fishpick
Platinum Member
I have a large fallow field that has been slowly trying to regrow native vegetation but I'd like to speed up the process.
I have been planting several hundred trees every spring from the NYS Nursery - usually I get about a 70-80% success rate after the first year - so that's helping - but 100 or so trees every year on 35 acres is... well - pretty insignificant. I am going to try some more mature / share tolerant species this year UNDER some of the shrubby dogwoods and other low growers - this may work... or it may not... depending on the soil. But still - at a couple hundred trees a year... I'm dead before I see much
Because of that I talked to my states eco folks and they suggested a soil augmentation approach may move the needle faster... basically lime and fertilizer to kick start the shrubby plants as once I get them going I have seen things progress far faster than the areas that are SILL grassy and open.
Anyone every have luck with this approach to getting an old row crop field to start to move into the "immature forest" stage of shrubs and low growth? I was thinking of a cheap Tractor Supply PTO spreader and a couple of pallets of lime and 10-10-10 applied in the spring... and see what / if anything changes on the section of land I do the application!
Another option I thought about was to mow some large swaths in the spring as soon as I can get on the land without sinking away, plow and then disk... just AS the cottonwood starts flying... although junk trees - they grow like weeds and I thought that might get things going in those sections pretty quick!
Thoughts?
I have been planting several hundred trees every spring from the NYS Nursery - usually I get about a 70-80% success rate after the first year - so that's helping - but 100 or so trees every year on 35 acres is... well - pretty insignificant. I am going to try some more mature / share tolerant species this year UNDER some of the shrubby dogwoods and other low growers - this may work... or it may not... depending on the soil. But still - at a couple hundred trees a year... I'm dead before I see much
Because of that I talked to my states eco folks and they suggested a soil augmentation approach may move the needle faster... basically lime and fertilizer to kick start the shrubby plants as once I get them going I have seen things progress far faster than the areas that are SILL grassy and open.
Anyone every have luck with this approach to getting an old row crop field to start to move into the "immature forest" stage of shrubs and low growth? I was thinking of a cheap Tractor Supply PTO spreader and a couple of pallets of lime and 10-10-10 applied in the spring... and see what / if anything changes on the section of land I do the application!
Another option I thought about was to mow some large swaths in the spring as soon as I can get on the land without sinking away, plow and then disk... just AS the cottonwood starts flying... although junk trees - they grow like weeds and I thought that might get things going in those sections pretty quick!
Thoughts?