Cover/Security

[BrushyPines]

My property is 100 acres, 45 acres in pines and the rest is a hardwoods bottom. Over the summer, I had a timber company come in and thin the pines. The pines were 20 years old and it was time for a thin. We agreed to a 65-70 basal area, but after the thinning was completed, I'm going to say the basal area is lower than 65. The pine woods are full of ridges, so a cut every 3rd/5th row was out of the question. They cut the top of every ridge they could, thinned on sides of ridges that weren't too steep and the ones that were too steep they cut rows 30 feet apart from each other. Deer sightings are down this year from last year and the herd has turned nocturnal. Buck sightings are pretty rare on camera, seen a few yearlings and 2 years old. Last year at this time has been very different. I am afraid this is from the pines opening up drastically. I will say I have around 60 trees from chestnuts, persimmons, pears, crabapples, plums, sawtooth, etc that I've raised from 1 year old in pots and I have already planted 25 in the openings that get enough sunlight. My question is what could I plant on the sides of the ridges that were thinned to provide cover? I've thought of switch grass, but I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Bill]

Not sure of your location and I have no experience with pine plantations.
but something about switchgrass in openings of a pine forest sound ideal to me..

I’d wait for other responses from people with pines.

 

[aandw]

I wouldn't do anything yet. give it until late summer or fall and see what you get. here I alabama you usually get briars and vine honeysuckle to grow where there is enough sunlight. deer get food and bedding cover and it doesn't cost you anything

 

[Bassattackr]

I would be a little patient. Since they cut over the summer (and not the previous winter), there has been no (zero) growing season for early successional growth to do its job. Early spring thru summer is when that flush of cover develops. I would expect those results from the game given the timing of those cuts and there (should be) virtually no cover now.

Wait until it has a full growing season under its belt, by this time year you'll have a flush of cover. By 2-3 years from now, you'll have cover like you've never seen..

I agree with Bill, you could add some NWSG to a few areas if you want to jump start things but I would be hesitant to do too much. Your open ridge tops will receive a lot of sunlight and will recover pretty quickly.

 

[Boll Weevil]

As noted above: 1) Just wait till the next full growing season and 2) Get ready to fight undesirables. Not sure what part of the country you're in but you'll likely see lots of good stuff like greenbriar, blackberry, partridge pea, honeysuckle etc as a result of sunlight hitting the ground and from the soil disturbance from logging. At the same time you might also see a flush of sweetgums, privet, maple or other junk hardwood species that will need to be managed.

Give it a little time and your cover will most certainly return.

 

[BrushyPines]

I did have some undergrowth during the summer. I've seen partridge pea to different types of grasses to even a maypop vine. Its just not as thick as I thought it would have been. I am in Mississippi, so not very far from you @aandw. I do have sweet gums prior to the thinning and sycamore trees sprouted in many spots after the thinning. I plan to plant my trees on the ridges and I also made a food plot on 2 of the ridges that connect to the loading deck the loggers made. So I will probably maintain most of the ridges. I did plan to hack&squirt the sweet gums and sycamores this spring, due to them shading out more beneficial vegetation and cover.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Another thing you can do is run a fire through there and burn off the thick mat of pinestraw....that'll promote growth of the good stuff too.

 

[Bassattackr]

Another thing you can do is run a fire through there and burn off the thick mat of pinestraw....that'll promote growth of the good stuff too.

Agree! Perfect timing to do this winter before the growth starts.

 

[aandw]

I did have some undergrowth during the summer. I've seen partridge pea to different types of grasses to even a maypop vine. Its just not as thick as I thought it would have been. I am in Mississippi, so not very far from you @aandw. I do have sweet gums prior to the thinning and sycamore trees sprouted in many spots after the thinning. I plan to plant my trees on the ridges and I also made a food plot on 2 of the ridges that connect to the loading deck the loggers made. So I will probably maintain most of the ridges. I did plan to hack&squirt the sweet gums and sycamores this spring, due to them shading out more beneficial vegetation and cover.

show no mercy on sweet gums. kill them all. privet can get bad, but a few scattered thru out ain't all bad. if you can control it, it does have some benefit for birds, bees, and deer. deer will browse on the green leaves late season and love to scrape under them.

 

[35-acre]

Some helpful stuff I just googled as I had my own question (which was about the myth noted below - it came form a gardening site so the pant recommendations aren't what you will likely be looking for):

Will pine trees kill nearby plants?
As pine trees mature, they shed needles that lie like an acidic carpet around their trunks. A myth exists that this gradually causes the soil to become acidic, killing nearby plants. In fact, however, pine tree needles barely affect the soil pH even when worked into the soil for that purpose. The real problem lies in whether other plants can survive having a mulch of pine tree needles around them. Choosing plants that tolerate pine trees, such as the Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 7B through 9 and the shore pine (Pinus contorta) that thrives in USDA zones 7 and 8, can help your garden stay healthy.

Soil Acidity
Pine needles have a pH between 3.2 and 3.8, which means that they can turn the soil slightly more acidic if you work them into the soil as compost. However, if they merely fall from a tree and rest on top of the soil, they have almost no effect on the plant roots growing below the soil's surface. This is because microbes in the dirt neutralize the acidity as the needles decompose.

Acidic Plants
Like many other evergreens, pine trees thrive in slightly acidic soil -- and that means other plants in the area should also appreciate the acidic soil they must share with the pines. Plants that do well in this soil pH level include some types of magnolias (Magnolia), such as southern magnolias that thrive in USDA zones 7 through 10A; hollies (Ilex), hardy up to USDA zone 9; and bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla), hardy in USDA zones 5B through 9A.

Shading
Though many types of plants can grow near pine trees, not as many can survive directly under pine trees or in their shadows. If you want to grow plants very close to pine trees, you'll need to find plants that tolerate shade much of the time. Examples include hollies (Ilex) and boxwoods (Buxus), such as common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), which is hardy to USDA zones 6 through 8.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

How high off of the ground do the pine branches get trimmed?

 

[Boll Weevil]

How high off of the ground do the pine branches get trimmed?

In a plantation they self prune as the trees get taller and the canopies expand. Versus a single pine in the front yard for example...it'll keep branches much further down the trunk.

These pics are of the same road/opening through a stand of loblollys taken 5 years apart. In the foreground of the 2nd pic you can see the dead branches vs. the live crown...those branches will fall off on their own. You can also see the ratio of live crown and the canopy close as they age; young trees may have a live crown that's nearly 70% of total height. It's time for the 1st thin of a plantation when that live crown self-prunes to about 40%. With all that shade and pinestraw, an unthinned stand is virtually barren of understory, browse, or cover.

 

[BrushyPines]

How high off of the ground do the pine branches get trimmed?

The pines are 20 years old and between 40-50 feet tall. The branches are probably 30-35 feet high.

 

[Bill]

and sycamore trees sprouted in many spots after the thinning.

Cut the sycamores just above ground level and (Don’t) spray or squirt them. They will send up lots of stump sprouts and make instant cover. One of the best tree for Coppicing I know of.

 

[BrushyPines]

Cut the sycamores just above ground level and (Don’t) spray or squirt them. They will send up lots of stump sprouts and make instant cover. One of the best tree for Coppicing I know of.

Even if they are saplings?

 

[Bill]

Even if they are saplings?

Never tried a sapling. Try it, I bet you get multiple trunks over just one. Leave some to do in a few years. They respond great to it.

 

[BrushyPines]

Never tried a sapling. Try it, I bet you get multiple trunks over just one. Leave some to do in a few years. They respond great to it.

I'll try that to a few trees, but I'm definitely hacknsquirting every sweet gums I see.

 

[BrushyPines]

Thought of another idea while I'm waiting to see what the next growing season does. I thought about spreading some 13-13-13 over some of the spots during the spring to see if it would boost growth to the understory in any way. What are yall's thoughts on that idea?

 

[scott44]

Thought of another idea while I'm waiting to see what the next growing season does. I thought about spreading some 13-13-13 over some of the spots during the spring to see if it would boost growth to the understory in any way. What are yall's thoughts on that idea?

I have a NWSG field that is on the shorter side, real heavy clay and no amendments before establishing, that I'm going to fertilize this spring. Like others have said your PH is probably going to toward the acidic side so your goiing to have acidic loving plants. I'd try it and see what happens.

 

[BrushyPines]

I have a NWSG field that is on the shorter side, real heavy clay and no amendments before establishing, that I'm going to fertilize this spring. Like others have said your PH is probably going to toward the acidic side so your goiing to have acidic loving plants. I'd try it and see what happens.

They are definitely on the acidic side. My recent soil tests for my 2 plots were 5.3 and 5.5, so I was surprised that they weren't in the 4's.