Managing your forest land – Landowners Top-10 Frequently Asked Questions
US Forest Service, State and Private Forestry – Northeastern Area
Forest Stewardship Program

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2.  What should I do to grow a forest in my fields, pastures, or cut-over land?

Why would I want to grow a forest?
In the Northeast reforestation   of abandoned fields is quick, and natural regeneration occurs on harvested sites.  However, you may want to speed up or guide the regrowth of forest through planting to achieve a particular goal.  You should consider working with a forester or your Soil and Water Conservation District to work through the details of reforestation .   In some cases, you may decide that while some areas may be reforested, other areas should be left as open habitat for wildlife.  Write down why you want to grow a forest.  It may be for wildlife habitat, for firewood or fence posts, or for future timber production. 

What is the condition of the site?
Once you know why you want to reforest and the soils of the area, visit the site and see if perhaps succession has already established those trees.  If succession has started, determine if you have sufficient numbers of trees.  With even spacing of trees, you will want between 600 and 800 seedlings per acre.  You may only need to protect the seedlings from deer or mice, or thin around some stems to increase sunlight.  If you need to plant, the next step is to contact your local service forester or Soil and Water Conservation District for information on the soils and related site conditions.  The biggest mistake in reforestation is to plant a tree on soils where it won't thrive.  For example, fertile soils can support maple, yellow birch, or cherry, but those species would not perform well on dry sandy soils better suited for some oak or pine species. 

What do I need to consider before I plant?
If you decide that you need to add trees by planting or direct seeding, the three key issues are these: matching the trees to the soil, controlling weeds and other competing vegetation, and protecting seedlings from deer, rabbits and mice.  Your forester or local Soil Conservation Service can help you select trees that provide the qualities you want and that match soil conditions.  Your local Cooperative Extension office may have publications on tree planting as well.  Two issues to discuss with your forester include the use of a variety of species rather than plantations of a single species and the use of non-invasive species.

How should I prepare for planting?
The ideal sequence for tree planting and related considerations is as follows.  Advance planning is critical; once your seedlings arrive there is no time for planning or preparation. 
(1) Try to schedule your efforts to begin in the late summer or early fall before the spring planting season.  Ideally, the site should have any grasses or shrubs removed from the spots where trees will be planted.  You can do this manually with a shovel or grub hoe, mechanically with a plow, or chemically with herbicides. 
(2) When the seedlings arrive in the spring, take special care to prevent overheating or drying.  Ideally plant trees within days of their arrival.  A number of publications from your state forestry agency or Cooperative Extension office can describe the actual planting process. 
(3) Once your trees are planted or the seeds have germinated, you will likely need to protect them.  Before your seedlings arrive, know how you will protect them.  Common tree seedling protection includes tree shelters made of hardware cloth or area fencing to exclude deer.  In areas with abundant deer, browsing can completely destroy a reforestation effort in one year if no protection is provided.  Use caution because some tree shelters become attractive winter nesting sites for mice and voles that will girdle your seedlings.

What planting design should I follow?
The design of the planting depends on your desires and needs.  Traditionally, plantations are established in straight, regularly spaced rows and columns with the distance between rows and within rows ranging between 6 and 10 feet.  A regular pattern allows for easier access and maintenance with mowers, but can look unnatural. Irregular patterns, such as “islands” of 10-12 trees, and mixtures of species are more natural in appearance and can provide structure that will better satisfy other objectives such as wildlife habitat.  Your written objectives should help determine the number of stems, the variety of species, and the pattern of your planting.

What do I need to do to maintain planted seedlings?
The first year, try to inspect your seedlings monthly to catch any problems as they develop.  Thereafter, quarterly maintenance and inspection will help ensure the success of your plantation.  Look for groups of sickly or dead seedlings that might require spot replanting.  Be alert to a pattern of poor performance and evaluate whether you need to do something different. Inspect the structures you installed to protect the seedlings from browsing.  Until the seedlings gain sufficient height, you may want to control grass and weeds around the seedlings.  Seedlings typically escape deer browsing when they are about 5 to 6 feet tall, and can escape competition with grasses and weeds when about 4 feet high.

Where can I find more information?

Topic	Recommended Web link
Tree shelters	http://www.ag.iastate.edu/departments/forestry/ext/pubs/F-364.pdf http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/FreePubs/pdfs/uh169.pdf
Fencing	http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh145.pdf
Weed control	http://www.lrconline.com/Extension_Notes_English/pdf/clrng.pdf
General tree planting and tree spacing	http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Publications/PM1676.pdf http://www.lrconline.com/EN_splash.html
Soil & Water Conservation Districts	http://www.nacdnet.org/directory/