[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

My wife and I have Just been for a lovely walk with our dogs and planted 50 oak tree saplings which we tugged from under a parent tree that had self seeded, but the acorns fell on a grassed area frequently cut down so had no chance of survival beyond a few months. These rescued oaks were planted to replace many trees that had died or had been blown over, or in places where invasive species such as Rhododendron have been cleared so as to help our native tree species to get a foothold. In the same area there now stands an amazing woodland which used to be a barren field with poor top soil, we named it Peoplesfield after the large group of people who came to plant trees of their own when we asked the media to shout for volunteers.

These trees now stand 24 feet and have completely transformed the field into a magnificent native woodland and it didn’t cost anything from the people who planted seeds and saplings. It was great watching families arriving with a fist full of forest and a pocket full of acorns all those years ago. The smile on their faces radiated the whole of Torbay and many come back to see how their trees are fairing. My fathers ashes are scattered in this field.

Can I ask you to plant at least one tree during this Autumn, it is very easy to do and there are thousands of saplings waiting to be lifted and transported to a place where they can grow out of harms way.

We are losing our way somewhat in this Environmental path we now face, perhaps a few more trees might go a long way to addressing the billions of trees us Two Legged Termites have devoured in our lifetime?

Please go out today or over the weekend and plant a tree or maybe twenty. Now is the best time for planting, nice and wet and as the leaves fall the trees devote more attention to establishing roots.

Andrew K Fletcher

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

Another 20 oaks planted today in woodland where commercially grown trees have been removed close to the sea, this is an amazing place and has very few oaks among the predominantly soft wood plantation, which is currently being harvested. It is so easy to make a real difference to our environment; all it takes is that little step from being an environmentalist on paper to becoming an active ecological warrior. I will endeavour to plant a tree for every member on the message board before Christmas.

[Karen W.]

I will plant one tree.. here in the next couple weeks! I love trees!

[dnsnthegrdn]

Kudos.  I have taken saplings from areas that I knew they wouldn't survive and planted them on our property.  I had to fight with my husband to plant trees in the open field we bought (and don't use), till he agreed let 1/5 "go wild".  He is concerned about lowering the property value.

I talked him into mowing no closer than five feet from the fence line that way the birds could deposit seeds from trees they like to eat.  But after reading this I am going to plants some seeds and saplings around the fence to give them a one up.  I shall also start carrying some seeds with me come early spring through summer.  You have my word.  Thank you for your encouragement. [^]

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

Way to go Karen, knew you would not let our planet down

I will plant one tree.. here in the next couple weeks! I love trees!

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

Kudos is all yours. I am glowing with the warmth that you are going to plant trees in your field. If it is a large field and you need help to convert it for free, contact the local media and ask them to locate some helpers giving instructions on where to find the saplings and seeds etc and they will come. Believe me they will come. It is fantastic to see the young and old helping each other to plant trees. Doing it this way also encourages more people to act rather than become innocent bystanders and will ensure that they will go on to plant many more trees.

We have a woodland here now with some of the trees standing 25 feet. The badgers  have just moved in and a number of the trees have already been thinned out to make room for the ones that are doing the best. The field is called peoplesfield, named after all of the people that transformed it into the lush woodland it is today.

RESPECT And Kudos from   Andrew and family 

Kudos.  I have taken saplings from areas that I knew they wouldn't survive and planted them on our property.  I had to fight with my husband to plant trees in the open field we bought (and don't use), till he agreed let 1/5 "go wild".  He is concerned about lowering the property value.

I talked him into mowing no closer than five feet from the fence line that way the birds could deposit seeds from trees they like to eat.  But after reading this I am going to plants some seeds and saplings around the fence to give them a one up.  I shall also start carrying some seeds with me come early spring through summer.  You have my word.  Thank you for your encouragement. [^]

[Bass]

Recently acquired around 500 acres of clear-cut timberland- will plant close to 20,000 seedlings (mostly longleaf and loblolly pine) by the end of January.  These will be thinned in 12 to 15 years, allowing growth of a sustainable forest.

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Part of the clearcut land currently being replanted

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Holding up a longleaf planted 7 years ago in a similar reforestation project

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

Bass Are there any other native species that should be growing there also, like oaks, maple and other broadleaves? If so these can be a great asset to the soil quality and wildlife and also help to prevent fires from spreading rapidly, while greatly enhancing the appearance of the forest.

Here in the U.K. The forestry commission have realised the importance of hard woods mixed with commercial softwoods. The logic being that the hardwoods grow much slower and when the soft woods are ready for logging the landscape is not clear felled but holds a generation of highly profitable hard wood timber, while at the same time maintains the soil texture with deciduous leaf litter ready for the next cash crop of softwoods.

Your work is impressive. 500 acres is more than I can dream of planting out.

The pocket full of acorns project could be used to great effect with your 500 acres. Use the logic of the simple project to call for help to plant it out and ask people to bring in native saplings and seeds to plant among your softwoods. This would undoubtedly produce a wide variety of trees, resembling the ancient landscapes.

The woodlands we have planted in the U.K. look terrific and varied from holly, crab apple, field maple, oak, chestnut, ash, white beam, rowan, cherry.

Kudos to you also Bass. Nice to know people like you are out there making sure the soil does not end up in the river basins.

Andrew     

[Bass]

Andrew
We do plant hardwoods as well, but in fewer numbers.  The hardwoods do better in the bottoms and wetter sites, the softwoods (especially the longleaf) are the climax trees in this area.  Hardwoods are predominantly oak, maple and hickory.

I've really enjoyed learning more about forest management.  Long-range plans call for thinning the trees at around 12 to 15 years and again around 28 to 30 years, then selective cutting afterward, relying on mostly natural seeding to replenish the forests.

My brother and I started doing this a bit of land at a time back in the early 90's, we now have several thousand acres under reforestation.  We can produce enough income now from our past purchases to cover the cost of further land acquisition and reforestation.

In the top picture, you can see another 400 acre plot we planted in 2001- the green swath under the ridge in the background.  My kids, who will reap the benefits of our program, are all becoming good land stewards.  We also take part in a local program that takes local school children out on field trips to educate them on the value of trees.

My hat is off to you for your pocketful of acorns idea.

[Karen W.]

Andrew
We do plant hardwoods as well, but in fewer numbers.  The hardwoods do better in the bottoms and wetter sites, the softwoods (especially the longleaf) are the climax trees in this area.  Hardwoods are predominantly oak, maple and hickory.

I've really enjoyed learning more about forest management.  Long-range plans call for thinning the trees at around 12 to 15 years and again around 28 to 30 years, then selective cutting afterward, relying on mostly natural seeding to replenish the forests.

My brother and I started doing this a bit of land at a time back in the early 90's, we now have several thousand acres under reforestation.  We can produce enough income now from our past purchases to cover the cost of further land acquisition and reforestation.

In the top picture, you can see another 400 acre plot we planted in 2001- the green swath under the ridge in the background.  My kids, who will reap the benefits of our program, are all becoming good land stewards.  We also take part in a local program that takes local school children out on field trips to educate them on the value of trees.

My hat is off to you for your pocketful of acorns idea.

Bass That is truly wonderful and your pictures are great as well as what you are doing to re-establish these forests. Amazing! Thank you!

[Karen W.]

Way to go Karen, knew you would not let our planet down

I will plant one tree.. here in the next couple weeks! I love trees!

Your Welcome Andrew.. I really miss the redwoods they cut down around my house.. They were mixed also and at least it was not clear cut as some places.. They left the pine and oak and fur, as well as others smaller varieties which just grew there naturally also.. Pepperwoods too!

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

Bass it has long been a compelling drive of mine to have a desert coastline reforested using waste water to fix the sand grains by replacing the organic material from human and farm waste, while irrigating with the relatively salt free grey water. The idea is that once the thermal barrier has been removed from the coastline, which is currently preventing moisture from crossing onto the land caused by heat generated on the hot dry sandy soils rising into the air forming an invisible thermal barrier.

Once removed / damped down with irrigation and established forest, the trees would milk the moisture from the ocean and become self-sustaining as the barrier moves further and further inland. Furthermore, the moisture rising from transpiring trees and vegetation would help to reduce the energy from the sun by helping to block out it's penetration to the soil along with the canopy cover, local temperatures would fall and during the night, rain would fall in areas that have not had rain for years.

It is also my take that the removal of the trees in the first place dramatically reduces the annual rainfall in clear felled areas, and when it does rain it has devastating effects with flash floods and mud slides.

In the huge clear felled areas you are reforesting, is there a record of the past rainfall from when it was forested and today?

Andrew

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

“Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground”

[Bass]

Andrew
we have regional rainfall totals- no local rainfall totals.  Regional totals reflect weather/climate patterns of the southeast U.S.  Don't know if there is any difference of not.  We have, however, seen a dramatic increase in wildlife and more cover/forage is available.

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

Bass any chance of a location and a summary of local land area, I.E location of inland water, coastline, river?
Or a location on Google Earth would suffice

Bass, you and your Bro are environmental heroes.

[Andrew K Fletcher (OP)]

What Bass and his Brother are up against.
http://www.fws.gov/carolinasandhills/longleaf.html

A disappearing ecosystem...
The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem, the characteristic habitat of Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, once covered approximately 90 million acres in the Southeastern United States. This unique ecosystem, shaped by thousands of years of natural fires that burned through every two to four years, has been reduced to fewer than two million acres, representing a 97 percent decline in this important ecosystem. Today, only scattered patches of the longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem occur, primarily in the coastal plains of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. About half of these surviving stands of longleaf pine exist on public lands.

[Bass]

Andrew
Input Sylacauga, AL into Google Earth.  We have lands to the southwest of Sylacauga in Coosa County, and also to the east in Clay County.

While I appreciate the accolades, we didn't do this for environmental reasons, we did it to produce income.   But it's nice when responsible land stewardship and making a livelihood work in harmony.

Once the Longleaf reaches a certain height, we burn the ground litter/duff about every 5 years or so.

I'll be gone a couple of weeks, but will try to show more specific locations when I get back.

[Carolyn]

Bass, I don't want to drift off topic, but I'm just curious.  Do you guys have a kudzu problem in Alabama and if so have you been able to control it?

My parents live on almost 200 acres in Georgia and have a small section that is being overrun with this awful vine.  So far they've had no luck getting rid of it.  Some neighboring plots have been completely overrun with it.

[Bass]

Carolyn
Kudzu, nasty stuff.  We are constantly fighting it.  Combination of trimming/cutting with herbicide application will work, but it usually takes several applications.  We try to catch it before it can get out of hand.

Rumor is, if you sit and watch kudzu, you can actually see it grow.  Tell your parents good luck.

[Carolyn]

Thanks Bass, they've slowed it down with a few controlled burns and herbicides but haven't eliminated the problem.  Not sure how much longer my Dad will be able to handle it alone....I'm afraid we're not much help while we're in Florida.

Haha...I think I have seen it growing there.