Thank you, we don't apply fertilizer every year, but I'm looking into starting. I have some trouble spots that I need to improve the tree quality. Also these are Balsam or Canaan, I'm just starting to put in Fraser. I don't irrigate so we'll see how that goes.

@Hillsidechristmastreefarm cool, we started planting some Korean last year.

@Hillsidechristmastreefarm i think im going to try multching around my new 2-2 to see how that works out

Korean are great trees. They grow slow but good color and branch strength for customers.

How many are you planting each year? There are several articles out there about the positives of mulching.

Glad to hear it. I find Canaan and Balsam hard to tell apart a lot of the time. Thanks for the comment

Biggest losses will be the first year seedlings and I would say we loose 10-15%. We don’t irrigate and a lot of it will be because of lack or rain

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarm i have lost around 10-20% first year but because it was way too wet. land where i lost the most was a potato field, probably with a lot of rotten stuff and water staying in the beds and i was panicking, haha, but now i see that it is really normal to lose 10-20% percent the first year due to various reasons. thank you.

Thanks for the support and the comment

Yea it is an old unit. I’m sure they have bigger and better tools available now. I hope you find something that will work for you! It’s an awesome tool and I highly recommend something like it!

For sure. No everything I’ve wanted to cut can be cut with that brush cutter. The ones I left were because i believe they’ll be cut by our customers or because I only have space in my lot for 30 trees. If I need more I’ll cut more throughout the season. As far as size, I have cut some pretty large trees. Some times I might have to pivot around and cut from the other side of the tree. I think the largest diameter I’ve done is around 8”-10”.

We purchased from Terra tech. I’m not sure if they’re still in business

Yes someone showed up two weeks ago wanting to cut I was like no

It really is!

And how many lots do you have?

Each year we plant between 2500-3000 trees. We have enough land for 30,000 trees.

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarm thank you for your quick response. Great video/information.

Thanks for the support!

Depending on the mower of course. Using our brush hog on the tactor yes it clears the stumps. I would say the height is around 2" after cutting

oh yes, could hear myself breathing harder though the video. Good luck this season!!

Hi Jason, yes we cut the grass between the rows. I don't collect it if it goes in the tree rows our Small tractor is a rear discharge so it does pretty well. If you cut it often enough the grass won't go to seed and the rest is taken care of with the next herbicide treatment.

I would say about 1/2 to 2/3 of my land has trees on it. So roughly 20 acres planted currently. In 2020 I started my rotation plan where I let the amount of tillable land determine my annual planting numbers, around 2500-3000 trees. As you can see some fields have been open and picked over for a couple years. These will be cleared and land will be prepped for planting over the next two years.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks for the support

Thanks for the insight

Thanks Alan!! Maybe someday my shop will be as good as yours!!

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarm Probably better!

I'm hoping so. Thank you for the support!!

I don't think the deer were starving. For the most part the winter these were damaged in was very mild. There wasn't a lot of snow cover or fridged temps. I'm going to continue planting them where hopefully I can manage deer better (not planting them in the woods) and also will be using some repellants. There's risk with everything. Balsams are a great tree and we plant a lot of them. I don't want to tell you want to plant, but maybe reduce your Nordmanns until you come up with a good management plan for deer. Deer haven't touched my canaans or Concolors so hedge your bets. Here is a recent MSU webinar on deer management mediaspace.msu.edu/media/Deer+management+and+new+repellent+options+in+Christmas+tree+production/1_1vlzkffu let me know what you decide!!

Pro!!

Thanks for the comment and support

I haven't found any suppliers in the states. Part of me is thinking of getting a 3D printer and making them also.

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarm Thanks-I found a disc that we will try...Good luck!

Thanks Johan, fencing isn't in my budget for quite some time.

Purchased from overseas. www.hd2412.co.uk/products/pruning-shaping-and-bird-protection/branch-adjustment-on-christmas-trees/toprings/top-ring-plastic

I'm sorry I missed that. I'll do an update video on the different styles and my finished product and I'll be sure to include them there.

at work haha

Thank you for the support. if you're ever state side I'd be happy to give you a tour!!

them tree lines aint that tight

Great Idea. I'll do a video update on this. Thanks for the suggestion

yea that first one was a learning experience. Thanks for the comment

good point. One suggestion I've recently learned is to choose a bud that you want to be the leader and remove the other buds that are withing 1" of that new leader bud. Might be trying this in the future and seeing how it goes!! Thanks for the comment

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarm we do a lot of training with ornamentals , some of it was often referred to as putting the tree into traction

Thank you for the comment, I'll admit there are some not so good ones also!! Thanks again

Thank you for the complement. Yes these trees could be harvested, but in our operation I want to hold these back one more year so some of the others can get a little bigger. The year these were planted I tried some 2-0 turkish and they didn't make it so we replanted. There is some parts of this field that are small. We don't have irrigation on our farm. we will manually water seedlings if we need to. Thankfully this year has been great.

I'm not sure if there is a granular product. here is a link to a useful resource. It lists all the control options and target dates for lots of pests, bagworm included. Looking at this, it looks like control is in the spring. www.canr.msu.edu/christmas_trees/uploads/files/Michigan%20Christmas%20Tree%20Pest%20Management%20Guide%202023.pdf

Thank you for the comment. Yes, they are really consistent and that is why we plant them. They are Picea pungens “baby blue”. We plant using a transplanter and the trees are 4 years old when we plant.

yes, a feed roller would be great. but this does get the job done, just more manual at times. Thanks for the comment

Thank you for the comment. Best of luck!! If you have any specific question please reach out!!!

Thank you for the comment!! hope it helps

Thank you for the comment! I hope it helps

It is best to do mid summer. When the growth is firm enough to not rip out at the base and not woody enough to be hard to mold. If its too early the new growth will break off where the new shoot started. It can be done on old growth, it's just going to take more support and more effort. I hope this helps. Thank you for the comment

Thank you for the comment

Picea glauca var. densata

Thanks for the support. Top work like this yes. When the growth is still soft is a good time. It’s still too early for the heavy shearing with the knife. If the growth is too soft when you shear you will knock off the new growth at the stem. I think that is still a month away

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarm Thanks 👍

@@Hillsidechristmastreefarmwhat do the name make my etc of the bander you are using

it's called a Max Tapener. Very useful tool!! use this affiliate link to support the channel amzn.to/3A1OGw3

Where can I buy those yellow rings?

Sorry I missed that one. Here is a link. www.hd2412.co.uk/products/pruning-shaping-and-bird-protection/branch-adjustment-on-christmas-trees/toprings/top-ring-plastic

Thanks for the comment. What are your plans with the tree? Sometimes I don't pick the strongest leader if others have the length that I'm after. If the tree is young and can recover I would pick the one that makes it the most straight. I hope this helps. I actually just put out a video on spruce tops cutting out some old leaders like you're mentioning. It's a long video but covers a lot. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5i7fIawoclslac

Thanks for the comment. We have a lot of hand clippers, I like the ARS both the needle nose type and larger set. I usually get the fixed blade ones and just replace and sharpen as needed. ARS Needle trimmer amzn.to/3VomFI0 ARS hand shear: amzn.to/3XoJu11 A lot of farmers also use a Felco #6 amzn.to/4ba2Gm5. I think the felco shears a large bulky, i like a smaller set. and nothing I'm cutting when shearing is very big. I hope this helps

Thank you for the tip Jennifer

glad it helped!!

I'm glad it helped