healthy woodlot?

chicky momma · #1 03/09/08, 05:24 PM

My hubby is looking for info on how to have a healthy woodlot. We have a nice woods with a variety of trees, bushes etc... Some mature trees, lots of small ones. Not sure what to keep, what to get rid of to maintain it right. We have cut some as we have a wood boiler.

Have noticed alot more of the elms are dying. Is dutch elm disease to common? Wondering whats killing them.

I know I've seen something about this somewhere but can't remember where. CRS Can't Remember Stuff. Lisa

stonykill · #2 03/09/08, 06:03 PM

yes Dutch elm is common and is slowly killing off all the elm trees. I lose more and more Elm every year.

Well I've never studied woodlot maintnence, but here is what I do. It's what my grandfather taught me.

I only cut dead, fallen, diseased, or badly storm damaged trees. With the occational 24 inch yellow birch that appears healthy, but I know from experience on my land, if its that big, its either already hollow to about 3 feet up, or it will uproot soon. This has worked well for me. I always have plenty of firewood, acres of healthy trees. Each year more die and need removing.

gardenfay · #3 03/09/08, 06:31 PM

contact your county extension agent. he or she will help you find the information you need for your specific area.

haypoint · #4 03/09/08, 06:37 PM

If I had some idea what part of the world you live and/ or what state, I could offer advice that may help. Different states have diffferent places for help and management of a woodlot is different for different areas of the country. In Michigan the DNR will send a Forester out to mark what should be cut and what to leave. Give me a list of what varieties of trees you have and I can suggest what should be cut. When you have two trees close to each other and one is crooked or a low value variety, cut it. If a tree has multiple trunks, cut all but the straightest. Elm doesn't have much commercial value, but burns well, if you are able to split it. Elm is often hard to split and all firewood benifits from splitting.

stonykill · #5 03/09/08, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haypoint

Elm is often hard to split and all firewood benifits from splitting.

the original poster mentioned a wood boiler. I have an owb and my favorite wood to burn in it is standing dead elm. I only slpit the larger stuff. If it is over 14 inches around I split it. Elm that is. Other woods I split smaller than that. Elm is a bear to split, but in my owb it lasts the longest of the woods that I have burned.

Oldcountryboy · #6 03/09/08, 06:47 PM

Some dead trees such as elms and sycamores can produce lots of mushrooms for you. What they call white oyster mushrooms will grow up and down a dead tree still standing.

ET1 SS · #7 03/09/08, 07:29 PM

As a woodlot manager, I have attended woodlot workshops.

The local organic farming organization also sponsors workshops.

Also there are property tax benefits to having land in a 'treegrowth' status here. Putting a forest into such a status requires that every ten years a certified forester must review the woodlot and along with the woodlot manager develop a 'Forestry Management Plan'.

haypoint · #8 03/10/08, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

As a woodlot manager, I have attended woodlot workshops.

The local organic farming organization also sponsors workshops.

Also there are property tax benefits to having land in a 'treegrowth' status here. Putting a forest into such a status requires that every ten years a certified forester must review the woodlot and along with the woodlot manager develop a 'Forestry Management Plan'.

....in Maine. I still haven't a clue to what state we vare talking about.

HopeFarms · #9 03/10/08, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haypoint

If I had some idea what part of the world you live and/ or what state, I could offer advice that may help. Different states have diffferent places for help and management of a woodlot is different for different areas of the country. In Michigan the DNR will send a Forester out to mark what should be cut and what to leave. Give me a list of what varieties of trees you have and I can suggest what should be cut. When you have two trees close to each other and one is crooked or a low value variety, cut it. If a tree has multiple trunks, cut all but the straightest. Elm doesn't have much commercial value, but burns well, if you are able to split it. Elm is often hard to split and all firewood benifits from splitting.

Emphasis mine, and I'm a newbie here, so bear with me. Hubby and I are new at this (homesteading, becoming more self-sufficient, and, heating ONLY with wood in an ancient drafty farmhouse) and my question is: why does all firewood benefit from splitting?

chicky momma · #10 03/10/08, 08:44 AM

We are in Michigan, Southern Lower, near Jackson.
Thank you for your suggestions.
We have elm, oak, some swamp maples, some kind of cherry, hickory. Thats about all I know. We have tried to leave some of the standing dead wood as food/shelter for woodpeckers, owls, squirrels etc....
We have cut trees that are damaged, leaning,too close etc... So I guess we're on the right track.
I'm thinking as some of the larger trees are removed and more sunlight, nutrients are available some of the smaller trees will grow to replace the removed ones.
Lisa

RichieC · #11 03/10/08, 09:28 AM

Call the county forester. Trained professionals for free, or nearly so.

Tricky Grama · #12 03/10/08, 11:24 AM

Chicky momma-you may have Siberian Elm...only live about 20 years. We have those dying all over in our woods. Had a bad drought in 05 & 06 & most didn't survive that. They are a pretty weak tree so I don't mourn them as much as some others we've had die.

Patty

Quint · #13 03/11/08, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tricky Grama

Chicky momma-you may have Siberian Elm...only live about 20 years.

Siberian elms live quite a while. Not hundreds of years but quite a while. We had huge ones that were 80 or so years old when we cut them and they were perfectly healthy.

They aren't susceptible dutch elm disease but unfortunately they're a miserable tree. They are "self pruning" and a light wind will bring down loads of twigs. They tend to get infested elm leaf beetles. These filthy things begin as worms which eat the leaves and drop feces all over. This worm dirt will absolutely wreck the finish of a vehicle and pretty much anything else it touches. The worms also stink and get into your house and if squashed they stain. Then you have the beetles to contend with. Just a foul, rotten tree all around. They do grow extremely fast though and they make passable firewood. I kill every one I find on the place. I wouldn't pass up a load for firewood but I sure wouldn't plant one.

Tricky Grama · #14 03/11/08, 08:59 AM

The siberian elm is short-lived here in TX. We do have some large ones...so prolly they are 40 yrs old. But that's an exception here.

Patty

edcopp · #15 03/30/08, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicky momma

My hubby is looking for info on how to have a healthy woodlot. We have a nice woods with a variety of trees, bushes etc... Some mature trees, lots of small ones. Not sure what to keep, what to get rid of to maintain it right. We have cut some as we have a wood boiler.

Have noticed alot more of the elms are dying. Is dutch elm disease to common? Wondering whats killing them.

I know I've seen something about this somewhere but can't remember where. CRS Can't Remember Stuff. Lisa

Don't know what state you are in, but many states have a forester available to help you with this.