My Trees Died. Gutted.
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Date: 2023-10-23
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Comments and reviews: 20
Triplaglol
I planted 8 beech trees here in our forest last winter which is mostly oak and pine dominated, very sandy poor soil. I first had to remove some gnarly looking pines to create more light. I bought them about 1 meter tall with root ball and I applied a mulch layer around them, also spreading wood ashes on top of the mulch layer. I also put some steel wire around them to protect them from deer. I had to water them quite often this summer whenever we didn't get rain for more than a week I would water them giving them about 10 liters each. I think I must have watered them like 10-12 times this year, I had to walk and fill up the water can from 50 meters away from where the trees are so 8 times once for each tree. In early spring I also noticed there were alot of aphids on the leaves and caterpillars, some saplings had half of their leaves chewn off. I applied some garlic infused water on the leaves and this saved them. All 8 of them are still alive and I hope next year they will put on some more growth, this year only like 2 inches. The amount of work to keep young trees alive in a forest is insane. I also planted 4 swamp cypress, had to water them also but they are pest and deer resistant.
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I planted 8 beech trees here in our forest last winter which is mostly oak and pine dominated, very sandy poor soil. I first had to remove some gnarly looking pines to create more light. I bought them about 1 meter tall with root ball and I applied a mulch layer around them, also spreading wood ashes on top of the mulch layer. I also put some steel wire around them to protect them from deer. I had to water them quite often this summer whenever we didn't get rain for more than a week I would water them giving them about 10 liters each. I think I must have watered them like 10-12 times this year, I had to walk and fill up the water can from 50 meters away from where the trees are so 8 times once for each tree. In early spring I also noticed there were alot of aphids on the leaves and caterpillars, some saplings had half of their leaves chewn off. I applied some garlic infused water on the leaves and this saved them. All 8 of them are still alive and I hope next year they will put on some more growth, this year only like 2 inches. The amount of work to keep young trees alive in a forest is insane. I also planted 4 swamp cypress, had to water them also but they are pest and deer resistant.
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Wayne
I am no silvaculturalist but I did work as a forestry technician for an International Paper company for seven years and also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express a week ago. When planting pine seedlings it is extremely important to not J root the tap root or the larger side roots. To avoid this, we would actually cut off the first couple of inches or so, back to an area less susceptible to bending upward when planting. When hand dibbled in, we would push the dibble in, pull it out. place the seedling into the hole, dibble behind it closing the hole and then pulling the seedling up an inch or two. Our survival rate dramatically increased. If a tree dies from the tip downward it is usually due to the tap root being J'd or from damping off (too wet a soil at the time of planting) If the soil is a bit mucky at the time of planting the root is basically drowned and cannot breath. This also instigates fungal infection. another possible culprit.
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I am no silvaculturalist but I did work as a forestry technician for an International Paper company for seven years and also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express a week ago. When planting pine seedlings it is extremely important to not J root the tap root or the larger side roots. To avoid this, we would actually cut off the first couple of inches or so, back to an area less susceptible to bending upward when planting. When hand dibbled in, we would push the dibble in, pull it out. place the seedling into the hole, dibble behind it closing the hole and then pulling the seedling up an inch or two. Our survival rate dramatically increased. If a tree dies from the tip downward it is usually due to the tap root being J'd or from damping off (too wet a soil at the time of planting) If the soil is a bit mucky at the time of planting the root is basically drowned and cannot breath. This also instigates fungal infection. another possible culprit.
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Spencer
Hi Mike, great video and thank you for the update, love what you re doing with your woodland. I know a bit about trees, I have just finished an apprenticeship in countryside management, but my main interest is trees and trying to get into Coppicing. I think they probably died of a variety of things: sunlight/too much competition, not enough water and the fluff on the one looks like it has some sort of fungus on it, I am not a expert so can t help with identifying and I can t tell you whether that is a fungus to worry about so it could be a factor it might not be. If you want to plant again I would suggest creating an area with some extra light and really try and focus watering on that area through the summer. Another quick tip is see what trees where there historically. Good luck with everything you do!
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Hi Mike, great video and thank you for the update, love what you re doing with your woodland. I know a bit about trees, I have just finished an apprenticeship in countryside management, but my main interest is trees and trying to get into Coppicing. I think they probably died of a variety of things: sunlight/too much competition, not enough water and the fluff on the one looks like it has some sort of fungus on it, I am not a expert so can t help with identifying and I can t tell you whether that is a fungus to worry about so it could be a factor it might not be. If you want to plant again I would suggest creating an area with some extra light and really try and focus watering on that area through the summer. Another quick tip is see what trees where there historically. Good luck with everything you do!
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Gabriele
Please don't plant exotic species like red oak. They are unfortunately widespread already but are invasive and compete strongly with native species.
In the shade of the understore you should choose shade plants like hazel, maybe yew or holly.
I also would use net guards for the trees instead of plastic ones.
Normally in woods, trees are able to grow when others die and leave a patch of light down to the ground, or are otherwise kept alive from other larger trees through the mycorrhizal network.
But not having developed from the seed, their root struggle to connect to the mycorrhizae and fail to gather nutrients.
It doesn't seem to me that lack of water is the issue, I know it may have just rained, but it doesn't look like a dry environment anyway.
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Please don't plant exotic species like red oak. They are unfortunately widespread already but are invasive and compete strongly with native species.
In the shade of the understore you should choose shade plants like hazel, maybe yew or holly.
I also would use net guards for the trees instead of plastic ones.
Normally in woods, trees are able to grow when others die and leave a patch of light down to the ground, or are otherwise kept alive from other larger trees through the mycorrhizal network.
But not having developed from the seed, their root struggle to connect to the mycorrhizae and fail to gather nutrients.
It doesn't seem to me that lack of water is the issue, I know it may have just rained, but it doesn't look like a dry environment anyway.
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Jared
Landscape Architect licensed in Colorado here. The trees most likely died because they didn't have temporary irrigation for establishment. Hand watering simply is not sufficient for young saplings in a forest floor. Maybe if you planted 2 calipers, hand watering would have worked. But they needed a more consistent irrigation schedule, in my opinion. Perhaps you could rig a drip irrigation line from your barrel to the saplings for more consistent watering. May need to build a tower for it in that case! Thanks for sharing, and good luck next year!
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Landscape Architect licensed in Colorado here. The trees most likely died because they didn't have temporary irrigation for establishment. Hand watering simply is not sufficient for young saplings in a forest floor. Maybe if you planted 2 calipers, hand watering would have worked. But they needed a more consistent irrigation schedule, in my opinion. Perhaps you could rig a drip irrigation line from your barrel to the saplings for more consistent watering. May need to build a tower for it in that case! Thanks for sharing, and good luck next year!
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Stephen
Saplings are very vulnerable in their first year, especially ones that have not naturally seeded and have been planted by people. They could have just gone into shock due to the weather (humidity and wind stress) and may start again next year. They are also more prone to dehydration as their roots are not established and they can only really access water that is in the top layers of the soil. The coverings are not going to contribute to their downfall and they are only really needed for the saplings first 12 months.
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Saplings are very vulnerable in their first year, especially ones that have not naturally seeded and have been planted by people. They could have just gone into shock due to the weather (humidity and wind stress) and may start again next year. They are also more prone to dehydration as their roots are not established and they can only really access water that is in the top layers of the soil. The coverings are not going to contribute to their downfall and they are only really needed for the saplings first 12 months.
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Joshua
If you're bringing trees in rather than planting out from cuttings or layerings from what's already in your wood then disease can occur as the new trees don't have the same immunity to pathogens in the soil that your established trees have. We plant more than what's needed because you will lose some and what remains gets thinned out later as we see which are working best in the woodland. Keep going bud nature is a mix of life and death and so you win some lose some. Cheers J
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If you're bringing trees in rather than planting out from cuttings or layerings from what's already in your wood then disease can occur as the new trees don't have the same immunity to pathogens in the soil that your established trees have. We plant more than what's needed because you will lose some and what remains gets thinned out later as we see which are working best in the woodland. Keep going bud nature is a mix of life and death and so you win some lose some. Cheers J
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laurabryannan
I'm only the keeper of a garden, not a woodland, but I know how hard it is to lose something you had high hopes for. Every spring I'm biting my nails waiting to see what will come back. Some years I'm lucky, some not so much. I do know that most new plantings need a lot of water to get started in life, so maybe that's what happened.
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I'm only the keeper of a garden, not a woodland, but I know how hard it is to lose something you had high hopes for. Every spring I'm biting my nails waiting to see what will come back. Some years I'm lucky, some not so much. I do know that most new plantings need a lot of water to get started in life, so maybe that's what happened.
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Pwecko
Could it be that the protective sleeves (or whatever you call them) are reducing the amount of light getting through to the young trees? In the open, it probably wouldn't matter, but considering they're already in shade in the middle of the woods, that could be part of the reason for them not growing.
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Could it be that the protective sleeves (or whatever you call them) are reducing the amount of light getting through to the young trees? In the open, it probably wouldn't matter, but considering they're already in shade in the middle of the woods, that could be part of the reason for them not growing.
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James
As others have said. Those saplings need LOTS of water. You need to like dig a bit of a Moat around the base of each tree, so hold water. And yes, not enough sun might have also been a cause. Live and learn, and try again next spring. So collect as much water as you can and water the new tree's a lot.
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As others have said. Those saplings need LOTS of water. You need to like dig a bit of a Moat around the base of each tree, so hold water. And yes, not enough sun might have also been a cause. Live and learn, and try again next spring. So collect as much water as you can and water the new tree's a lot.
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hawkmoon1704
Treat yourself to The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, the Audible version is great. There's a lot in there that once you've read it, trees will make so much more sense. Great for a woodland owner like yourself
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Treat yourself to The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, the Audible version is great. There's a lot in there that once you've read it, trees will make so much more sense. Great for a woodland owner like yourself
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Gawin
They have tried to use those plastic tubes on trees up here and have had over 90% loss. Simple fact is they do not get enough light on the leaves because they can not spread out. Through that gimmick crap out.
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They have tried to use those plastic tubes on trees up here and have had over 90% loss. Simple fact is they do not get enough light on the leaves because they can not spread out. Through that gimmick crap out.
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NORDWEST
Just a question: In Great Britain, aren't floors laid without cross joints, i. e. with T-joints? Because how you lay your plastic tiles will cause the floor to rise or warp, which is a misplaced mistake.
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Just a question: In Great Britain, aren't floors laid without cross joints, i. e. with T-joints? Because how you lay your plastic tiles will cause the floor to rise or warp, which is a misplaced mistake.
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25
Mike the Hazel has evolved to grow in low light. Your Tree species hasn't. You can see this clearly with the likes of Hosta plants. They will die with excess light. Barley for instance would die in shade
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Mike the Hazel has evolved to grow in low light. Your Tree species hasn't. You can see this clearly with the likes of Hosta plants. They will die with excess light. Barley for instance would die in shade
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Ben s
Maybe get an arborist out to survey the trees and see what they think they need to survive? I lost a lot of plants this summer here in Phoenix Az. Nothing I could do about it though
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Maybe get an arborist out to survey the trees and see what they think they need to survive? I lost a lot of plants this summer here in Phoenix Az. Nothing I could do about it though
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Paul
I wouldn't bother with those square tree guards. Never in history have trees needed something like that to thrive -- I wouldn't be surprised if they are what killed them off.
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I wouldn't bother with those square tree guards. Never in history have trees needed something like that to thrive -- I wouldn't be surprised if they are what killed them off.
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Nat
Can hardly believe how different the weather can be within 2--300 miles I'm guessing. Here in the southwest (Cornwall) we managed to replenish all our reservoirs this summer.
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Can hardly believe how different the weather can be within 2--300 miles I'm guessing. Here in the southwest (Cornwall) we managed to replenish all our reservoirs this summer.
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Joey
Have a look into getting microrisal fungus. If you plant certain species of trees without their Supportive fungus they don t make it. You can get it as dried powder.
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Have a look into getting microrisal fungus. If you plant certain species of trees without their Supportive fungus they don t make it. You can get it as dried powder.
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Polder
This was a strange summer. Lots of trees died here in northern germany. Before calling a tree dead, you have to look at the roots. Greetings
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This was a strange summer. Lots of trees died here in northern germany. Before calling a tree dead, you have to look at the roots. Greetings
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James
Oh, and as some one else said. Maybe get bigger tree's to plant? Also fertilizer of some kind would help. Or some kind of plant food.
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Oh, and as some one else said. Maybe get bigger tree's to plant? Also fertilizer of some kind would help. Or some kind of plant food.
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