Thinking of starting a Tree Farm - Am I crazy?

[Gatorboy]

Yes, I am a newbie, and you are thinking, oh no, not another one.

I own 50 acres in Fallston, MD, of which about 20 acres are wooded, and I am considering starting a tree farm. I am trying to research the best I can as quickly as I can for Fall is coming, and I'd like to get some trees and seeds planted before winter.

I've got a Bobcat 873 SSL and a 30" tree spade, and was thinking of transplanting some trees 1" or less from the woods into the open field, as well as harvesting seeds from the trees on the property and planting those in direct seed tubes also in the field.

A picture of a portion of my property

Although I have a hundred questions, I'll just ask a couple for starters. I am planning on planting some Green Ash, White Ash, White Oak, Sycamore, Red Maple, Red Cedar, and Black Walnut.

Q1. From this list, would you suggest I NOT plant any of these, and what if any should I want to plant that is not in my list (i.e. Pin Oak?)

Q2. Is there a demand for trees, and who would be my customers?

Q3. I've read good things about Pot-in-Pot --> any links to sites that sell these containers?

Any help would be appreciated, and I hope to learn a great deal from this forum.

 

[Newfie]

Nice pic

Hey Dave,

Welcome to the site, we were all newbies here at one time. I'm looking at that nice big field and thinking lacrosse nets on either end?

It sounds like you have a good start on some real labor saving tools and plenty of stock to pick from. How about red oak or are you too far south? Do you have a lot of deer to contend with. You would probably have to get some protection stuff to keep your small stuff from getting "varmintized". How about irrigation? Things have been pretty dry.

There are some guys who can probably give you some real good specifics on the subject, I know a lot about nothing and a little about everything.

Good Luck!

 

[Gatorboy]

Yes, you could have a few athletic fields for sure. That section in my photo is about 11 acres.

There is a well on the property, and in addition, is a stream, which runs the full width of my property near the road.

I plan on using Direct Seed Tubes for the seed planting, and then the 5' grow tubes when they reach a height of 10" or so.

That should pretty much take care of the varmits (I hope).

Red Oaks should fair well here, I'll add that to my list. I also have many Beech trees in the woods -- any thoughts on the demand for those?

In my mind, what I picture as what I want to accomplish, is growing a good selection of trees that are in the 2-4" range, and having people come out, pick out their tree, and I dig and plant it at their location. I just don't know if there is enough demand for such a farm.

 

[Jay Banks]

Gaterboy,
Here in Northern VA. the demand is for 2" caliper material or larger, so your about 5-7 years out from finished material. How come you don't list evergreens for your nursery?

Nut trees are not used much except for the oaks. Sycamores don't make good street trees and homeowners call them "dirty" trees (hard to sell).

What I like:
Hackberry, Bald Cypress, Lacebark Elm, Fruitless Coffeetree, Swap White Oak, Bur Oak, Black Gum, Hop Hornbeam.

Arborvitae, Crytomeria,Serbian Spruce.

Enough?

 

[Gatorboy]

Jay,

Thanks for the reply. The trees I mentioned planting are species that are currently in my woods -- thus, very easy for me to harvest.

I am well aware that it will be 5+ years before I will have anything of decent value --- but no time like the present to start.

I am noting your list, and will try and find some of things (where to start, I'm not sure) and harvest the seeds/berries if possible this fall. I don't want to plant the "wrong" trees, for my goal is to sell these in the future, and if there is no demand, I would be wasting my time.

 

[Jay Banks]

Go to

www.musserforests.com

for stocking.

 

[Gatorboy]

Update:

My plan is to plant in sections 300'x168'. I will be planting trees 8' apart within a row, and the rows will be 18' apart (total of 380 trees per section). Initially, I'd like to plant 2 sections. I have room on my property for about 12 of these sections.

I do not have a plow, or tiller, to prepare the rows, (which I'd like to get done before time to plant of course) so I am improvising. Tonight I started on my first 300' row. I've scraped off the top few inches of grass with my skid steer loader, and piled it up. In a week or so, I'll fill the row back with that dirt, and grade. I hope this will be good enough to plant my seeds & seedlings.

By next Summer I am wondering if I'll be saying, "Hey, this is working out great", or "What was I thinking?"

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Who would your customer be? Landscapers, Arborists or home owners?

Do you want to be a deep discounter or a high end quality vendor? Both have their uses.

I would encorage you to go high end and develop a product that has good branch and root structure.

Pot & Pot does not lead to good root structure, many talk about how it develops god fibrouse roots, but you don't get a good 3-5 member woody root system, i think a lot of the problems that cause early tree failure (25-30 years vise 100 years) are from cultural practices in the nursery.

 

[Roots]

How are things coming along with your fields? You are truly blessed with such a lovely property Dave. I would suggest reserving an area strictly for growing some Serviceberry. Birdlovers know to look for a Serviceberry bush/tree. I just got a beautiful one from our Nursery here in Nebraska. It is called Autumn Brilliance (amelanchier Autumn Brilliance). Birds love the berries and they are Edible for humans and suppose to taste much better than blueberries!
By the way, I'm originally from Indiana County, PA., the Christmas Tree Capital of the World, which Musser's have claimed for as long as I can remember. They are a wonderful Nursery!
Stick with it and make your dream come true. Good luck! Diane

 

[jesseripa]

Beginner wondering how your tree farm is coming along

How did your Tree Farm turn out just started thinking of starting one of my own.