 acre Scotch pine clear cut alone and got a great regeneration of oak, cherry, some popple and various types of berry bushes. That was 25 years ago and it did take several years for everything to come back in. But it cost me nothing, other than I pulled out volunteer Scotch pines for years. I still find a few every year and remove them. But if you have the possibility of buckthorn getting into the area, I would really not want that to happen on my land.

 

[yoderjac]

So it looks like I'll be getting 11ish acres of 60 year old pine clearcut from my new land in southeastern MN (4b).

If you had a choice of what to plant into the cutting, what would it be? I'm leaning towards all shrubs, and have my own list in mind but let me hear some other ideas. Top 5 or 10 shrubs that would be on your list? I'll likely be looking at a few thousand to make sure that some survive after the deer go hunting.

Pines!

 

[rocksnstumps]

When you say wildlife, not sure if that means deer only or more broadly for other critters and birds. Also if your soil is sandy or not which if the trees were red pine is likely. Let folks know and might help with suggestions

I'll just comment on what I have seen come back naturally on an entire 40 salvage clearcut of 50 year old red and white pine after a hot ground fire essentially cooked the trees but did not did not start them on fire (thanks campground 2 miles away that started fire and burned up a couple thousand acres). Sandy soil.

Hazelnuts, pin cherry, choke cherry, aspen/popple and what they scrub oak. Mostly black oak some red but poor soil means firewood/pulp never gonna be lumber. And red pines that came back on their own in spots, no need to plant more. I would not bother trying
Red osier dogwood as they like wet feet and where pines grow best is opposite.

Don't have but ninebark and sumac would offer some cover and grow decent

 

[Tap]

What are your goals? Bedding for deer? Food for deer? Stand or blind locations? Or just general wildlife habitat, which can vary greatly depending on what kind of critters you're talking about.
And you don't necessarily need to handle the entire 11 acres the same. Maybe a little of this and a little of that. Maybe think of a core area of ~5 acres of switchgrass for bedding. Then create a feathered edge of shrubs that border more mature timber for stand locations.
If you are doing this primarily for deer, then think "edge". The more edge that you create and maintain, the more attractive it will be for deer. They want edge habitat.

 

[mnbirddog]

Thanks for the ideas guys. The NCRS guy is coming out to see what we could do with them.

As for goals, wildlife habitat is deer, grouse, turkey primarily, then any other kinds of birds, squirrels and rabbits I suppose.

 

[blueKYstream]

If you're offloading the property in a decade or so and are planting for wildlife, I'd say planting most trees are not going to payoff for you. I'd say shrubs and fast growing trees would fit the bill...perhaps hazelnuts, dogwoods, plums, pears and I'll let others with more experience take it from here.

 

[j-bird]

I can't make suggestions because I don't know....but 2 things stand out in my mind. #1 - getting soil ph in balance may be a significant task. Keep in mind your not talking about just the top foot or so like with a food plot. You are going to need to get deep....like a few feet for good tree/shrub results in my opinion. Also keep in mind that correcting soil ph takes time. #2 - "reforestation" like you describe, even with shrubs, you are looking at roughly 700 plants an acre (that is a 8x8 spacing). That is a lot of planting!

I would find out what is native in your area and what will work best with your soil type and start there. I would also at least consider planting pockets of conifers and maybe even some mast producing trees as well just for diversity. They may never grow into much from a value perspective, but look at the 11 acres and see how it will best fit into the property and overall area and how you can use it best to provide a habitat that may be missing as well.

Good luck and share with us what you decide to do and the journey getting there.

 

[H20fwler]

It sounds like you have plenty of pine in your area.
So for good wildlife "brush" I like; hazelnut/pin oak/highbush cranberry/silky dogwood/red osier dogwood/crab apples and if you have any low spots button brush.

I would also over seed everything with a clover mix and chicory for ground cover.