Tree Farm

[tbarber]

I am looking into the possibility of starting a small tree farm. I would be looking to start with x-mas trees. Does anyone have any idea on how to get started (and don't say by planting trees)? Do you start by planting small trees or do you start with seeds? If they are trees, where would you buy them? I would think that a nursery would be to expensive. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly apperciated. Thanks!

 

[paulw]

I'm not in the tree business but the NC forestry extention service has lots of info available for NC mountian x-mass tree farmers.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/forest/pubsandinfo.htm

Hope this helps.

Paul

Paul

 

[RobS]

Where I live (both Indiana and Michigan) the county soil and water conservation districts offer seedlings for sale very reasonably in the spring. I have also bought seedlings mail order from <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.musserforests.com>Musser Forests</A>.

You might give your county extension office a call, they might know about local sales and they will have a lot of information about growing specific to your locale.

Sounds like fun, good luck /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[DVerbarg]

I've bought from Musser and was pleased with their service. Of the 1600 trees planted about 1550 were eaten by deer the second winter /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif!

 

[RobS]

<font color=blue>Of the 1600 trees planted about 1550 were eaten by deer the second winter </font color=blue>

Ouch /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif What kind of trees? I was by our property this morning about dawn and saw three or four deer bounding about. Kind of neat, as long as they leave my trees alone. Snow's melted so there should be plenty of other food for them. I've got Norway Spruce, Red Maple and Pin Oak planted. A friend said I'd only have to worry about the Maples. He pointed me to some tree tubes that he's used successfully.

I was pleased with Mussers service but I think our neighbor who planted pines from the soil conservation sale has had better luck. His were much fresher looking when he picked them up then the packages I've gotten from Musser. I'm at about 80% survival so far, but no deer damage yet /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[DFB]

Local conservation agencies are a good place to get seedlings and so is Musser's. I've used both.

A place like <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.baileys-online.com>Bailey's</A> has planting tools and accessories too. Look under reforestation products.

The Frasier fir seems to be a popular choice for christmas trees these days.

DFB

 

[MossRoad]

We started a small tree farm about 10 years ago. We wanted forest for timber production around our retirement and for our kids. I started by contacting my county soil and water conservation people. They pointed me to the state forester. He came out and took a look at our property and told us what types of trees could be planted in our soil. He suggested we plant alternating rows of white pines and mixed hardwoods. The pines act as trainers for the hardwoods. They grow very fast, thick at the bottom and narrow at the top. This forms a channel that is narrow at the bottom and open at the top, which forces the hardwoods to grow tall and straigh up rapidly. This is great for furniture grade lumber. They gave us a list of private foresters, one of which I went to high school with. The private forester gathered all of the trees from a state nursery in the spring and planted them(4 acres, about 2150 trees) in one day. We had to pay for all of the trees and planting. After they were done, the state forester returned and surveyed their work. He was satisfied and the state sent us a check for 75% of the cost! The total cost for us to have 2150 trees planted and side sprayed with herbicide was $265.00. I think that works out to about 8 cents per tree. Not bad. The only stipulation was that we had to either side spray the trees or mow for the first five years. And we could not trim the pines as Christmas trees. After the 5 years were up, we could do anything we wanted with the trees. They are ours.

As for a Christmas tree farm, say you have 10 acres. You would plant 1yr old seedlings on 1 acre, 2yr old seedlings on the 2nd acre and 3yr old seedlings on the third acre. Then every year after that you would plant another acre with 1 yr old seedlings. It takes about 7-8 years to get them to size, so by starting them this way, you get sellable trees in 4-5 yrs and have a new crop coming up all the time. The same year that you plant your last acre of trees, you tear out all of the old ones, grind them up for mulch and start over.

 

[beenthere]

tbarbber
If Christmas trees, then contact one of several Christmas Tree Grower Associations, probably one in your state. Our state will not permit use of state grown trees to be used for Christmas trees. Apparently some states will after a certain time period. The five years mentioned doesn't add up, as they won't make Christmas trees in less than five years. Whatever.
I planted about 3500 seedlings 4 years ago (pic attached) of red oak, white pine, white spruce, and ash. Had near 100% survival, but deer ate the buds on the red oaks for the first two winters. Then last year I covered many of the buds with paper popcorn sacks (stapled on) and they didn't bother the oaks until I removed the sacks. Then the deer fed all summer on the new leaves. The deer also fed well on the ash. Then this fall, the bucks decided the oaks were the right size for a good thrashing - some literally torn down to the ground so there was nothing left but a short stub. I plan to relocate the trees into grove-like areas. I plan to do this with a tree spade. We'll see how well that works. The spruce are doing very well, and will be far ahead of the oak in no time.
I spray pre-emergence spray around the trees in the spring, and that takes care of grass and weed competition most of the summer. A bit of upkeep with the mower late in the summer, but not bad. I mow between the rows, to allow the hawks to keep the mouse population to a low roar. They like to knaw on the bark in the winter if snow and weather permits.
Good luck with your endeavor.

 

[MossRoad]

I forgot to mention the types of hardwoods that we had planted. Six or seven different types of oaks, tulip poplar, hickory and black walnut. There are also about 10 acres of existing woods that the forester went through and did a tree count. We had several hundred maples, several hundred oaks, several hundred cherry and many thousand locust. Many other trees(about 20 species) but those are the main types. He suggested that we thin out the locust and sell them for firewood, fenceposts, whatever. Then all of the other small trees of different species will start to come up on their own.

We lost about 20 trees of the ones that we had planted. Just in one spot next to a corn field. I suspect herbicide overspray. We also had the ones near the highway get burned by the salt spray.

I mowed twice a year until about the fifth year, when I could no longer fit the tractor between the rows. After 10 years, the pines average 20 feet with 6 inch trunks. The hardwoods are hard to judge. The tulip poplars are over 30 feet with 4-5 inch trunks. The oaks are about the same as the pines in height, with smaller trunk diameter. We had very little deer damage and we control the population with hunters, and automobile and truck traffic(splat). There is now a small flock of turkeys and pheasants are everywhere. Not much rabbit damage there, but they are killing my fruit trees here. I need to do the plastic pipe sleeve thing.

Oh yeah, we had a wind break planted around the outside edge of the field. It consisted of a row of shrubs like spicebush and olive and flowering crabs. Inside that was two rows of 3 year old pines.

You should start with your county agent now if you want to plant in the spring. The trees at state nurseries around here go pretty fast and you have to reserve them. When they are out, they are out until next year.

As far as five years go; It takes about 7-8 years to get a sellable Christmas tree around here. If you start with 1,2 and 3 year old stock, you will get sellable trees in 4-5 years and then every year after that.

 

[Thomas]

Maybe your state has a program for tree growers.
I wouldn't consider growing Colorado Blue Spures,for they take alot of work thru out the years.

 

[Rch]

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=implement&Number=44160&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1> tree planter</A>
I 've planted about 60,000 trees on 50 acres over the last 14 years. Here is my tree planting rig; currently I'm down to 2-3000 every spring. I also had a post about the same time about a sprayer I use that I'll have to see if Iif I can revive( the photos get deleted from an off-site because TBN was temporalily not loading photos)

 

[Rch]

Tree planting of seedlings is an eight month project and most people don't realize the preparation needed for a good outcome. Ideally, in September ( this is for central Wisconsin) I like a hay field that's been cut short. In May, I spray with Round-up just as the clover/timothy is starting to take off ( you need a growing green plant for Round-up to work) but not so tall that a Round-up laden plant touches a newly planted green conifer seedling and kills it( with decidous "whips" that's not a problem). I usually spray 4 to 24 hours prior to planting- they reccomend spraying 7 to 10 DAYS before planting but I find that impracticle unless I'm planting into tall vegetation. I tried fall plowing but it's hard to get in the field early May because of poor footing and get the seedlings started at the front-end of that all important first season. One year I hit everything right only to have a more late appearing weed(morning glorys) choke out the trees. There are sprays that can be sprayed over the top but by planting a mix of conifers and decidous that precludes that.
You have to line up your trees in the Fall for spring delivery. Generally, you want the biggest seedlings you can get( 2 year transplants decidous, 3 year transplants conifers). If you buy from a private nursery you got to make sure they are able to come up with the species and AGE of the seedling you want- they have catalogs that look great but can't deliver in the spring. A 1 yr red oak seedling is going to do poorly compared to a 2 yr transplant and it's just as much work for you ! Trees from the state nurseries, especially if you get into various assistence programs have restrictions about not reselling them or not developing the land they're on. Some paper companies sell seedlings ( Trees for Tomorrows, Eagle River WI) that come in a styrofoam container with cells about the size of a test tube and several hundred can be in a block of styrofoam 20 x20". The are handy to store as they have holes in the bottom and can be set in a shallow pan of water for weeks if necessary. They,however, are only 1 yr seedlings and I've had poor survival out in the field. I would reccomend these only for landscapings projects that lend themselves to ongoing watering and weed control for 2 or 3 yrs. Also I've seen these containter plants 1/2 out of the ground the next spring as the ground thaws- they have an artificial soil with peet and vermiculite and literally float out of the ground with surface water. Bare root stock doesn't do that. Wali Nursery, Hayward WI has a special every year of 100 trees such as various spruce/pines that are 5 year transplants.(www.walinursery.com or 800 367 9254, Jack & Sue Peterson) that are ~ $250 depending on variety. These are cold-hardy stock and ideal for establishing wind/ sight breaks. You have to order now for Spring.
The big unknown re tree planting is the weather. A local cheese plant has a big drive-in cooler and has stored the seedlings for up to 2 weeks until I can get in the field. Sometimes, the decidous trees will leaf out and a late frost will hit. Some will recover, some won't. A dry July/ Aug is hard on newly planted seedlings since they have little drought resistance. One year, after planting, it turned cold and rainy for 3 weeks and they never took off. Every year is somewhat of a crap shoot. Landscape trees close to a H2O hose and weed control measurer are a more sure thing There is a saying; if you want to be happy for a year plant a garden, if you want to be happy for a life time, plant trees. I believe it. Besides there is all that equipment and tractor time, and those trees look better every year.
See " Tree Planter" pictures above

 

[tbarber]

I would like to thank everyone for their responses. I had no idea that there were so many tree farmers out there. What would you recomend as the minimum amount of acreage? X-mas trees would be good for only one month, what would you suggest for planting for the other 11 months and still be profitable?

 

[MossRoad]

Nice pics. The planter that my forester used was similar, except the seat was at the top of the U and faced backwards, there were holding racks on both sides, there was a spray tank on the front of the tractor with hoses that ran to nozzles that were set behind the press down wheels and it sprayed continuously, which left about a 1 foot path of dead everything except the trees. The field looked striped for the first year. One other neat feature was a little button next to the planter operator that blew a horn next to the driver. If he needed to stop, beep beep. They planted about 2150 trees in 6 hours, with 2 more hours gathering water from the creek, mixing chemicals and sorting the trees. All done with a rather small ford diesel 4WD tractor. Nice setup.

 

[PaulT]

Tom,

We bought the property in 1996. We have just over 10 acres, with about 5 of them covered with what were x-mas trees. We are the 3rd owners. The first owner planted most of the trees several years earlier. My guess is that they were initially planted 7-9 years before we bought it. The trees are a mix of Norway Spruce, Blue Spruce and Scotch Pine, with a handful of Douglas and Fraser Firs scattered throughout. These Firs have been "spot" planted in sparse/harvested areas by the second owner. Now I have many large trees that are not suitable for x-mas, and cannot be used for state landscape projects (due to trimming), and are cost prohibitive to use in quantity for landscape resale. I have begun cutting them down and burning them/w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif. If I were just starting out (or starting over), these are the main points I would consider:

Choose trees that sell well in the local nurseries/Lowes at Christmas. Preference in tree species is VERY regional, and also tends to shift over time. Here, the Doug/Fraser Firs sell best, since they have soft needles. Unfortunately, deer love these best selling trees because they have soft needles. It is not unusual to loose 95-99% of first year plantings to deer. They prefer young fir trees over just about everything else, year round.

Choose trees that are more "deer hardy". Spruces are also a popular seller since they have a great smell and retain needles well. Deer don't like to eat them because the needles are very sharp. They also have a natural pyramid shape, and sell well even if not trimmed (i.e. low maintenance)

Plant 2 species to meet more preferences.

I would not recommend investing the energy on anything less than 3 year seedlings, unless you have the experience and conditions of a real tree nursery. Do not plant different age seedlings in order to stagger your harvest. It is better to stagger planting areas each year. Also once the seedlings are planted, they grow at different rates. Some will grow rapidly and be harvestable in 4 years, while others won't even reach 5 feet in 8 years. Yes, the majority of them will mature within 2 years of each other, but like people, they all grow somewhat differently.

Better yet, plant 1 or 1.5 acres each year. By rotating these lots, you can stagger the harvest more effectively.

If you are planning on trimming them yourself, and you have a day job, I would recommend that you keep your crop relatively small, as it is VERY hard work to trim more than a few trees at a time.

For a hobby farmer, I would recommend half-acre lots staggered over 4 years, for a total of 2 acres of trees. This is a size that would be comfortable for me, since I really only set out the cut your own sign on weekends during Advent. Any more trees than that, and I would have the same problem I have now - a growing forest that threatens to block my view of the valley below.

I plan to expand my blueberries and add grapes. That way I have some cash crops that have different seasons of work effort. By far, the hardest thing in front of me is clearing the land of the overgrown trees to make way for vines and berries.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I have a few rows of noble firs along the Southern edge of my property.
There are so many deer around here that they are too hungry to run
away from you during the hot summer, and one of the few things they
leave alone is the noble firs. I don't know much about trees, but these
are very beautiful. They are mabye 40' tall now, and they make an
excellent hedge. Also the needles have fallen off of the bottom limbs,
so the deer and I think bear like to hide out in there. It's nice and cool
to walk around under them, and there's no brush because the ground
is covered in needles. I know this isn't what you want, I'm just pointing
out that worse things could happen than abandoning an Xmas tree grove.