Forest
Stewardship News Release
November
17, 2008- For Immediate Release
Contact: Allyson
Muth, Phone: 814-865-3208, E-mail:
Are My Woods Healthy?
Written by: Craig,
Janet, and Tara Olver, 570-729-7683, craigo@ezaccess.net
"The health of your woods is determined by several factors," explains
Tree Farmer Craig Olver. Trees are really good about expanding their crowns
to fill available space. Barring major human or ecological impact, most
forested sites are chockfull of trees and plants filling up growing space
and taking advantage of available sunlight and nutrients. But there are
a few factors to look for in your forestland when considering its health
and vitality.
First you need to consider soils. Good soil can grow big healthy trees. If your woods have more trees than the soil can support, this will result in poor or slow tree growth. Applying fertilizer can offset some soil nutrition problems; however, the cost can be high and the return in the distant future. The most economical method to encourage tree growth is timber stand improvement harvest. As your trees get bigger, they need more room for root and tree branch expansion. "Soils across the state can grow some of the best trees in the world," touts Olver. But the trees must have space below ground for their roots to grow and reach available nutrients and water -- this may mean removing some of the trees and reallocating their space to others.
Your woods are like a garden. Flowers and vegetables need room to grow and should not compete with the weeds for sunlight. So, for healthy woods you should look at the crowns of your trees. Do the crowns of your trees have 5 to 8 feet around the crown for branch expansion, or do the tree branches touch or almost touch the neighboring trees? If they do not have this space, the branches, and also roots, of these trees do not have room to grow. This results in slower growing trees.
If you're ever out in the forest when the wind is blowing, look up. You can see the crowns of trees beating on each other. Oaks have fairly hardy stems and are pretty good at breaking the smaller twigs and branches of neighboring trees of other species to make room for their crowns. When two adjacent crowns both have straight edges, you know that the fight is about equal and it will take another event -- strong windstorm or timber harvest -- to reallocate that above ground space. The trees with the bigger crowns, and space to expand, are going to win the race to capture as much of the available resources and enhance their own growth. Those that get crowded, lose the fight. And while they may hang on for years, they just aren't growing up to their maximum potential.
The third factor to consider in evaluating the condition of your woods is total leaf surface per tree. A tree needs three things to grow -- sunlight, water, and nutrients. The leaves on your trees take energy from the sunlight and bring these three elements together (water and nutrients getting pulled up from the roots) to produce "food" for their growth. If the crown is sparse, without many limbs to support leaves then the "factory" to produce food is limited. Again, take a look up in the canopy of your forest. A tree crowded on all four sides doesn't have much of a crown to gather sunlight for photosynthesis, nor is there enough surface area to adequately pull water up from the roots. Crowded trees and those with small crowns are often suppressed and are the first to die from stressful conditions such as drought.
Craig and his family, Janet and Tara, have worked hard to consider the allocation of nutrients as they care for their forested property. They have watched the fight for resources and seen which trees are creeping ahead, which have characteristics they'd like to retain or promote in their woodlot (such as mast trees for wildlife, quality hardwoods for future harvest), and which trees are losing the battle because of disease, poor growth form, or other reasons. This understanding has provided them the ability to help manage natural processes. This enables their forest stands to be more productive as trees grow in to fill open spaces they have created, and ensures their trees are healthier with fuller, deeper crowns, and ample space to capture sunlight, water, and nutrients.
So the next time you are in your woods look up. Are your trees healthy? Do they have space to grow? If you now feel your trees might not be healthy, seek professional help. For free assistance contact your local Bureau of Forestry office, the Penn State Extension office, or the Conservation District in your county.
Craig, Janet, and Tara own the Tall Timber Tree Farm in Wayne County. They received the Pennsylvania Outstanding Tree Farmer award in 2007 and the Northeast Regional United States Outstanding Tree Farmer award in 2008. They are managing their family forest in an ecological sound manner to grow and harvest high quality forest products.
The Pennsylvania Forest Stewardship Program provides publications on a variety of topics related to woodland management for private landowners. For a list of free publications, call 1-800-235-WISE (toll-free), send e-mail to , or write to: Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 320 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802. The Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry and USDA Forest Service, in partnership with the Penn State's Forest Resources Extension, sponsor the Forest Stewardship Program in Pennsylvania.
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