farm hunter; I had to persuade the conservation people to plant some of my trees (White and Red Pines) 10 x 10' . They were adament that 6 x 6' was the best for killing the grass, self pruning and the best tree quality in the final stand with the least amount of manual pruning.

Dan O.

I was talking with a biologist here in Vermont and he told me that white pine is a terrible food source for deer because the needles contain resins which gum up the
deer' s digestion. Although they could browse on them, my guess would be that deer would pass on the white pines for another sourse of feed.

I am also planting 200 9" -14" white pines this spring. I want to " thicken" up a bedding area.

. . . Rob

Rob; if you wanted to thicken up the bedding area why wouldn' t you plant a lower branching tree (Scotch pine, cedar or Spruce) than White Pine?

Dan O.

Guess I figured they are fast growing (12" to 18" per year) and would grow in thick and bushey for the first 10 years or so. Then they will serve as good roosting for turkeys when they mature. I also have many spruce and cedar already growing. Can you recommend anything else to help the bedding area?

How did you guys plant your pine seedlings? First i brush hogged my over grown pasture. Then I used a flat shovel and removed a 1x1' square of the sod. Then placed the seedling in the hole and covered it with fresh top soil I dug from another spot on my property. Let me tell you, thats a heck of a lot of work. I planted 350 trees two years ago that way. I would say that about 85% are still alive. This year i am going to plant about 400 more. Do you guys have any better ideas. What about spraying round up in a 1x1' area and then just using a spud bar to open the gound an insert the seedling? Has anyone used this method? Any suggestions????

Thanks
eddie

eddiee; are you plnting plugs or bare root? I' ve been planting bare root so I use one of 2 methods:
1) step a planting shovel 10" into the soil and pull the shovel back towards yourself. Extract the shovel. Insert the tree and step forward on the opening to close it. This method is OK if the roots aren' t too big. It' s also the method that a friend of mine who grows Christmas trees uses.

2) My preferred method is to step a shovel straight into the soil about 10" . Extract the shovel. Push the shovel into the soil at at 45 degree angle to the first cut and lift the wedge of soil out. Place the tree slightly deeper than it' s soil mark, spread the roots and replace the wedge. Step down the wedge.

My daughter also adds that you' re expected to kick clean with your boot the area that you' re going to plant.

Rob; Balsam Fir' s are good cover and food for deer. Pines aren' t bad for protection (snow, wind) but a couple of rows of cedar or spruce will make the area almost windproof while having the pines as a clear deer runway when the pines get older.

Dan O.

I planted 850 bare root conifer last spring (Austrian Pine. Norway spruce, & white spruce). To plant, I laid out a grid so that the trees would be planted in rows, about 10-12 ft apart. Then with a wheelburrow full of seedlings I paced of 10-12 ft and planted. To plant, I tried several ways - but settled on an Ice-Spud. I could punch a hole with the spud in the wet ground, drop the seedling in, and kick in the base to close the hole as much as possible. It took two days, and I had tired shoulders and leg from kicking in the root.

I planted in the rain, in muddty ground - while messy proved to be good, as over 90% of the seedlings made it, and put on new growth over the summer. I planted in was a corn field the prior fall. I did not spray or mow last year, the berry bushes, and low weed growth protected the seedlings in the drought we had last summer. I plan to mow 2 times this year as grasses are beginning to establish.

I read that the largest cause of " loss" in seedlings - is mowing.