Planning Your Plantings
Site preparation and weed control is crucial to a successful planting effort. Tilling the soil before planting can help the roots get established, but it is not absolutely necessary. The site should be as free as practical from competing weeds. Weeds can be controlled with tillage, mulch, or herbicides.
Appropriate spacing of your plants will help you to meet your conservation goals. The spacings given below are intended to be dense, and therefore suitable for the early years of a plantation. Once the trees have reached a height of 25-30 feet, the plantation should be thinned. Thereafter, thinnings should be done approximately every 10-15 years until the trees are mature.
Site preparation and weed control is crucial to a successful planting effort. Tilling the soil before planting can help the roots get established, but it is not absolutely necessary. The site should be as free as practical from competing weeds. Weeds can be controlled with tillage, mulch, or herbicides.
Appropriate spacing of your plants will help you to meet your conservation goals. The spacings given below are intended to be dense, and therefore suitable for the early years of a plantation. Once the trees have reached a height of 25-30 feet, the plantation should be thinned. Thereafter, thinnings should be done approximately every 10-15 years until the trees are mature.
For Windbreaks, Visual Screens, and Wildlife Habitat
Windbreaks should be a minimum of two rows wide, three or four is better. Mixing species within a windbreak will create habitat diversity and help prevent gaps should one species succumb to insects or disease. For windbreaks, minimum spacing between rows ranges from 12 ft. for shrubs and small trees, and up to 20 ft. for large trees.
Spacing within rows ranges from a minimum of 3 ft. for small shrubs to a maximum of 16 ft. for large trees. For wildlife plantings, consider placing plants in clump arrangements. Always consider the mature height and width of any given plant to figure out how close to plant together.
Windbreaks should be a minimum of two rows wide, three or four is better. Mixing species within a windbreak will create habitat diversity and help prevent gaps should one species succumb to insects or disease. For windbreaks, minimum spacing between rows ranges from 12 ft. for shrubs and small trees, and up to 20 ft. for large trees.
Spacing within rows ranges from a minimum of 3 ft. for small shrubs to a maximum of 16 ft. for large trees. For wildlife plantings, consider placing plants in clump arrangements. Always consider the mature height and width of any given plant to figure out how close to plant together.