Featured Professional: Transplanting
Native Seedling
-University of Idaho, College of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
Featured Professional: Transplanting
Native Seedling
-University of Idaho, College of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
An important source of tree seedlings may already be on your forest property. Native seedlings have several advantages:
1. The seedlings are already adapted to
the site.
2. No purchasing or transportation costs
are required other than your own labor.
3. Storage is not a problem because seedlings
can be moved a few at a time over a longer period of time than most nursery
stock.
The following suggestions should help in getting the job done:
1. Select seedlings that are 6 to 24 inches
tall.
2. Select seedlings from an area that
is similar in aspect (north, south, etc.) and elevation to the area where
the trees will be planted.
3. Select healthy, single stemmed seedlings
with well developed top growth.
4. The best time to transplant them is
as soon as the ground thaws in the spring up until 2 weeks before bud break
(usually about the last week in April). If seedlings are transplanted
after bud break, survival is greatly diminished.
5. One of the best tools for digging up
seedlings is a common, garden type, digging fork. A shovel also works
well, but more care must be taken to avoid cutting major roots.
6. Trees may be moved by either (a) shaking
all of the loose soil from the roots (called bare rooting); or (b) digging
an earth ball with each seedling and then moving it intact to the new planting
site.
7. When using the bare root method, the
roots must be kept moist at all times. Put the trees in a container,
and pack damp moss, straw, wet burlap or wet vermiculite around the roots.
Keep them away from wind, light and warm sunshine as much as possible.
8. Dig only the trees in the morning that
you can get into the ground during the rest of that same day.
Contact us today for a free consultation about the management of your forestlands, marketing of your timber products, wildfire control efforts, or prescribed burning needs. We also provide the region's best wildlife management, watershed management, and forest regeneration services. Explore our site and let us know how we can best serve you!