Speeding up fallow field succession

[MossRoad]

On our 4 acre reforestation, we did alternating rows of white pines and mixed hardwoods. The rows of pines grow in a pyramid shape quickly, which makes the rows of hardwoods planted between them stress for sunlight, causing the hardwoods to grow very, very straight and tall, which is what we want in that plot. While the pines are a single species, there's something like 7 species of oaks, black walnut, tulip poplar, and a few other species of hardwood. This was recommended to us so that if a disease or insect came through and wiped one of the species, we'd still have a forest. It worked quite well, and we now have 40' pines with 50' hardwoods poking out the top after 28 years. Several years ago, some of the oaks even started producing good amounts of acorns. The deer and turkey are thick.

Our 10 acres of existing woods are a mix of small maple and oaks, sassafras, LARGE cherry trees, and thousands of black locust trees. Our plans for that section is to remove the black locust for firewood in the front where the sugar maples are more plentiful, and remove the black locust in the back where the oaks are more plentiful. But that's at our own pace. The LARGE multi-trucked cherries are taking care of removing themselves by falling over in every wind storm.

So I remove about 50-60 locust every year for firewood, for the past 10 years. That's 500-600 trees, and you can't even notice a dent. The maples fill right in and their trunks are starting to fatten nicely. Maybe I'll make syrup when I retire. :laughing:

The land is thick with multi-flora rose and honeysuckle. The wildlife is thick and healthy. We leave most of it go with about 2 miles of trails that we maintain through it to walk and drag wood out.

It all depends on what you want to do with the property. Wildlife management. Firewood. Lumber. A mix of uses, etc... it's a great feeling to watch it develop as you tweak the plan over the years. Growing trees really mark the time. Enjoy it.

 

[fishheadbob]

"...not a maximum effort." OK. The property across the street of maybe 30 acres was a cornfield 39 years ago, abandoned since. First it grew to grass and ragweed. Then brush - mostly Viburnum - joined the party. Next to come along was some red pine, and lastly ash, maple, and black cherry ( the good stuff ). The tallest trees are probably in the 40 foot range. It's pretty impenetrable right now, and it supports a lot of wildlife. It's interesting to see the natural progression of growth. If it was mine and I wanted it to go wild, I probably would have kept a few lanes mowed so I could wander around and keep a better look at it. Probably as the hardwoods mature the underlying brush will be shaded out so somebody can walk through there again.
It is your land. If you want it to go 21st century natural, then let it go that way. It should be fun to watch.

 

[tcreeley]

Re trees - we watched a back field of our neighbor go from a hay field to woods. The local spruce came in with an occasional poplar and apple, and white pine.

I planted over a 100+ spruce for privacy - shoveling/pulling them up when small in the soggy spring and transplanting them. 30 years later they are thick and tall. The native trees do best. Spruce, poplar, red maple, local apple, larch, white pine. Nursery maples- no good. Tartarian Honesuckle - fast + thick. Red osier dogwood - ok.
But the fastest grower is honey locust.

I have wet clay soil that drains poorly. In the spring - standing water is reached a foot below the surface. Nothing will grow unless it is matched to the soil conditions- regardless of the fertility of the soil. The check the temperature zoning chart. -- I don't go wrong using the vegetation that grows locally in the same conditions. Nursery stock never seems to match up well for me.

 

[Oldoak]

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As for letting things go wild, I highly suggest you do not do that. We did that on our 6 acre field and ended up with 5 acres of crappy cherry trees that kill out everything else under them. There's probably close to 5,000 of them on that 6 acres. I regret that decision to this day, and I'll have a mess to clean up if we ever move out there. The trees are worthless as timber and firewood. I should have kept it mowed and planted swaths of wildflowers and native grasses back when it was a farm field and not now, a field of thousands of 40' tall crap trees. When you disc up the soil and add fertilizer and wait and see what comes up, you'll see weeds and undesirable species first and foremost, I guarantee it, not the species you want to show up.

Good luck. It sounds like a nice piece of property. :thumbsup:

Around here, I and many landowners would gladly trade you for all those "crappy cherry trees". Around our neck of the woods Multi-flower Rose and Russian or Autumn Olive will quickly overtake any fallow fields and clear cut forest areas in a few short years.

 

[MossRoad]

Around here, I and many landowners would gladly trade you for all those "crappy cherry trees". Around our neck of the woods Multi-flower Rose and Russian or Autumn Olive will quickly overtake any fallow fields and clear cut forest areas in a few short years.

I had multiflora rose's too. My PT425 eats them for a snack. :licking:

This is a very old grainy video from around 2002. This field is now solid 40' cherry trees every 4-5 feet apart. I should have kept it mowed.

 

[fishpick]

I wish I had a problem with anything taking over... it's just goldenrod... the portion I have not touched in 6 or 7 years has some red stem dogwood and a few scrubby trees... I would GLADLY take a stand of "junk cherry" at 15-20 feet tall right now...
Only thing that seem to "grow well" and new in the field with any regularity is poison ivy.

 

[fishpick]

Ordered some trees to plant today from the NYS Nursery... a package of 20 each of these that was recommended for my soil / location:
hybrid poplar, wetland rose, red oak, white spruce, ***** willow - their "Riparian Packet"...
and then I got 25 - Norway Spruce because those I trialed last year almost doubles in size... and while I don't want a field of pines - clumps of them are fine and dandy!
And I got 20 Black Cherry - mostly because I want a field of cherry trees to complain about like @mossroad... (and they grow wild in the hedgerows - so I assume they will be happy here)