2-0 Douglas Fir bare root transplants: the saga

[Jim Timber]

Last spring (2011), I planted 100 DF's in an area with a relatively high water table as an experiment, and as a nursery site (it's black peat soil) with the intention of transplanting a third of them later on.

This summer, while my trees were recovering from root rot and transplant shock last year (trees were shipped 3 weeks before our ground was even exposed - couldn't plant them in ice), and generally bouncing back wonderfully; the powco came in and nuked the area with herbicide after agreeing to let me manage it as I was using it as a nursery... Ugh!

So now it's time to start moving these little guys out of harms way, and I'll let the powco mow their own sumac from here out, but I'm wondering about the trees that lost their needles again?

There's trees that look toast, but there were trees last year that bounced back which also looked toast in the fall. Anything from last year that didn't grow this spring got pulled already (it was crispy), so I have a smaller cull lot to wade through. Some of the trees that got nuked have put on another spurt of growth, so I know they'll be ok eventually. Some are harder to tell, as they're not dried out yet.

What I'm wondering: is it better to uproot all the trees I think will survive now, or should I try to let them go another year in the richer soil? I want to transplant them this fall when the days are too hot for decent hunting and I'm already committed to being at my land.

Also, given the amount of stress they've had, and how their roots generally suck anyway - should I cut the tops off and try to get them to resprout? I wonder about nutrient requirements, and sustaining the top with a weak root system. If I cut them back to a 6-10" stub, that would give them a lot more root mass per leader volume, but they wouldn't have any needles to gather light from. These are the ones with problems I'm referring too. The good looking 3' trees will be transplanted whole and left to resume a happier life deep in the woods out of harms way.

Hopefully this makes sense.

 

[forestryworks]

should I cut the tops off and try to get them to resprout?

Doug-fir does not stump sprout... Very few softwoods stump sprout.

Bald Cypress, Shortleaf Pine (up to 8 years of age or so), Coastal Redwood, and some western Juniper species, to the best of my knowledge, is all that resprouts.

 

[Jim Timber]

It's been too dry to move them, so I haven't done anything yet.

Thanks for the reply! I'll move the ones which look healthy, and let the other's go another year to see if they come back.

 

[cityslicker]

Like the previous poster said, healthy Doug fir and many other trees 99% of the time have one central dominant leader going straight up. You will usually see the terminal bud at the central top of the tree. If a terminal bud gets eaten or killed or chopped the tree will then try to make the next highest or most suitable branch the leader. But that weakens the physical structure of the tree.

Does doug fir grow well or at all in your area?

What is causing the root rot?

Often times trees send down one main tap root that tries to go straight down into the soil. The more you transplant the less likely the seedling will be able to exceed at this.

It sounds like it gets cold where you are, if you transplant now the roots may not have enough time to grow very deep to avoid being completely frozen.

I wish I could help more but I do not know anything of your climate and soil. Do you have available a local college or forestry program you could contact?

 

[Jim Timber]

The root rot happened while in transit. They were shipped 3 weeks before our snow melted, and got too wet in the box waiting to go in the ground.

Even with the chemicals, and rough start, I still have between 60-75% survival rate right now. I'm holding off til spring to move them, even though the township wants me to move my border stakes (that hold my snow fence - keeping snowmobilers out of them). It's been too dry, and now the ground is freezing every few nights. I feel they'll be better off waiting for the spring thaw.

 

[slowp]

You planted in a powerline R/W? I missed this thread somehow. By the way, in the cold part of our state, we plant as soon as the snow is melted and the ground is thawed out. If it is too cool to plant when you get your trees, you can store them in a cold place for a while--keep them in their bags. The big companies store them in tree coolers--not freezing temps but just about to keep the buds from breaking. The coolers are dry.

When planting them, you might want to have a tub of water with vermiculite in it. You swish the tree roots around in that and then quickly stuff them in your planting bag. Planting bags are made of heavy duty plastic tarpish material. You always keep the trees that are not in the planting bag in a cool, shady spot. We'd try to find a shady snow bank, or have an insulated canopy (called topper back east) and park that in a shady spot.

In northern CA, we were amazed by the survival rate we had after a boo boo. The fire crew was lagging behind on their burning.
We pulled up with trees and crew to find the unit still smoking in places and the soil to be rather warm. My leader said to plant so we got out the trees and the crew went to work. Later that year, the area was meeting the stocking requirements.

Why did you choose to plant Doug fir? Why not plant a native species?

 

[Jim Timber]

I wanted them for wood someday. I have other plantings of native species.

Sadly, I'm down to 6 survivors. We had record rains two seasons in a row and the ones the chemicals didn't get got flooded out.

 

[cody.matthees]

This is an old thread but what was your source for the trees?

Reason I ask is that typically Doug fir don't grow well up here. I do know of a small town in ND where in a cemetery there are approximately a dozen doug firs that were planted in 1949 and are thriving. Wondering if that was maybe the seed source... Anyways, best of luck to you.

 

[Jim Timber]

I've got about 6 that didn't get nuked by the idiotic power line contractor a couple years ago. Those will be transplanted to higher ground this fall. I was meaning to get them moved this spring but ended up occupied with other tasks.

The trees came from an outfit in Michigan which should have similar climate, but possibly not as cold of winters.

I've switched to Norway Spruce for additional plantings and those are all surviving well despite being heavily shaded. I've been slowly working on opening the canopy to release them.