Tree Planting Tips

[MinnesotaHunter]

I am interested to hear if anyone on HT has experience with larger scale seedling planting.

We (@ewludwig and I) just ordered 700 trees to plant around our hunting area in north central MN. In April we will be getting 100 x 8-16" White Spruce, 100 x 6-16" White Cedar, and 500 5-12" White Spruce. Went with these as they are native to the area, make good ground level cover, and have a good growth rate.

The goal is to create some better tree diversity in the habitat, and build up some pockets of thermal cover for deer. The forest we hunt has gone through multiple cycles of logging and has largely regenerated in aspen, red oak, maple, ironwood, and not much for conifers, so there isn't much diversity in cover. There is a real mature pine plantation north of our area about a mile and some other jack pine areas up there too, and in the winter the deer get really concentrated, making them much easier pickings for predators.

My current thought is to find a handful of areas to thin the existing 40-60 year old aspen/maple/ironwood and fill in with the bigger spruce in the higher ground and cedars around the swamps to build pockets of cover. There are also a couple of 5-6 year old clear cuts that have regenerated in aspen and red osier dogwood that have some patches that have remained clear and we are planning on filling those openings with the 5-12" spruce to create some better diversity there too.

Does my plan sound solid? Anyone have any tips/tricks to make planting easier or get better survival?

 

[npaden]

I'm assuming with that many trees you aren't messing with the tree tubes as that would be very expensive.

One tip that I saw on a YouTube video was to use the tops of trees to give a better chance of survival from deer eating the tops off them. Should work especially well if you have some non desirable trees you are wanting to get rid of. Just extra work to plant the new trees but should have a good chance for them to make it growing up through the old dead tree tops.

Might be worth a shot on a small scale to see how it does.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I'm assuming with that many trees you aren't messing with the tree tubes as that would be very expensive.

One tip that I saw on a YouTube video was to use the tops of trees to give a better chance of survival from deer eating the tops off them. Should work especially well if you have some non desirable trees you are wanting to get rid of. Just extra work to plant the new trees but should have a good chance for them to make it growing up through the old dead tree tops.

Might be worth a shot on a small scale to see how it does.

That sounds like an interesting idea, especially for the cedars. Deer don't like white spruce, but they do like the cedars....

 

[TX Trophy Hunter]

Do you have permission from the landowner to plant trees?

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Do you have permission from the landowner to plant trees?

We are the owners.

 

[TX Trophy Hunter]

Copy I missed that in your post. People do some weird stuff on federal land where I’m from so just wanted to make sure.

 

[kansasdad]

A little Google-fu for some starting spots?

Minnesota Forestry Association

www.minnesotaforestry.org

https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/foreststewardship/index.html
The link above has a link for "cost sharing" that might be helpful?

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Copy I missed that in your post. People do some weird stuff on federal land where I’m from so just wanted to make sure.

We butt up against about 50k acres of state and county land, and primarily hunt the public lands around ours. We are trying to make our property as good a sanctuary and habitat for deer as we can to bolster deer herd in the whole area. We don’t own enough land to where any deer won’t be on both public and ours.

 

[westbranch]

I have planted a few thousand trees in MN. Survival rates are tough on mass tree plantings if rain doesn't come. If you can water some of them in a dry that would be great. And easy for the seedlings to get overtaken by aspen and shrubs if you trying for low maintenance. If you can maintain the seedlings by cutting back the competition manually or with very localized herbicide applications. For example clethodim targets grasses and not broadleaf plants.

Are they containerized seedlings or bare root? Assuming you will be planting by hand so you will want to buy/rent good hand tools. Get ready to stretch that low back.

I had some small seedlings that I planted in a small "nursery" area where they could be watered/weeded. Later transplanted them at 30" tall with a shovel and those turned out great.

The cedars will be like candy for the deer. I think I have some old netting to cover them at our farm in MN for covering them if you're interested. I am flying back this weekend and can take some pics.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

I have no tips, but I wonder what the survival rate is and would love to see some before and after pics, for sure in 20-30 years which is when what is left of these will actually be useful to deer. You could contact a local horticulurist too? Crazy idea, send a question into Bobby on Kare11 and see if he answers? good luck !

 

[Nick87]

Following.

 

[Kaitum]

One tip that I saw on a YouTube video was to use the tops of trees to give a better chance of survival from deer eating the tops off them. Should work especially well if you have some non desirable trees you are wanting to get rid of. Just extra work to plant the new trees but should have a good chance for them to make it growing up through the old dead tree tops.

This is a good tip and goes along with what I've observed during reforestation assessments following fires in the west. The areas of heavy blow down from fire killed trees provide better protection (micro climate) for seed germination and seedling establishment than areas with much less ground cover. The elk and deer don't seem to like wading through that mess anymore than people like walking through it. They'll stick to the edges where the pickins are much easier without stepping over deadfall. So if you can create a similar scenario by falling non-desireable species it'll benefit the planted trees. You don't need to create a jungle, just enough structure to dissuade ungulate travel.

 

[Steiny77]

I've planted around 40,000 trees on our ground in the last twenty years.
Little seedlings like that are cheap, so my philosophy has always been to plant a bunch knowing that you are going to probably lose 20% to deer browsing, etc.
If you want to make quick work of it, borrow or rent a tree planter that goes on tractor three point hitch. Two guys sit back there feeding trees, while one drives the tractor slowly down the rows you want planted. Can pretty easily plant 500-1000 trees per hour.

 

[WIbiggame]

Have had good luck here in Central WI a couple of those trees. Have about 8k planted. Sent you a pm. Survival rate is about 85%. Oldest trees have been in the ground 9yrs they are 6-10' tall now youngest are 3yo bare roots that we planted last years. Some by hand others with a planter.

One thing as mentioned those cedars won't make it deer will destroy them like crack to deer. The white spruce deer don't like. We lost a few to deer rubbing is all.

The 9yr old trees all grew about 18-24" last year alone.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I have planted a few thousand trees in MN. Survival rates are tough on mass tree plantings if rain doesn't come. If you can water some of them in a dry that would be great. And easy for the seedlings to get overtaken by aspen and shrubs if you trying for low maintenance. If you can maintain the seedlings by cutting back the competition manually or with very localized herbicide applications. For example clethodim targets grasses and not broadleaf plants.

Are they containerized seedlings or bare root? Assuming you will be planting by hand so you will want to buy/rent good hand tools. Get ready to stretch that low back.

I had some small seedlings that I planted in a small "nursery" area where they could be watered/weeded. Later transplanted them at 30" tall with a shovel and those turned out great.

The cedars will be like candy for the deer. I think I have some old netting to cover them at our farm in MN for covering them if you're interested. I am flying back this weekend and can take some pics.

For the most part watering will not be an option, that said the water table is pretty high and keeps the soil (not sandy) from drying out too badly.

I would be interested in the potential of netting. between that and laying some brushy tops over the cedars, I was mostly just hoping to plant enough knowing some weren't going to make it...

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I've planted around 40,000 trees on our ground in the last twenty years.
Little seedlings like that are cheap, so my philosophy has always been to plant a bunch knowing that you are going to probably lose 20% to deer browsing, etc.
If you want to make quick work of it, borrow or rent a tree planter that goes on tractor three point hitch. Two guys sit back there feeding trees, while one drives the tractor slowly down the rows you want planted. Can pretty easily plant 500-1000 trees per hour.

The terrain we are going to be planting doesn't really lend itself to much motorized help, and they are going to be in about .25-.5 acre clusters. This is going to be a Johnny Apple Seed kind of operation.....

I am going to weld up a couple of tree dibbles (specialized spades for seedling planting); which should make it easier....

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Has anyone tried the root gel? It is supposed to help the seedlings hold moisture as they get established.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

This is a good tip and goes along with what I've observed during reforestation assessments following fires in the west. The areas of heavy blow down from fire killed trees provide better protection (micro climate) for seed germination and seedling establishment than areas with much less ground cover. The elk and deer don't seem to like wading through that mess anymore than people like walking through it. They'll stick to the edges where the pickins are much easier without stepping over deadfall. So if you can create a similar scenario by falling non-desireable species it'll benefit the planted trees. You don't need to create a jungle, just enough structure to dissuade ungulate travel.

I have a feeling this will be our best bet. I had already planned to thin around the edges of the swampy areas we plan to put the cedars in, and laying down some horizontal cover will be helpful for the deer too.

 

[kiwi hunter]

If you have a high water table could try some poplars(willows too) these you can cut back every yr or three for animal fodder,especially in dry times mid summer. 3mtr long poles sunk into the ground with crowbar. Multi tier farming. I'm also putting in thornless gleditsia for their pods which are sweet smelling and supposed to be very palatable to animals. I also find people are getting to tied up on trees that are local to area, planting some exotics opens up another fodder crop. Best of luck.

I have a feeling this will be our best bet. I had already planned to thin around the edges of the swampy areas we plan to put the cedars in, and laying down some horizontal cover will be helpful for the deer too.

 

[Arcola]

I’ve planted several thousand saplings over the years in northern MN and WI. Always with the expectation (and result) of significant loss. Blowdown areas always do the best. Remember that spruce varieties need quite a bit of sun. Your cedar choices should be more forgiving.

Assuming you ordered DNR trees, no?

I was chatting trees with an old timer last fall that grew Christmas trees for a long time in MN & WI. He is sold on the “bag method” (I believe). Had poor results with the bare root saplings, much like I have. I’ll see if I can pick his brain again soon. If anyone knows a cheap way around the bags, it’s him.