Site quality assessment Regenerating red pine

• Site preparation
• Planting
• Seeding
• Releasing regeneration
• A decision key specific to red pine regeneration

Managing established red pine stands

Managing for ecological objectives

Planting

Planted red pine seedlings in 8'x8' spacing. (A. Ek)
	Planting stock

Planting of bare root red pine or containerized seedlings should be done in the spring. Plant trees at the same depth as they grew in the nursery. On drier sites, planting slightly deeper may be beneficial, but planting too deep increases risk of injury by root collar weevils. Larger bare root seedlings or transplant stock should be used on more difficult sites, or when higher probability of establishment success (but greater cost) is desired.

The cost of producing containerized seedlings has been reduced in recent years and their usage has expanded. The use of containerized seedlings can extend the planting season into early summer. Containerized seedlings are also preferred on sites having shallow soils.

Spacing recommendations depend on many factors, including planting conditions, management objectives, and the desired final product. Planting 400 trees per acre (slightly more than a 10- by 10-foot spacing) will be less costly, crop trees will have rapid diameter growth, commercial thinnings can be made by the time trees need more growing space, and crown closure will not shade out ground vegetation for about 20 years. Planting 800 trees per acre (a little less than 8- by 8-foot spacing) will allow greater flexibility in selecting crop trees and controlling early stand development, crop trees will have less taper and smaller branches, and the stand will have more total volume in smaller diameter trees.

Figure 1. Proper planting depth.

Figure 2. How to plant a seedling.

The time to reach pole size (5 inches diameter) will vary from 15 to 30 or more years depending on spacing and to a lesser extent on site quality. Closer spacings will require precommercial thinning during the sapling stage (2-5 inches average diameter) to provide a recommended 50 square feet of growing space for each crop tree, and the wider spacings may need an extra release or two to control grass, shrub, and hardwood competition.

Trees should be planted at spacings of up to 10- by 10-feet if all or most of the planted trees have a good chance of surviving, precommercial thinnings are not likely, and favoring ground layer plant communities is an objective. Most production-oriented plantations are established at spacings of 6- by 8-feet and 6- by 10 feet. Machine planting costs can be reduced by using wider rows and closer spacing of trees in a row, but plans for access and future management operations must also be considered at the time of stand establishment.

Patterns other than typical uniformly spaced, row plantings should be considered for some extensive management and restoration applications. While planting remains a cost effective way of ensuring adequate red pine regeneration, some objectives require planted stands to look less like plantations and more like stands of natural origin. Variable row widths and spacings, or spiral planting schemes can be considered. Planting schemes can also be designed to accommodate future thinnings and harvest. For example, a rectangular 8 ft by 12 ft spacing would facilitate the use of modern harvesting equipment.

	J-root. (S. Katovich)

Planting and Pests - Poorly planted seedlings often develop deformed root systems known as J-roots. These root systems can sustain trees during normal or wet years but they often fail during drought years or under heavy competition. Drought and competition stress makes trees susceptible to pests such as root collar weevil, diplodia and armillaria. Proper planting is a key initial step in minimizing pest impact.