Poplar regen

Jaxon Holler

Yearling... With promise
Greetings! Hopefully quick question about regenerating poplar in central WI. I have some areas with pole timber that is 2-3 inch DBH and about 20 feet tall. My plan is to cut everything to ground level this winter and run a fire through on the spring. Hoping to get tender new poplar shoots, forbs and grasses. Would this work or would the poplar not have the ability to resprout from root suckers and stump sprouts? Thanks!
 
I did similar last winter, but with a brush saw on slightly bigger trees - total of ~2 acres in a couple different areas. Wound up getting probably 75% stump sprouts in terms of regrowth on aspen (not sure if we are talking about the same tree - everyone calls all types of aspens poplars up here).

Not sure how well they will burn in the spring unless you are able to pile it up. The trees I knocked down had a lot of moisture - they were growing leaves while lying on the ground for at least two months after things started greening up. I really underestimated how much work it would be to clean up; because I did it on snowshoes with a brush saw a lot of my stumps were 12-18" high.... made it so I couldn't choke a bunch of them together and yank out with my tractor without just getting hung up, so I wound up having to go back through the criss-crossed debris that was 2-3' stacked on top of eachother and chainsawing stuff into shorter lengths so it would lay on the ground and deer could walk through. This winter when I do more I am going to knock down the shrubs/small trees with my brush saw, and then use my chainsaw on the bigger stuff as it falls to avoid handling everything twice once the snow falls.

Attached pictures showing stump sprouts starting, what the area looked like in spring after I started cleaning it up, and then what it looked like early August. Had a pretty bad drought over the summer, but by September most of the regrowth was 3-4' tall.
 

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You should get great poplar regeneration. I’d divide the area into sections and clear one section about every 5-7 years. I don’t know how large of area your talking about. If it’s only a couple acres total then I’d clear it all if it’s 40 or more acres I’d subdivide it into 6 sections or so Ideally clearing one every 7 years you would have 35 year old timber stand being cleared every 7 years this would be both profitable and good for deer hunting. The size timber your talking about clearing on this first cutting is just about worthless and would probably cost you money to clear it not to discourage you from doing so just want you to be aware.
 
You should get great poplar regeneration. I’d divide the area into sections and clear one section about every 5-7 years. I don’t know how large of area your talking about. If it’s only a couple acres total then I’d clear it all if it’s 40 or more acres I’d subdivide it into 6 sections or so Ideally clearing one every 7 years you would have 35 year old timber stand being cleared every 7 years this would be both profitable and good for deer hunting. The size timber your talking about clearing on this first cutting is just about worthless and would probably cost you money to clear it not to discourage you from doing so just want you to be aware.

This is the way a lot of northern states do it, great for grouse and woodcock habitat. Very good browse for deer too.
 
Should work. I heard a span doesn't respond to multiple cuttings, such as having them sprout after a clear cut and the running a brush hog over them again the next year. They also don't like shade. They say that if you drop a aspen tree it will shoot up sprouts the diameter of how tall the tree is. I had small areas clear cut on my land, the regrowth has been incredible in 6 years.
 
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