BR wrote:
Sheldon wrote:
On Mar 13, 8:50�pm, wrote:
Hi - I would like to fill my 5 acres of dirt with trees. �I was going
to start with seeds.
Instead of trying to plant the whole 5 acres and haul water all over
the place, what do you thing of planting everything in tight rows to
begin and then transplanting later. �The rows would be wide enough for
a rototiller, but the seeds would be very close (1 or 2 feet). �This
would give a manageable area to maintain until the trees are a foot
tall. �Any thoughts? �Thanks.

You'd need to be extremely young if you plant seed. It'll be like ten
years before a seed goes from seed to a 1"-2" caliper wanna-be tree...
and that's for most trees worth growing. Without knowing where your
land is located it is difficult to offer more meaningful advice other
than a lot of wild speculation. It would be helpful to know where but
also very helful to know what, like what exactly do you want to
accomplish... an evergreen forest, hardwoods/nut n' fruit, wildlife
refuge, specimen plantings, etc.... plus what kind of soil and
moisture availability exists. All other parameters aside, I strongly
recommend you forget the planting trees from seed concept, not for
five acres. I know I couldn't, the wildlife would make quick work of
those seeds. I recommend sapplings but still you will need to fence
them or they won't be there 24 hours later... I know any I planted
would be eaten by deer that first evening.
If they'll grow in your zone I think softwoods are your best bet...
Norway and blue spruce make a nice mix, with some dogwood peppered
about. Other trees will be planted by wildlife dropping seed,
especially birds... the trick is to get a habitat forest started
quickly, then the progression will take care of itself.


Where I live, an old cornfield got reforested by white "paper" birch
trees standing 10 feet tall in about 14 years naturally. Sugar maples
grow fairly quickly as trees go too. If you want oak, figure on it
being your children or grandchildren enjoying the mature trees.

Depends on what you mean by "mature". When I moved
into a house in Altadena, CA in June 1990, there was an
oak sapling underneath a centuries-old oak tree in the
front yard. The sapling probably had a diameter at the
base of about an inch and a half, at the most. Unknown
to me at the time (the seller was a crook who concealed
significant material damage to the house), the old oak
tree was diseased, and I had to have it removed some
time around 1994. The tree removal crew managed not to
damage the young sapling. I sold the house in 2000.

Today, that former sapling has a base a good nine
inches (at least) in diameter, and the tree is close to
17 feet tall, and about as wide. It obviously has a
good way to go to match its parent, which had an oblong
trunk about six feet in one dimension and about four
feet in the perpendicular direction at the base, but it
is well on its way.