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A couple thinning/trimming questions

Started by g_man, March 23, 2012, 08:14:15 AM

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g_man

I want to select and release some future crop trees in a young yellow birch stand. If there is a clump of three 3" trees that come together and share the same  stump can I cut two of them and expect the third to thrive as a good crop tree ?

I have another question about white pine. If the tree is 12" to 16" in diameter and it still has dead branches on the lower section should these branches be cut or left or does it make a difference ?

Thanks.

WDH

I cannot speak to your birch because that is outside the realm of my experience.  On the white pine, generally the dead limbs are persistent, and can remain for a long time.  As the limbs grow in distinct whorls, you get the "traditional" knotty pine.  If you prune them off, the tree will put down clear unknotty wood in the future.  I guess the answer depends on your objective. 
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

KBforester

Thinning clumps of trees depends on the species... and I don't know a rule of thumb pertaining specifically to yellow birch, but I would guess its ok at such a young age. The concern would be letting contaminants from the cut stumps work its way into the crop tree. Even if it does, at 3" I wouldn't expect much of a problem. Yellow birch is a pretty good compartmentalizer. Watch out for sweep and too much sun though.

With pine, if they are dead branches, they will end up being dead knots (potentially falling out of the board), so... not really great for knotty pine either in my opinion. If those dead limbs are any bigger than 2-3" in diameter than I would consider cutting them if you have the time. 
Trees are good.

WDH

KB,

Good point about the dead, loose, knots.
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

g_man

Thanks for the replys.
On the pine  I knew the graders treated black knots and red knots differently sometimes but I never thought it through as to why. Most of the dead branches are an inch or less on the better formed trees. From what you say I will cut them when given the chance instead of just wondering if I should.
On the birch clumps I will cut the sweepers and leave the straight one and see what happens.
Thanks again.

Clark

I just did a quick search on the US Forest Service's Tree Search which is an online database of all their research over the past 100 years.  My quick search didn't yield anything that addressed your issue head on.  There is a fair bit on pre-commercial of thinning northern hardwoods and yellow birch is often addressed so I assume that they were thinning clumps of yellow birch in those studies.  I attached two documents that might be of interest to you.  The first is about choosing yellow birch trees for release and the second is about identifying higher vigor yellow birch based on bark characteristics.

Clark
SAF Certified Forester

g_man

Thanks Clark. Those were both interesting articles. The one on thinning has some good guide lines which will give me something to shoot for. Very helpful. I have noticed the different bark types but I thought it was just an age indicator. I had no idea that it could be a growth rate indicator also.
Thanks again, I appreciate the help.

gg

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