I went A Dibbling aka Planting seedlings.

[dmccarty]

FYI.

A few weeks ago I finally ordered some dibbles and seedlings.
I have only been trying to do this for three years so I'm just
a bit behind. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We timbered part of our land and with the house site picked
and almost about to break ground on the foundation I finally
got a chance to plant some pine seedlings. This is partly for
reforestation but also to have a visual/sound screen near
one of our property lines.

So I bought two dibbles. A dibble is what one uses to plant
seedlings. There where at least three kinds of dibbles. One
for hard/rocky ground. Another for soft ground. And the
third for containerized seedlings. I bought two dibbles. One
for hard ground and the one for containerized seedlings. You
can use a shovel as well. I found a study on the survival
rates of dibble planted seedling vs The Ol' Shovel. The study
said there was really no difference between the two. But I
think there is a difference which I will get to eventually.

Cost me with shipping about $80. The Forestry employee who
I took the seedling purchase order said that County Extension
agent might have a dibble to borrow but I'll be doing more
planting so I went ahead and bought the tools.

I planted two types of pines, Long Leaf and Loblolly. They
where containerized and came 250 seedling to a box. Each
box was about $35-40 plus $12 shipping. I could have picked
them up at a distrbution point for free but I'll leave out the
long story of why I did not do that and just spent the $24 to
ship. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

By the way if you don't live in NC the Forestry Department
declared a seedling surplus so out of state people can
purchase the trees.

I decided to use containerized seedlings since I can plant them
year around and they seem alot less fragile compared to the
"regular" seedlings. I paid a bit more for them but I hope it
was worth it. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

The regular seedlings are just bare root and can get killed in
as little as five minutes exposed to sunlight or wind. Plus they
have to be planted before it gets warm out. At least that is
what the Forestry Department website said. They also
appeared a bit harder to plant in that one had to get the
proper depth of the hole.

Which brings me back to the dibble. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The containerized seedling have a plug of soild around the
plant. The containerized dibble has a "cone" that matches
the plug size. The "cone" can be had in a couple of different
lengths. I got a six inch cone and with the two year old
seedlings it looked like a good fit. Just push the dibble in the
ground and the hole was ready for the seedling. Drop in the
tree much the soil over the soil plug around the seedling to
keep it from drying out and on to the next one. The
containerized dibble seemed to make the hole Just Right. So
far the seedling are still alive but time will tell. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

This is all well and good on soft ground. We have had heavy
rains for weeks and the ground is soft. The nearby lake is
up 14 FEET. Yes FEET. Highest I have seen it since Fran
blew through. So soft ground is easy. Then there is hard
ground. Hard ground is hard. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have one 5 acre section
that is mainly rock. I knew it was mainly rock but now I have
a good idea of where it hard! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

In soft ground I was able to plant 100 seedling in an hour. On
hard ground it was 50 per hour. Big difference!!!

FYI,
Dan A Dibbl'n Man McCarty

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Dang. I learned more about planting trees in the last three minutes than I have all my life! Verrrry informative. I am considering planitng palmettos for the mines here abouts. I hear that they pay 50 cents apeice for 4" plants. I also thought about planted pines for the same purpose. Thanks for all the info on those dibble thingies. Reckon I'll end up with one myself before long. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[pajoube]

Dan,
You may want to scalp around each tree to create a shallow dip to help collect water. Cover with grass to help retain moisture. In dry times you will take a 2 pound coffee can and fill with water for each tree each week ( only first year plantings).
I planted over 80,000 by hand from 1967 to 1983 and had very few die on me.
PJ

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Since someone else has admitted dabbling with a dibble, I'll fess up and tell our tale.

I was considering a post about our just completed seedling planting experience, but thought it would be too embarasing. I would have had to title it, "I just broke my dibble." /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif Of course, some people might have taken it wrong. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We planted just over 700 bare root white pine seedlings. We bought one regular and one rock dibble. We tried the regular dibble, and that was laughable. The rock dibble worked as long as we presoaked the spot first. I still had to stand on the dibble and rock it from side to side to get it to sink all the way in (dibble dancing).

The ground was so hard that I broke the handle off of the rock dibble from pushing and pulling to make and fill the planting holes.

I put in a quick order for two more rock dibbles from Construction Safety Products, and went down to TSC and bought a subsoiler.

We ripped the rows with the subsoiler, ran back over them with the tractor wheels to even the ground back out, and then went back and planted with a regular dibble. That subsoiler sure made a difference.

We got a late start this year, and we are probably going to lose some seedlings because of it. Next year we'll be in a position to put them in the ground earlier.

With a little luck, my back will be recovered by then.

SnowRidge

 

[beenthere]

I too, ran the subsoiler through the field (previous fall) before planting 3500 trees. Problem (only one) was that the moles and ground squirrels found that this subsoiler trench was a great place to burrow, and consequently I lost a few trees as a result (I think). Otherwise, it was a great way to pre-dibble. Overall success was great.

 

[dmccarty]

Cindi,

The question is did I do it the right way! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

pajoube,

I did create a lip around the tree. Its pretty much a given
with the way I was planting. The Forestery site said to make
sure that the plug of soil around the seedling was covered
with dirt otherwise the soil would wick moisture up and away
from the roots thus killing the plant. So I would use the toe
of my boot to knudge dirt around the plug. That pretty much
gave me a slight depression. I hope it works. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I don't think my depressions are as big as what you are talking
about though. There is no way I could fill the depressions
with the water from a coffee can. It would be an overfill.
The dimples from the dipples just aint that big. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We just had a drought that lasted a few years and it seems
to be over. With 14 feet of extra water in the lake I think
its over. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'm hoping I don't have to go out and water the
seedlings. That would be a big PITA. I have thought about
it but it would be rough.

Did you plant 80,000 trees on your land? 80K is a lot of trees!

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

SnowRidge,

I could see how a dibble could break in rocky ground
especially during if the ground was dry. Its been wet here
since last October and during the winter the trees don't pull
as much water from the ground, I think that is what happens,
so the soil is very damp. It sure made things easy. I never
use the rock dimple just the containerized one.

If your rock dimple is like my rock dimple I'm don't see how in
the heck you could break on of the things! Mine is just very
heavy chunks of steel welded togather. If you broke one
I'm impressed!

OK, what is a subsoiler? I can't get my tractor back to where
I was planting. I tried last fall and left a mess where the
tires started htting mud. But I do have a few areas that are
rocky as all get out and I will be reforesting them in the next
few years. I can get the tractor into these areas so if it will
loosen things up I'm all ears! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Dan,

Here's a link to the bar I broke (and where I buy them).

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/cspoutdoors/kbcplantingbar.html

And here's a link to the sub-soiler I used. They sell them at Tractor Supply and other places. Mine cost $129.

http://www.kingkutter.com/SubSoiler.asp

It rips a trench like cut through the soil. They are sold for loosening compacted soil. Some people also use them for laying cable (if you search, you'll find a thread here on the subject with pics,) or as a cheap alternative to a trencher.

SnowRidge

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Dan I guess only time will tell, but I suspect you won't be disappointed.