# Replanting trees



## SirElliott (Apr 29, 2009)

I’m not a logger or forester, so this is a simpleton question. :newbie: When I lived in Michigan I would see miles and miles of trees planted in rows so straight you could shoot a cannon down the rows and hit nothing but the unsuspecting deer. Looks like where the Browning crew is working.


When they plant/replant trees they seem to be placed very close together in rows. They then come back and have to thin them for light and water. Why not plant farther apart? Is there a significant loss of plantings in the 1st couple of years?

Thanks.


----------



## slowp (Apr 29, 2009)

In the Mideast, yes, they planted them in rows. They had somebody ride on a contraption pulled by a tractor or cat. The thing made furrows and the humans dropped the trees in. Then it covered up the roots. 

Those areas are now 99% logged by machine. The spacing is not optimum nor is the pattern of the rows. That's because nobody thought about machines doing the logging in the 1950s, or 60s. Overplanting is done because of worries about survival rates. 

To harvest those rows, one row has to be completely taken out for the equipment to get through. Something like every 4th or 5th row. The processor is pretty maneuverable, but the forwarder is less so. I drove up once to find what was usually a pretty calm logger, screaming in frustration.
The marking crew had messed up, and the trees were planted in a spiral and he couldn't fit his machine. I got out my marking paint and fixed it. 

Out here the ground is too steep for planting that way. A lot of it is too steep for mechanical logging. You won't see the rows because it is often hard to find a suitable planting spot in the rocks or slash.


----------



## 371groundie (May 5, 2009)

spacing also affects the form of the tree. pines especially, when open grown will get to look more like a hedge than a tree. hardwoods will as well. 

if you plant them close enough together that they have to compete for space/light/water they grow tall and straight. however, if you leave them that way they get tall and spindley and dont put on girth because all thier energy is focused on gaining height. 

so the strategy is grow them til they are tall and straight enough to get one or two, sometimes three, good straight logs with small knots in the bottom. then open them up so the crowns have space to expand and the trees you leave will be well formed. this strategy is also used to grow certain species to specs for utility poles.


----------

