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What to plant on bottomland?

Started by locustoak, July 26, 2009, 07:46:52 PM

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WDH

Black walnut and shumard oak will have the best long term timber value if that is important to you.  At least in the South, hickory has low to no value, so I would steer clear of it.
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locustoak

Thanks.  Yeah, i trying to get the most value I can out of the land.  The squirrels have helped me out and have many nice straight and clear walnuts already started for me.  My neighbor might have a shumard on his property, so I'm going to see if I can get some nuts from it.  I think for the oaks, I will plant more bur oak than shumard.  I really like the looks of white oak lumber compared to red oak.  Plus the squirrels & deer really love the bur acorns.

I still think I will plant just a little bit of hickory, silver maple, and Kentucky coffee tree just for the sake of diversification. But if they don't grow nice and straight, then they will be thinned out. But the majority will be bur oak/walnut/shumard(If i can get acorns).

Thanks again for the help everyone.  Really it's a shame I have to do this.  That darn EAB is practically on my doorstep, and we have plenty of white ash that they will devour.

woodtroll

The different kinds of oak are really cool, and a bottom site is good opportunity. Look at (in no specific order) swamp white oak, cherry bark, overcup oak (for really wet spots), swamp chestnut, and the bur oak. Shumard can grow very large don't discount them. Pin oaks are ok but I would not plant them, to branchy. You can get good acorn mast from the other reds. Perfect size for ducks. See if you can get the bur that produce the large acorns, about the size of a ping pong ball.  Oh lastly if you are planting from seed, get the white oaks in this fall/winter. You have a little more time with the red oaks.

Magicman

I planted a combination of Shumard, Swamp Chesnut, and Cherrybark Redoak in my open bottomland January, '08.  It looks like my mortality rate was low, as I am seeing a lot of new growth this year.

I had sprayed to kill the native grasses, etc. and had subsoiled.  I'll go back through and do some "hack and squirt" on unwanted volunteer trees next year.
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Magicman

I took a couple of pictures this week showing my oaks that were planted January '08.  They were knee height when planted.

Shumard Oak





Swamp Chesnut Oak





A view of the planted bottomland with some volunteer pecan and persimmon that will be hack n squirted





Another view showing pines in the background that were planted in January '05






Showing the growth of the '05 planted pines





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It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

fishpharmer

Looks good, where is a good place to buy hardwood seedlings in MS?
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SwampDonkey

Nice growth on your oaks. I have had some red oak in the garden for almost 8 years, the tallest might be 4 feet now. I started them from seed. I worked up the spot and raked in the seed, covered with sugar maple leaves. I don't know how many went in, but it was a 3 gallon pale. I lost a lot to mice girdling. Grass is a problem because it hosts rodents in the winter. If you just have low herbs the hardwood do better provided we have no moose or deer come by. Moose sneak up from the woods and nibble my yellow birch and oak tops sometimes. My yellow birch are nearly 8 feet tall, planted in 2002. Yellow birch grows slower than maple.
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1 Thessalonians 5:21

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Magicman

Quote from: fishpharmer on September 24, 2009, 11:08:48 PM
Looks good, where is a good place to buy hardwood seedlings in MS?

I bought 5K from Molpus Timberlands in Fairhope, Alabama.  I set out 2K Cherrybark, 2K Shumard, and 1K Swamp Chesnut.  I planted them on 10-12 spacing. 

Quote from: SwampDonkey on September 25, 2009, 03:36:01 AM
I lost a lot to mice girdling.

I also lost some to mice girdling, but overall, I had a good survival rate.  The grass and weeds will now offer some protection from deer. After next year, I'll let volunteer trees go which will help provide natural pruning.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

woodtroll

What would happen if you just hacked the pecan and persimmon hold the squirt. It would give the oaks some time before competing.  They would resprout offering a diverse mast source. Persimmon would be soft mast too, good for those big bucks that walk in front of your sights.  The persimmon also don't seem to last long, 30-40 years and most will die off. Pecan would not be my crop tree, but diversity is good.

Magicman

Quote from: woodtroll on September 25, 2009, 10:55:48 AM
What would happen if you just hacked the pecan and persimmon hold the squirt.

This will probably be the last year to hack n squirt.  This will allow the oaks to grow enough height that they won't have trash trees compromising their canopy space.  Because of crows, pecan saplings grow like weeds here.  Persimmon and Honey Locust are also very plentiful and a royal pain in the butt.   :(  I'll let all of the volunteer trees (except Sweetgum and Honey Locust) grow starting next year.   
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

Nice looking site.  Those pines love it as you can see from their growth.  Deer browse might be an issue on the oaks, especially cherrybark, so you need to keep them thinned down (and I don't mean the oaks)  ;D.
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locustoak

Hey magicman, on how many acres did you plant all those seedlings?  Looks good

Magicman

Quote from: locustoak on September 25, 2009, 06:18:42 PM
Hey magicman, on how many acres did you plant all those seedlings?  Looks good

About 15 acres with the 5K oak seedlings.  That gives me about 235 acres with old growth hardwood, 75 acres of planted pine, and about 20 acres of open land.  That's where I plant deer food plots, etc.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Tom

What is the tall grass growing in the planted field.  some of it looks like a reed of some sort. Some has a seed head that looks like an invasive that is growing down here.

Magicman

Quote from: Tom on September 25, 2009, 11:43:43 PM
What is the tall grass growing in the planted field.  some of it looks like a reed of some sort. Some has a seed head that looks like an invasive that is growing down here.

Broom sedge (spelling?) is what the old folks called it.  They actually made brooms out of it.  It'll grow to about 4' high and turn golden when it dies in the Winter. I guess that it is considered as a native grass, but I really don't know.  As a matter of fact, we always called that field the "Straw Field".
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

SwampDonkey

Sedges grow wild up here, usually on wetlands. Not really a grass though, has serrations on the stocks, triangular cross section . "Sedges have edges" as the saying goes. I notice the little birds feed on the seeds in winter.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Magicman

This stuff has round stems.  I've just never known if the old folks were saying sedge or sage and never asked.  Now they are all gone and I can't ask.  Maybe I need to do some research?
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

SwampDonkey

Rushes, like soft rush, have round stems and have soft broom-like flowers on the ends that droop.




These are just beginning to flower, and will elongate out the end.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

WDH

I see some switch cane in the first pic.  That is a good old bottomland species. 

Magicman, it is definitely not sedge like SD shows.  The sedges down here grow mostly in saturated areas or where surface water is common like SD points out in his wetland comment.  I see several species of grass, one of which is broomsage like you pointed out.   
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

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