Timbergreen forestry tour page 2

Above these areas, on the rocky ridge top, are stands of oak and hickory.  Due to thin soils and low quality, we really haven't done much with these trees.  There is quite a variety of sizes and ages.  Cedar had been infiltrating this forest, and we have spent many days cutting out this over aggressive nusaince.  Pasque flowers in the remnant prairies dot these ridges in April.  Large oaks  average 16" dbh at 150 years.

This old wheat field is again a flourishing prairie.  Little Blue Stem in the foreground and Indian Grass now dominate this clearing.  We have cleared the trees, mowed, and burned for many years to help keep this area open.  It is a constant battle with the trees to maintain a prairie.  We have chosen several areas to take our stand, while most of the farm we allow the trees to grow.

Just down the hill to the north is one of our most productive stands of red oak.  This 85 year old stand has trees about 100 feet tall that average about 20" diameter breast height.  My first timber stand improvement project ever was to kill the aspen trees, to release the oaks from their competition.  This was back in 1976 before there was any thought of marketing aspen in this region.  In the summer, this hillside is covered with tall ferns.  We will perform  annual worst first thinnings in this stand as this bunch of red oak reaches large diameters and awesome stature.    This is our largest uniform stand - 4 acres.    more