Green Side Up

PREPARING FOR PLANTING SEASON

By Jennie Haskell and Ad Platt, The Longleaf Alliance

Fall means tree planting season is rapidly approaching. If you applied chemical site preparation to reduce competing vegetation, you are likely noticing the targeted foliage browning and dying. You may be watching the weather to identify a good burn day for a site prep burn. As you make final preparations to plant longleaf, remember that planting costs and timelines will vary by site conditions and size, availability of personnel, weather, and equipment.

When to Plant

Seedlings are typically planted between November and March, with some regions in favor of earlier planting for site access and local conditions. Planting before Christmas is ideal to allow the new trees to develop strong roots ahead of anticipated spring droughts.

Once your site preparations are complete, plant when soil moisture is optimal. With an eye on the weather, coordinate with the nursery and planting crew to reduce the storage time of seedlings. Containerized longleaf can be stored longer than bareroot longleaf, but seedlings will only lose vigor the longer they are stored. Avoid planting into severe freezes, as well as warm, windy, and dry conditions.

When Your Seedlings Arrive

As soon as you receive your seedlings, evaluate the young plants. Open and sort through the seedlings in a couple of boxes to ensure the trees are hearty and healthy.

Containerized plugs should be firm, not floppy, and wellformed, with many white or cream-colored root tips showing. Plugs should be neither wet nor dry, just slightly moist. If you order bareroot seedlings, check for quality and root development; the bare roots will likely be covered in a hydrogel slurry to improve moisture retention. No need for root pruning — the nursery worked hard to produce a quality seedling with proper root-to-shoot balance.

Cull and count any problem seedlings, including floppies, doubles, hybrids, those with willows, or any with fusiform galls. While the nursery should have culled out inferior seedlings, the landowner may need to remove additional seedlings. Contact the nursery if more than 5% of your seedlings are unsatisfactory. If it is not too late in the season, they will try to correct the problem. This is one more reason to prepare to plant early.

Seedlings with moldy needles are likely dead and should also be culled, but don’t confuse problem mold with signs of mycorrhizae, the beneficial fungus on roots that aid nutrient uptake. Mycorrhizae is typically white and stringy, resembling fine roots. Problematic water mold, on the other hand, will give the seedlings a sour, musty smell if stored too long, too warm, or overwatered.

Plant the trees as soon as possible. Refrigeration is highly recommended if we must store containerized seedlings for a while, but do not allow the seedlings to either freeze or dry out. For bareroot seedlings, aim to plant them as you receive

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A B D

(A) Hand planting longleaf. Photo courtesy of TLA. (B) Dibble bar next to planted longleaf pine seedling. Photo courtesy of TLA. (C) Container longleaf seedlings. Photo by Carol Denhof. (D) Machine tree planting at Indian Lake State Forest. Photo by Steve Jennings.

them or greatly minimize storage to 1-2 days, allowing for good aeration in the cooler (don’t stack them up).

Proper Planting Matters

Good planting techniques are essential for survival. There is a right way and a sloppy way to use any tool, including planting tools. Jamming a tree in a hole and stepping on it leads directly to low survival.

When hand planting on cutover sites, plant seedlings with the plug still showing. The terminal bud should not be covered in soil. On agriculture sites that have sandier soils and either scalping or subsoiling, elevate containerized seedlings more and plant beside, not in, the rip line in anticipation of soil movement. Make sure to pack the soil around the seedling to eliminate air pockets. With either hoedad or dibble bar, this is properly a two-stroke method.

If machine planting, the terminal bud should be at or just below the soil line, even more important with bareroot.

With proper use of either planting method, we routinely expect good survival. Pine planting failures result from poor planting technique or poor handling of seedlings. Failed site prep could perhaps also be implicated. All can be avoided.

For more information about proper planting techniques, watch The Longleaf Alliance’s short YouTube video at longleaf.info/Planting. After Planting

Remember, the longleaf pine does not put on much aboveground growth the first few years after planting, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t growing. Instead, the seedling’s development occurs underground, establishing a hearty tap root and root system that will pay off later. This stage is called the grass stage, aptly named because the seedling looks like a bunchgrass with long, bright-green needles. Height growth will be noticeable and rapid after the underground root system is established, sometimes several years after planting.

References Haywood, J.D., D.J. Leduc, and S.S. Sung. 2013. Comparing

Seven Planting Tools for Container-Grown Longleaf Pine

Seedlings. Tree Planters’ Notes. Vol 56 (1): 30-34 The Longleaf Alliance. 2007. Keys to Successfully Planting &

Establishing Longleaf Pine. longleafalliance.org/wpcontent/uploads/2022/05/Keys-to-Establshing-Longleaf2007.pdf