Timbering off a few acres
 

Heyall.
Well the oaks are dying; seems like half of everything else too.
Nobody's said as much but I was guessing emerald borer beetle. Being a
woman I can't seem to let things go in a waft of shades of gray; gotta
be black or white for sanity's sake.

So much tupelo that apparently are no good to anyone beside apiarists in
Georgia.

Forester has offered up for bid 100s of oaks & maple. And maybe even
what could be my last aspen and cherry birch, AFAIK. (They can have 'em
if they're goners anyway.)

I was thinking about trying to replace things I've not seen on that
property for way too many years. Should I give up & let nature have its
way, or would it do any good to try something...old?

Like butternut, sassafras, or maybe try to plant more aspen or cherry
birch somewhere on the other side of the property. Serviceberry, I
believe, used to inhabit some of the land. White dogwood used to dot all
the hillsides too, IIRC. Some pines...was too young then to know them
well but, maybe with the proper spore offerings? Something they might
like to cohabitate with, mychorhizally speaking. Or how about a truffle
grove?

But I don't wanna stop at trees...there were sweetferns too. Anyone
who's old enough to remember that green-colored "herbal essence" shampoo
knows the fragrance of those. Heady! I won't bore you further with the
list of plant oddities & rarities but, I'd welcome some suggestions as
to what I might could do kind of prod things along after the trees are
removed. (I'm saving all the trees that surround the immediate lodge, so
tough toenails there.)

My primary focus (beside my own selfish purposes) are to help maintain
the wildlife there. I'd love to hear the Whippoorwills again. The
lowbush blueberries will survive, as well the mountain laurel.

Sorry so verbose.

Timbering off a few acres
 

On Thu, 29 Aug 2019 19:52:21 -0400, Nelly W
wrote:

Heyall.
Well the oaks are dying; seems like half of everything else too.
Nobody's said as much but I was guessing emerald borer beetle. Being a
woman I can't seem to let things go in a waft of shades of gray; gotta
be black or white for sanity's sake.
So much tupelo that apparently are no good to anyone beside apiarists in
Georgia.
Forester has offered up for bid 100s of oaks & maple. And maybe even
what could be my last aspen and cherry birch, AFAIK. (They can have 'em
if they're goners anyway.)
I was thinking about trying to replace things I've not seen on that
property for way too many years. Should I give up & let nature have its
way, or would it do any good to try something...old?
Like butternut, sassafras, or maybe try to plant more aspen or cherry
birch somewhere on the other side of the property. Serviceberry, I
believe, used to inhabit some of the land. White dogwood used to dot all
the hillsides too, IIRC. Some pines...was too young then to know them
well but, maybe with the proper spore offerings? Something they might
like to cohabitate with, mychorhizally speaking. Or how about a truffle
grove?
But I don't wanna stop at trees...there were sweetferns too. Anyone
who's old enough to remember that green-colored "herbal essence" shampoo
knows the fragrance of those. Heady! I won't bore you further with the
list of plant oddities & rarities but, I'd welcome some suggestions as
to what I might could do kind of prod things along after the trees are
removed. (I'm saving all the trees that surround the immediate lodge, so
tough toenails there.)
My primary focus (beside my own selfish purposes) are to help maintain
the wildlife there. I'd love to hear the Whippoorwills again. The
lowbush blueberries will survive, as well the mountain laurel.
Sorry so verbose.


Here in Canada , we would go to the local Natural Resources
Office - that is their speciality ! The Field Naturalists are
also a good resource ..
If you find any useful info, here in the wide-world-web -
- that applies to your little corner of Georgia USA -
you have done well ...
Good luck.
John T.

Timbering off a few acres
 

Nelly W wrote:

....
Sorry so verbose.

haha! no problem with me. :) i'd rather read a long description
that gives enough details than not enough.

if you are looking to encourage wild life look into
some fruit and nut trees. oaks for sure.

on the bigger scheme of things i would always go for
diversity and encouraging it further.

if you want to do a food forest that can be a lot of
fun. at first you start with the nitrogen fixers and
can plant veggies in between until the trees get bigger
and cast too much shade. once you have some shade then
you can go for a mixed planting of other trees like
removing or cutting back every other nitrogen fixer
tree and replacing with selected fruit and nut trees.

bush cherries if you can find any that will work in
your area.

bush blueberries are always good food for human and
others. depends upon how high up you are if it is
cool enough long enough to make it worth it.

cider apples, or just random scattered apple seeds
which some may be interesting or not, but animals will
like the fruits in the late summer and fall, besides
you might like some hard cider.

for the super long term keeping some area covered
enough to grow some dense hearted long lived trees for
superb musical and furniture woods. things you would
not see in your lifetime, but eventually someone would
benefit.

do not burn any of the trimmings or stumps, they
make good habitat and fodder for the animals and bugs
and of course fungi.

wish i had enough area to do likewise... :)


songbird

Timbering off a few acres
 

On 8/31/2019 9:44 AM, songbird wrote:
Nelly W wrote:

...
Sorry so verbose.

haha! no problem with me. :) i'd rather read a long description
that gives enough details than not enough.

if you are looking to encourage wild life look into
some fruit and nut trees. oaks for sure.

on the bigger scheme of things i would always go for
diversity and encouraging it further.

if you want to do a food forest that can be a lot of
fun. at first you start with the nitrogen fixers and
can plant veggies in between until the trees get bigger
and cast too much shade. once you have some shade then
you can go for a mixed planting of other trees like
removing or cutting back every other nitrogen fixer
tree and replacing with selected fruit and nut trees.

bush cherries if you can find any that will work in
your area.

bush blueberries are always good food for human and
others. depends upon how high up you are if it is
cool enough long enough to make it worth it.

cider apples, or just random scattered apple seeds
which some may be interesting or not, but animals will
like the fruits in the late summer and fall, besides
you might like some hard cider.

for the super long term keeping some area covered
enough to grow some dense hearted long lived trees for
superb musical and furniture woods. things you would
not see in your lifetime, but eventually someone would
benefit.

do not burn any of the trimmings or stumps, they
make good habitat and fodder for the animals and bugs
and of course fungi.

wish i had enough area to do likewise... :)


songbird

My uncle once tried to start a pine grove up there (in the very rocky
soils of Appalachian PA, btw) but it failed. I was thinking if he'd
planted them with some Suillus spores they might've fared better. The
one butternut tree that used to be up there languished for a couple
decades before it croaked, boy would I love to see those again. Beechnut
might be nice, too.
Most likely the trimmings will be left, except for the ones impeding
pathways. Eventually someone's gonna need kindling & they'll gradually
get picked up. Hope they don't house any chiggers, is all. The property
was tindered off before it came into family possession in the 60s, at
the time the chiggers were pretty bad but haven't encountered any for
many years.
I'm hoping for some chicken mushrooms and hen-of-the-woods to take over
the oak stumps (-:

Timbering off a few acres
 

On 8/31/2019 8:44 AM, songbird wrote:
Nelly W wrote:

...
Sorry so verbose.
haha! no problem with me. :) i'd rather read a long description
that gives enough details than not enough.

if you are looking to encourage wild life look into
some fruit and nut trees. oaks for sure.

on the bigger scheme of things i would always go for
diversity and encouraging it further.

if you want to do a food forest that can be a lot of
fun. at first you start with the nitrogen fixers and
can plant veggies in between until the trees get bigger
and cast too much shade. once you have some shade then
you can go for a mixed planting of other trees like
removing or cutting back every other nitrogen fixer
tree and replacing with selected fruit and nut trees.

bush cherries if you can find any that will work in
your area.

bush blueberries are always good food for human and
others. depends upon how high up you are if it is
cool enough long enough to make it worth it.

cider apples, or just random scattered apple seeds
which some may be interesting or not, but animals will
like the fruits in the late summer and fall, besides
you might like some hard cider.

for the super long term keeping some area covered
enough to grow some dense hearted long lived trees for
superb musical and furniture woods. things you would
not see in your lifetime, but eventually someone would
benefit.

do not burn any of the trimmings or stumps, they
make good habitat and fodder for the animals and bugs
and of course fungi.

wish i had enough area to do likewise... :)


songbird

Â* When I harvest a tree for firewood I almost always pile up the leafy
trimmings for habitat for the small critters . Might be part of the
reason we have such a diversity of wild birds . But then we have 12
acres of heavily wooded land . Not everyone is that lucky ...

--
Snag
Yes , I'm old
and crochety - and armed .
Get outta my woods !