Brush farmer
5 year old buck +
WW- I aim to have planting site where the sapling gets 6 hours of direct sun. The opening created in the canopy from a loss of a large tree is often enough of a gap. If my site is surrounded by smaller trees I'll take some out to get as close to 6 hrs as possible any dappled light in the hours before / after is a bonus. Someone here got me hooked on the Sun Surveyor app on my phone. It sure makes estimating daylight availability easy.
I look for rays of direct sun hitting the forest floor in during the middle of a summer day. The app lets me guess what work will need to be done once I'm standing in the spot. I may not make any cuts immediately, but I'll choose a planting spot where it's not in the line of fire of trees I may fell later. I figure I can always make release cuts later as the tree needs more room. I don't open up too large of an area off the bat lest I'm just inviting in competition for my new tree.
Keep it mind completely cutting neighboring trees may be unnecessary. Sometimes just using the pole saw to knock a limb or two off a tree is all I need. This is especially true around larger openings that have been there awhile as the surrounding trees reach for the light. Pay attention to surrounding species as some reach out more than others. I visit my trees pretty often so it's pretty obvious when one is getting passed up by others the same age due to lack of light. I fix the situation as needed. Also, I'm doing this with $3 bare root seedlings. I expect some failures and they don't cost much when they happen. The most expensive part of the planting is the wire cage and stake, which I reuse if a tree doesn't do well.
I look for rays of direct sun hitting the forest floor in during the middle of a summer day. The app lets me guess what work will need to be done once I'm standing in the spot. I may not make any cuts immediately, but I'll choose a planting spot where it's not in the line of fire of trees I may fell later. I figure I can always make release cuts later as the tree needs more room. I don't open up too large of an area off the bat lest I'm just inviting in competition for my new tree.
Keep it mind completely cutting neighboring trees may be unnecessary. Sometimes just using the pole saw to knock a limb or two off a tree is all I need. This is especially true around larger openings that have been there awhile as the surrounding trees reach for the light. Pay attention to surrounding species as some reach out more than others. I visit my trees pretty often so it's pretty obvious when one is getting passed up by others the same age due to lack of light. I fix the situation as needed. Also, I'm doing this with $3 bare root seedlings. I expect some failures and they don't cost much when they happen. The most expensive part of the planting is the wire cage and stake, which I reuse if a tree doesn't do well.
