Pine planting

stilker

Old Mossy Horns
I've got some small fields (roughly 3ac total) that I want to put in pines,in y'all opinion would it be better to hire them planted or get the seedlings and do it myself?Anybody done their own and had success?
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Loblolly or longleaf? I would think thats something you could do and throw in a row of sawtooth oaks too....lol
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
You could do it. Think last year was mid 70s a acre for trees and have them planted. About half that was labor. Guess comes down to how much your time is worth compared to paying somebody else. The key would be catching a crew planting some close to you with having only 3 acres
 

stilker

Old Mossy Horns
I could buy a dibble,is there any good guidelines for spacing and depth,I'll plant loblolly.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
We usually go with 10ft x10ft spacing Which should be around 450 a acre or little less
 
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jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I planted 6 acres by myself in 2000 in 2 days. I was also 30 years old.
I would space them out more ...15 by 15.
 

para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Moore County soil and water district has a 3 point hitch tree planter you can rent. They may have dibble bars to rent as well. Loblolly are easy, longleaf a bit more finicky about planting depth. Spacing will depend on what you want to accomplish with the planting. Also, depending on history of the field there could be a hard-pan or plow-pan caused by years deep tillage. If this is the case you may want to subsoil the planting rows to ensure the roots can break through the compaction.
 

curdog

Ten Pointer
Contributor
What do you want to see in the future? With 3 acres timber production may not be practical, so I would consider widening out the spacing since commercial thinning may not be possible. A 12 x 12 spacing would be about 302 trees per acre, a 15x 15 would come out to around 194 to the acre. When ordering seedlings, I would over order a little to allow some for culling.
https://www.ncforestservice.gov/publications/Forestry Leaflets/FM07.pdf
Here is a guide that may help out on planting the trees. Depending on the vegetation growing in the field, you may need to apply some herbicide around the trees to knock back the competition. Fescue is pretty hard on seedlings, and would need to be controlled for the first couple of growing seasons. You should be able to get 3 acres done in a day or maybe two. Most guys on planting crews can get 4-5 acres done in cutovers ( per person) so the fields would go quicker if you decide to plant it by hand.
 

rodman

Ten Pointer
I planted roughly 12 acres. I bought them from the state. Took 3 days and 5 nights. Had the other half done. It took them 2.5 hoursšŸ˜ PM me with any questions and I will try to help as much as I can. Do not plow a trench to put them in. Voles are your enemy the first few years
 

para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Bodenhamer grows a nice containerized seedling.

 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Depending on your soil and rocks you may consider a chisel plow. Sometimes it's the only away to get your root structure deep enough to have a chance, especially this late in the planting season.
You'll still need to dibble them in of course but in our area it's tough on seedlings with the soil structure and large rock.
 

para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Site preparation contractors are still furrowing and subsoiling for planting trees in fields this winter. Tree planting will continue into late March, depending on soil moisture. There may be different definitions of "chisel plows" but I'm not sure that what would be the best tool to prepare the field. If you do plant longleaf, you want limited soil disturbance. If the soil is "fluffed up" it can wash back in over the bud of the seedling killing it. The main reason for subsoiling is to break a hardpan or plowpan. This compacted layer of soil can limit restrict the tap root depth, increasing the chance of windthrow in the future. Subsoiling 18 inches deep will generally break the hardpan. Planting seedling 6 or 8 inches to the side of the rip is typically what is done to ensure soil does not cover the bud of longleaf seedlings.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Our chisel plow is a piece of railroad iron about 30 inches long with a sharp edge at about o 45 degree cut.
Generally doesn't even make a trough, just about a 6 inch wide cut .
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Not sure of your location, but I do know it's alot harder to get longleaf pines to grow here. Almost everyone in this part of the state have loblolly.
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
You got to order your longleaf early in the Summer from Claridge nursery
 

stilker

Old Mossy Horns
I had checked in early November and all they had left then was shortleaf, may put it off and try to get them ordered earlier next fall.Im all red clay here too.
 

curdog

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Nothing wrong with shortleaf. Here are some I planted 5 or 6 years ago on a 12x12 spacing in a cutover. They were bare root seedlings and the tract was site prepped with herbicide.
 

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para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Not sure of your location, but I do know it's alot harder to get longleaf pines to grow here. Almost everyone in this part of the state have loblolly.

I would argue, that is not hard to get longleaf to grow in northeast NC, as much as it is keeping the competition from overtaking them. The historic range goes in to Virginia, and stands have been successfully planted into Davie and Yadkin Counties. What "everyone else is doing" with species that are planted , or general land management does not meet everyone's goals. Barring major clearing activities planting trees is an activity that will shape your property for at least 25 years. With that in mind I would suggest not making a decision based on what is available at this time or rushed site preparation. Species selection, site preparation and planting spacing should all be determined by what your objectives are for the area you are planting. Objectives may even dictate that species, prep and spacing vary within the area to be planted. In some instances the objective may steer a landowner away from planting trees at all.
 
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