Planting Hardwoods under strong Birch regen??

[muldonach]

If you don't treat the stumps with Glyphosate or similar you may as well not bother cutting in the first place - every stump will simply send up half a dozen fresh stems. Been there and done that.

 

You will need 1 person spot spraying for everyone on a brushcutter - and they will struggle to keep up

 

Big J has the rights of it - use the birch as a nurse crop

[drinksloe]

I'll try and get up antd take a photo, we can't leave them in as u can hardly walk throu them there that thick, the planting contractor who's planting that area said it would be impossible to plant throu them anyway.

 

I have heard of nurse crops but the problem is here these birch have had a 5+ year head start on anything we plant, so i imagine anything we cut will only coppice and come back even stronger. (hence the idea of stump treating and no doubt plenty stumps would be missed but just enough tolet plenty light in)

I could see the logic if it was a new recent clearfell site as the birch would have to grow from seed which would give the other trees a chaance too set there roots etc unchallenged.

 

This wood will be for amenity value only and never harvested/felled.

While u will be right about a selective thinning in the future, 1 of the big problems is i'm the only 1 with a saw ticket and don't fancy having to thin the whole site as a freebie

 

Mulduloch  Aye i think the same as u, while we have to cut the birch it will be a waste of time and really only allowing the planters to get the trees in the ground, wihin 2-3 years will be as bad if not worse than now without spraying it.

 

Cheers thou

[Stere]

Quote

This wood will be for amenity value only and never harvested/felled.

 

If for amenity why not just leave majority of the birch too regen.

 

Maybe just clear some paths to walk along round site. If volunteers want oaks etc they can create mini clearings along side of the paths for oaks etc.

 

Oaks are fast growing would soon hold there own against birch after a few yrs of locally clearing round each tree......

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Stere

[drinksloe]

I imagine it is to do with the original felling licene and now the grant scheme, the planting plan and species has all been decidied a few years ago.

 

i know they were saying that 1 area which was plated with SS/NS soon after harvesting at commercial densites also has to be thinned out at soometime down to 1600 trees per hectare.

 

To be honest i don't really undestand how or why a lot of the decisions have been made, the committee of folk running it have absolutely no experience/knowledge of forestry (being honest no practical contryside experience really) i know half the committee had never even heard of mounding/dolping a few years ago when i was planting for them

It an 80 odd acre site so not just a small area which has all to be planted  and growing to get the grant money.