Giving Tree Farming a shot

Gatorboy · Aug 5, 2002

Well, I have decided to start a Tree Farm (hardwoods & shade trees). I have no experience in this endeavor, but hey, no guts, no glory.

My plan is to plant in sections 300'x168'. I will be planting trees 8' apart within a row, and the rows will be 18' apart (total of 380 trees per section). Initially, I'd like to plant 2 sections. I have room on my property for about 12 of these sections. I am going to start by planting seeds from trees I have on my property (Green Ash, White Ash, White Oak, Beech, Black Walnut, Red Maple, to name a few). I have also purchased a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.pbase.com/image/3378287>30" tree spade</A> for my Bobcat, and will transplant some of the 2" or less caliper trees that look decent within my woods as well.

I do not have a plow, or tiller, to prepare the rows, (which I'd like to get done before time to plant of course) so I am improvising. Tonight I started on my first <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.pbase.com/image/3624907>300' row</A>. I've scraped off the top few inches of grass, and piled it up. In a week or so, I'll fill the row back with that dirt, and grade. This should be good enough to plant my seeds. I will be using <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.growtube.com/seedlingshelters.html>direct seed plant shelters</A> to keep the critters from digging up my seeds/acorns.

With all this said, if anyone has any experiences -- good or bad -- I'd appreciate hearing them.

I estimate it will be a minimum of 5 years before I have anything worth selling. I'd like to sell retail, where someone comes out to my farm, picks out a tree, and I dig and plant it for them. I will need a much bigger tree spade by then. I just don't know what type of market there is for that type of operation. I may have to also wholesale to landscapers, the county, and whoever else would buy trees in multiples.

By next Summer I am wondering if I'll be saying, "Hey, this is working out great", or "What was I thinking?"

MossRoad · Aug 5, 2002

Very cool. I like the idea of planting from your own seed. We did some re-foresting with seedlings, but that was for timber and not re-sale.

Nice tree spade! May I ask where you got it and what brand is it?

I'll be following this project of yours. Good luck /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Alan L. · Aug 5, 2002

I don't know squat about tree farming but have heard from my son-in-law who has spent a lot of time with a local tree farm doing his website. The guy has been in business 15 years and thinks he finally knows what he is doing. The impression I get is that he is going to all container trees and not growing any more in the ground. He says there is too much labor getting them out of the ground and planted, and he has had fewer warranty problems with containers. He moves the trees to bigger containers as they get bigger. I think he said he does not grow from seed, but has a source of container trees for not much money and has a $400 tree in 3 years. He only does the best trees for our area.

Gatorboy · Aug 6, 2002

I got my spade from a guy on eBay. Here is his website - <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.3-dservices.com/>3D Services</A>.

Gatorboy · Aug 6, 2002

Alan,

Do you have the website address of that tree farm?

Yes, containers is another alternative -- however, they need much more water and attention.

Two other ways to grow trees that I have heard about are Pot-in-Pot and Gro-Bags.

Pot-In-Pot: You plant a pot in the ground, and place another pot inside to grow the tree. Then you just lift out the inside pot when the tree is ready to sell.

Gro-Bags: Similar to Pot-In-Pot, where you plant a gro-bag into the ground, and plant your tree in this bag. Very close to field grown, except that the root ball will be much lighter than Bag & Burlap (B&B).

MossRoad · Aug 6, 2002

Thanks!

BB_TX · Aug 7, 2002

<font color=blue>I just don't know what type of market there is for that type of operation</font color=blue>
Your market will depend on the local conditions. Around here (anywhere from 15 to 50 miles north of Dallas) it is a booming market. There have literally been 10's of thousands of new houses built within the last 15 years (no exageration). In addition to that are the new businesses, malls, parks, etc. Selling to individuals by tree farms, I suspect is a very small part of their business. Most individuals likely go to nurseries or places like Home Depot/Lowes. If there is a lot of building going on in your area, I think you would do best to contact large new home builders and see if you can get any of their action. Also, contact any construction firm when you hear they have a new project coming up.

beenthere · Aug 7, 2002

Have you visited a tree nursery, where they have beds (about 4' wide) of seedlings planted from seeds, which are then lifted and transplanted in less dense areas to grow or are sold as seedlings (usually about a foot high).
A lot of the seeds you plant will not grow, so if they are every eight feet in a row, you may end up with a lot of blank spots, if I understand your plan as you described it.
What size tree do you plan to sell in 5 years. I suspect you will need to keep the weeds away from the trees, and I use a pre-emergence spray called Oust and Symazine. It can be applied anytime during the winter and sprayed on the trees (although I usually spray only at the base of the trees). This decreases the time my dw (dear wife) spends with the push mower mowing around the trees in the summer. She fusses a bit about my spraying, but I do it anyway.
Good luck with your project.

Gatorboy · Aug 7, 2002

I'm going to try the seeds -- I have no idea how many will actually grow. I will also be buying some seedlings from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.musserforests.com>Musser Forests</A>, and will "fill in" the holes in the spring.

I would really like to sell trees in the 2"-4" caliper range. But, in 5 years or so, I may have a whole new outlook on what to grow, sell, etc.

I really am appreciating all of the input I've received thus far!

Mosey · Aug 7, 2002

I would plant them much closer. LIke Beenthere said, a lot of them will not grow. That's also true for seedlings. I planted 50 white pines from Musser Forest and over 1/3rd of them died. You could always use your spade to move them around later and spread them out if need be. The only tree I've ever grown from seed is a silver maple that started growing in the kids' sandbox from a seed that fell into it 4 years ago. I moved it when it was about 3 inches tall and now it's over 6 feet tall! I've never watered it, mulched it, or done anything to it, I just left it alone and watched it grow. Sounds like you have a fun project idea, good luck!