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I hope this is the right forum. I have about an acre of woods on my property, all around my house. About 75% large white pines and 25% hardwoods. I'm confused about what I should be doing to maintain my woods. Problems that have built up over the last 20 years:
Fallen branches on the ground, mainly from the pines. (Hundreds, nay thousands of branches.)
Several old pines have fallen; other dead pines are still standing.
Brush grown up along the perimeter
One cause of these problems is the increase in violent wind storms in recent years. I recently took care of the brush and am working on getting the fallen pines cut up. I had an arborist look at my property and he said that the trees that are within striking distance of the house are healthy. Questions:
Should I be picking up all the fallen branches? It's a huge job, but if I don't do it it looks terrible. I suspect that woods full of dead trees (standing and fallen) lower the property value?
Is it OK to dump fallen branches and cut up logs in a depression at the back of the property, rather than carting it all to the dump? Burning is not an option. Last time I did that I set fire to the roots of a tree that was dead inside (looked great on the outside) and vowed to never burn on my property again.
I ask these questions because when I was in Germany many years ago I was surprised to see that wooded areas were neat as a pin, like a park. I asked why and was told that communities go to great lengths to pick up fallen branches to avoid spreading disease, because of the low quantity of wooded areas in some communities---they want to protect what woods they have.
I'd like to be able to walk through my woods and be surrounded by serene beauty, not chaos and decay. Not sure I can afford that dream, though---it would be expensive to clear that much stuff and dispose of it.
I think if it were me, I'd maybe put up a "help wanted" sign at the grocery store or something, and offer "free firewood" if they come cut it up, and haul it away.
I live in Missouri, and in rural areas, people would jump on that.
I don't think dumping thousands of branches in a depression would look too good, unless you could hire a bulldozer and operator to dig a big pit and then cover it all up with soil. Another possibility would be a wood chipper and you could bury the woodchips or spread them around. We have woods behind our house separated from our back yard by a 6 foot chain link fence. There's thousands of trees, fallen limbs, leaves, etc. there. It's nice to look at from the yard or deck, but I don't go there mainly because of deer tics which spread lyme disease. We often see deer there, so there are likely deer tics as well. An acre of woods is not that much but caring for it would be a part time job.
I don't think dumping thousands of branches in a depression would look too good, unless you could hire a bulldozer and operator to dig a big pit and then cover it all up with soil. Another possibility would be a wood chipper and you could bury the woodchips or spread them around. We have woods behind our house separated by a 6 foot chain link fence, and we dump our leaves and yard twigs and branches in the woods near the fence. But I don't go there otherwise mainly because of deer tics which spread lyme disease. We often see deer there, so there are likely deer tics as well. An acre is not that much but caring for it would be a part time job.
I like the idea of woodchips! Maybe I could fill the depression with branches to within a foot of the top, and then put a thick layer of woodchips over it all. The depression is about 20' x 15'---may have been an old cellar hole.
-----it would be expensive to clear that much stuff and dispose of it.
Thanks for your wisdom!
It is usually very cost-effective to hire a guy with a bobcat+mulcher to 'mulch in place', like this: (nothing to haul away, a single guy does whole job in just a few hours on both overgrowth and fallen limbs - less than half the cost of a crew +haul away) https://bushwackerslandclearing.com/
I like the idea of woodchips! Maybe I could fill the depression with branches to within a foot of the top, and then put a thick layer of woodchips over it all. The depression is about 20' x 15'---may have been an old cellar hole.
Might work, will probably continue to depress over time giving you room for more branches and chips. I'd mix branches and chips as I went along to fill the air gaps around the branches.
I hope this is the right forum. I have about an acre of woods on my property, all around my house. About 75% large white pines and 25% hardwoods. I'm confused about what I should be doing to maintain my woods. Problems that have built up over the last 20 years:
Fallen branches on the ground, mainly from the pines. (Hundreds, nay thousands of branches.)
Several old pines have fallen; other dead pines are still standing.
Brush grown up along the perimeter
One cause of these problems is the increase in violent wind storms in recent years. I recently took care of the brush and am working on getting the fallen pines cut up. I had an arborist look at my property and he said that the trees that are within striking distance of the house are healthy. Questions:
Should I be picking up all the fallen branches? It's a huge job, but if I don't do it it looks terrible. I suspect that woods full of dead trees (standing and fallen) lower the property value?
Is it OK to dump fallen branches and cut up logs in a depression at the back of the property, rather than carting it all to the dump? Burning is not an option. Last time I did that I set fire to the roots of a tree that was dead inside (looked great on the outside) and vowed to never burn on my property again.
I ask these questions because when I was in Germany many years ago I was surprised to see that wooded areas were neat as a pin, like a park. I asked why and was told that communities go to great lengths to pick up fallen branches to avoid spreading disease, because of the low quantity of wooded areas in some communities---they want to protect what woods they have.
I'd like to be able to walk through my woods and be surrounded by serene beauty, not chaos and decay. Not sure I can afford that dream, though---it would be expensive to clear that much stuff and dispose of it.
Thanks for your wisdom!
If you insist on a "neat as a pin" unnatural city park, pick up the debris. If you want a more natural woodland setting leave all but known diseased trees that might infect others. Some standing dead trees and coarse woody debris (CWD) isn't a bad thing...just the opposite. If you pick up everything you are removing beneficial detritivores, fungi, recycled nutrients, and microorganisms that can keep your woodland healthier, not to mention provide food and shelter for more wildlife. There are many places in European forests where so many generations of trees and associated microbial symbiotes have been removed that the soil is almost sterile. It no longer has the biologic community that supports germination and growth of new trees and other native plants. A seedling doesn't just grow in mineral soil. It needs to develop a relationship with mycorrhizae in order to survive. If you want to keep your woodland intact, you don't want a overly groomed park. Healthy forests are "messy", not tidy. What about a compromise? Maybe a tidy perimeter immediately surrounding your house but a gradual transition to a more natural woodland around that? Do some reading about your particular type of forest and its management (you didn't mention what type of woodland it is). Talk to local woodland management experts. Just a sampling of many articles about forest diversity and health:
People differ in what they want from their property. I've usually been fortunate to own several acres of relatively undeveloped woodland around a cleared area where the house sits. I maintain my little clearing, I don't touch the woods. They are left to do what they want. If I find a tree dying of a known invasive pest or disease I MAY remove it and treat the remains to protect the others. Depends on what it is. FWIW, I've had neighbors and one particular coworker who managed their wooded properties very intensively. Every dead limb pruned, every fallen branch picked up, every imperfect tree removed. Walking around such a golf-course-level-manicured park was depressing. It seemed devoid of life, boring and silent. I find peace in witnessing a myriad of small lives humming along doing what they do. Maybe my neighbor or coworker thought their places were peaceful, but peace is subjective...peace can be so pervasive it appears almost dead. Mausoleums are peaceful too.
Last edited by Parnassia; 09-23-2020 at 03:31 PM..
Every winter we choose a quadrant and pick up the large deadfall, take down dead/dying/weak/broken trees, remove invasive vines. We leave the understory plants.
Our area has a compost facility for large wood. Anything not becoming firewood or is wanted for our fire pit, we fill the trailer with and take it in. We quickly rework the picked up areas after a large storm. It's a 5 year project and every year maintenance.
We are hoping to find semi-pro, tow behind wood chipper for our lawn tractor to leave the wood in the forest.
I hope this is the right forum. I have about an acre of woods on my property, all around my house. About 75% large white pines and 25% hardwoods. .......
I'd like to be able to walk through my woods and be surrounded by serene beauty, .......
I'm sure people probably get fed up with me making the same request all the time, but ..... is it possible for you to post some pictures of your woods so we can see what you're talking about? A picture is worth a thousand descriptive words and seeing the subject at hand and the accessibility to and through the wooded area is helpful and makes it so much easier to offer advice/suggestions that is pertinent specifically to your acre's particular needs.
Location would help. I have two different answers.
I've had 7 acres of hardwoods in WV, and I've got wooded acreage in Montana. 2 different strategies.
However both strategies share slash pile burning. Are you allowed to burn in your area?
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