Hey Guys, I am doing some reforestation on our land there is about 5 acres or so that need to be planted. I was around my yard and I found about 1,000 little 3 inch pine trees that have sprouted a couple months ago. Then I was thinking I could take them and plant them in rows like a pine plantation and space it so I can plant a food plot in the middle. Is This a good Idea?

no. Where are you located? You guys need to give us more info if you want good advice. are you sure they are pine trees? if you surround the field with pines you will limit the sunlight. Plant the pines thickly at the north and west end of the field. This will act as a wind break and give the deer some bedding/cover in the winter. Once you move these trees, you run the risk of them dying unless you care for them.

Are they white pines? (5 needles per stem clump) red pine has 3.

If I was going to plant 5 or so acres I would go ahead and buy some genetically improved seedlings. We get them for about $40 a thousand for loblolly. We usually plant on a 6 by 10 foot spacing and you end up with 726 trees per acre. The Mexican hand planting crews do a great job, a good planter will plant over 4,000 a day.

Yes they are white pines, It is mostly going to be for the deer because they are favoring the pine stands around here. It will be sorta a get away so they can have some cover.

Timbercruiser knows what he's talking about. I would add that you should transplant older (2-3 year old) seedlings as they are larger and can handle competing vegetation better. They should be planted in season, either early spring or late fall when soil moisture is abundant.

Dan O.

Usually you can get pines from the DNR"s, I don't know where you live?
You should plant at least 600 or more per acre, Soil type/climate will determine which kind. White spruce are great for cover, Deer love to eat White pine. Red Pine does not do well in moist /wet soils, Lobolly grow very well but are a southern climate tree. 5 acres is 3000 trees so Renting a planter is a good idea again from the DNR. My wife and I have over 15,000 pines that we planted on our farm I drive the tractorIn between years when we only plant a few hundred we use a tree spade That works quite well.
Redclub