Row Pines Improvement - Opinions Please

You have to be cautious with thinning these. You thin them to much and Mother nature will come through and thin them the rest of the way for you. These trees end up being weak and dependent on each other. I've see many subdivisions built in row pines and when the builder cuts a hole I for a house all is good. but when the homeowner decides to thin trees so they can get grass to grow, a Tstorm comes through and knocks down the rest because the are not strong enough on their own.

Also looking, there should be plenty of light getting in 3 or 4 rows deep in each side where you should have more growth than there is.

I'd create probably two clear cut two holes in that section of trees. One all the way to the bottom where it looks like it edges up to a more traditional woods. another about 2/3 up. Than thin alternating every 2nd or third in a row. Also get something to drag through the rows to get rid of all the needles and expose the dirt to the air. the public land I hunt is in what was row plots with some areas that were cleared and right now, it is to think to be able to walk in most of it.

 

Well of course if it is not done right it could cause major problems. However, someone who is experienced in prescribed fire could burn it easily. The key to prescribed fire is to block off sections you want to burn, then create good fire breaks. In his situation, I would create fire breaks on all sides, then start a backing fire. Backing fires are low intensity and will not even kill saplings that are as big as your wrist if it is done during the winter. Winter would be the best time for the type of burn he is wanting to do, which is just get rid of pine straw and expose the soil.

 

My point is the slash left over after logging every third or other tree, will have fuel loading with duration and intensity that will sterilize the soil. Loggers are messy they don't haul what does not make them money so trees are stripped where they are dropped. The needle bed will have branches on top. Winter burning up north is hit and miss the needles may be froze even in a year without snow. Now you could spend time in the winter and pile up the branches and burn piles and clean it up and burn the needles off in the spring that would work. The loggers will leave a mess especially if clearing pine, unless they are chipping the entire tree.

 

There is an article in the latest issue of Whitetail News about kill plots in planted pines. Might give you a few ideas or direction FB.

 

Planting plots in between thinned row pines is always a great idea. Especially on an every 3rd-5th row thin.

 

There are a couple of ways you can go about this. On one of our client properties in Northern Wisconsin we sub-contracted a logger to do thinning. He thinned the stands which enabled for undergrowth to grow, and then for the trees left to grow and obtain even more monetary value. Here are some exampls of pine stand thinning.

Row Thinning (planted pines) - Alternate rowsare removed from the stand. A row thinningmight remove every third, fifth, or seventh row.„

Selective Thinning (natural or planted pines) -Individual trees are selectively removed from thestand. Tree selection is generally based onposition, form, and general health.„

Combination Thinning - A combination of bothrow thinning and selective thinning.„

Strip Thinning (natural pines) - A strip of trees(rather than rows) are removed from the standfollowing the land contours

To further improve your property you could have the logger remove a square section out where you could then start rehabilitating the soil for future food plot use. I have also heard of property owners planting young pine in the stands you "thin out" so that you can have several age classes of pines to provide even further bedding.

 

Our neighbor in northern wisco had the same setup and last year, he had loggers clear 3 or 4 1/4 acre circles in them. I wasn't sure if he had intentions of planting plots, but right now, it's thick as can be after a summer of fresh sapling growth. Doing this would definitely help your property.