Planting Pine Trees: Your Advice

[Victor Van Meter]

I just received my 100 pine trees and am looking for the best practices for planting them. They will be going into an old pasture field that I have mowed and sprayed to kill the vegetation to eliminate weed competition. This is SE Ohio. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

VV


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[roymunson]

How big are they?

The more you can protect them the better. Our white pines get hammered by browse. But if you can cage them you'll increase your chances of success. Really depends on how big they are and what you want out of them.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

24”-36”. Caging them is not an option because I am planting 100. My goal is to fill some empty space between my neighbor’s house and my food plots.

VV


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[Chainsaw]

Planted 500 one spring, cages were not the norm then. Within five days there was only one left. We got them in just before green up and it was during high deer populations.If the white pines growing in the open in your area have low limbs with green needles on them within reach of the deer, you have a good chance of a successful planting. If not then cages or at least stapling protection to the leaders is in order.
If white pines don’t take Miscanthus might be a good option with some caged spruces mixed in but not tightly mixed in.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Planted 500 one spring, cages were not the norm then. Within five days there was only one left. We got them in just before green up and it was during high deer populations.If the white pines growing in the open in your area have low limbs with green needles on them within reach of the deer, you have a good chance of a successful planting. If not then cages or at least stapling protection to the leaders is in order.
If white pines don’t take Miscanthus might be a good option with some caged spruces mixed in but not tightly mixed in.

White pines are pretty prevalent around here and they have limbs from the ground up. I am hoping browse won’t be a problem, seems like there is plenty else for them to eat.

VV


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[ghilliehunter]

VVM,
Years ago, I planted 100 white pines, tubed and staked each one. By the next spring, 1 was left. The deer would work at them until they could pull the tree out. Don't waste your time unless they're fenced or e-fenced. I've read that arborvitae are less browsed and don't need protected. Maybe someone can chime in on that.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

VVM,
Years ago, I planted 100 white pines, tubed and staked each one. By the next spring, 1 was left. The deer would work at them until they could pull the tree out. Don't waste your time unless they're fenced or e-fenced. I've read that arborvitae are less browsed and don't need protected. Maybe someone can chime in on that.

Well, they arrived in the mail yesterday, so they are going in the ground. I will try to protect them the best I can and hope for the best.

I do plan to add some water absorb crystals to each hole. You guys see any issue with that? I did that with some plum trees and it seemed to help them through the dry months.

VV


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[titan23_87]

A lower cost alternative that may save you on browsing. a Tip from BuckSutherland from this forum: I like to use plain old white 4x6 index cards. I think a 500 pack is about $8 from amazon. I have started to fold the index card into thirds and have two flaps come come around and staple that together. This makes the cap more compact and it seems to fit tighter then. Use however many staples it takes. I like to catch a few needles and try not to staple through the leader.

 

[Tree Spud]

As stated above, white pine are deer candy. If you can't cage, then you should use bud caps on the top stem. Personally I would stay away from solids materials as they can do more harm then good. Solid material leads to heat build, moisture and mildew. I have uses the ones in the link below very successfully eliminating deer browse issues. A white mesh that breathes and they are $0.07 each.

FYI ... the other reason to consider caging is that when the pines are 2-3 years old, they are perfect buck rub posts. Nothing more frustrating than coming up to your place in Oct and see most of them destroyed by rubbing.

https://pacforest.com/Category/Bud-Cap-products

 

[Chainsaw]

VVM,
Years ago, I planted 100 white pines, tubed and staked each one. By the next spring, 1 was left. The deer would work at them until they could pull the tree out. Don't waste your time unless they're fenced or e-fenced. I've read that arborvitae are less browsed and don't need protected. Maybe someone can chime in on that.

Arborvitae also known as northern white cedar is the number one winter deer browse tree in many northern locales. Maybe someone selling them wrote that or someone came up with one that is not deer candy but I doubt it. They are even browsed more than white pine here. I can't say for places outside of NY or New England.

 

[TreeDaddy]

As stated above, white pine are deer candy. If you can't cage, then you should use bud caps on the top stem. Personally I would stay away from solids materials as they can do more harm then good. Solid material leads to heat build, moisture and mildew. I have uses the ones in the link below very successfully eliminating deer browse issues. A white mesh that breathes and they are $0.07 each.

FYI ... the other reason to consider caging is that when the pines are 2-3 years old, they are perfect buck rub posts. Nothing more frustrating than coming up to your place in Oct and see most of them destroyed by rubbing.

https://pacforest.com/Category/Bud-Cap-products

.......after dinner mints......gone within 2-3 days left un protected

bill

 

[H20fwler]

24”-36”. Caging them is not an option because I am planting 100. My goal is to fill some empty space between my neighbor’s house and my food plots.

VV

I have planted hundreds of them from seedlings to 4' and said the same as you, not practical to try and protect them. The deer here were ruthless to them whatever they didn't brows to death they rubbed to death! Even fifteen feet from a busy road. About the ONLY way I can keep them alive is to cage them, I use old used farm fence it can be found very cheap and works perfect. That said pines are not common in my area and the deer gravitate to them like magnets especially fall and winter.

 

[Northbound]

For a little hope.... my experience has been very good planting white pine. I did 3000 of them 3 years ago, zero cages. Zero after care. Looks like 95%made it. I anticipated high loss so planted 3 foot rows as about 3 foot spacing. Ag area with high deer numbers. I'll be using tree spade to relocate most of them in a few years.

I did have a negative experience years prior on same property with only 300 white pines. Lost 70%of those.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I planted 500 unprotected, not a single one made it through the first winter. Plucked them right out of the ground. Those were 18-24" bare root. I even planted them into downed trees, it didnt matter, they got to them. Lots of work planting them, to see none make it a year. Dumb deer, dont know it was in their best interest to let them grow bigger!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Amazing at the differences in various locales. We have white pines coming up naturally by the thousands and deer don't bother them at all. The only evergreen they seem to bother at all is our spruce trees, and then just the new, tender tips for browsing. Rubbing - that's a whole other matter! They'll rub spruce and pitch pines, but not white pines here. Bottom line at camp - we don't have to protect ANY pines. Only spruce in the evergreen category.

If you're in an area where deer eat pines ……………….. CAGE them! Save money, time, and labor.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Now my brother who has a place about 40 miles east of me has white pines growing naturally all over his land, and I havent seen any damage to them. I assume since they naturally grow in abundance on his land, they arent a new food, and arent curious. Also, there are thousands of them already growing all over his land, so they could pluck them right out of the ground, and who would know?