Clearing Trees - Thoughts on succession design

www.edibleacres...
The idea of being a permaculture practitioner and also cutting down a bunch of trees feels like it can be at odds... I try to explain the lens I attempt to look through when making these decisions in this video. The stand of Larch and Spruce in this 1/2 acre context have clearly declined in growth rate and over all health and there is a moment here where cutting most of them down in a careful and controlled way can liberate a massive amount of light, soil resources and potential for a new successional pathway to take place. Identifying and working around seedling trees planted by ourselves and the wildlife in this area gives us a 2-5 year boost as well and we can weave walls from branch debris and build homes from the posts. Many layers of yield when we're careful and hopefully thoughtful with the work we do.
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Happy growing!

[@frankstockton4480]

First comment!!!! The man is so knowledgeable about everything it’s almost sickening. I’d like to be as smart as he is at my older age of 51.

[@edibleacres]

1st place! Thanks Frank for the kind words, but I don't know about smart/etc... this is just an area of life I've put a lot of my attention for a while, we all have realms we care deeply about and can speak to, this is just mine :)

[@thenextpoetician6328]

Read, listen, watch, analyze, perform. It's a system. :)

[@coarsegoldguy7414]

Super Sharing Sean! 💯

[@MistressOnyaCox]

Even though I'm in FLORIDA I 👂 listen to him for the ASMR 🤩🤩🤩

[@catsgillhillbilly]

Very nice proactive tree harvest. Thanks for sharing!

[@edibleacres]

Glad to

[@dennisbeaver5958]

Always enjoy hearing what you have planned for your property! You are an inspiration!

[@edibleacres]

Thanks for the kind words

[@maryhoffman9551]

Great to hear your process and plans!

[@TheEmbrio]

Well that should be a very local and thoughtfull cabin build !

[@edibleacres]

We hope so :)

[@iamtmckendry]

Thanks for sharing! I can now see why you were not concerned about snow load in your area :)

[@haram2163]

Weird. Your vid on the squirrels planting seeds popped up in my feed yesterday. Good timing.

[@vivianp5962]

Awesome

[@peterellis4262]

Something I forgot to mention. Try using your King of spades for debarking. I have a long nosed shovel with a fiberglass D handle that is my favorite bark peeling tool. The curves in the shovel match up to logs nicely and the handle gives leverage. Makes for an easier, faster, more pleasant experience than using a drawknife, in my experience. My drawknives are all meant for wood working, not peeling bark, and they take very thin strips that just aren't efficient. On trees that hold their bark more stubbornly, I reach for a corn knife, purchased from Tractor Supply for maybe 20 bucks. The curved edge allows matching against the shape of the log and I use the corn knife much like a drawknife, but the shape is far more efficient ;)

[@edibleacres]

Great idea... Yeah, King of Spades would make a ton of sense as a coarse/rapid debarking option for larger rounds... Thanks for the tip!

[@cewaugh2565]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on selective thinning and the stacking uses for felled trees. 🌲

[@edibleacres]

For sure

[@travisdavis1042]

Such a thoughtful explanation keep up the great work.

[@edibleacres]

Thanks Travis

[@ceselb]

I don't know much but make sure a drier stem can be worked on in the way you want. It may dry out quicker than you think. I recall somone in another context saying you only have a few weeks to peel bark, a bit depending on temperature. You may have until spring. If you intend to mortise and tenon greener may be better, again a few weeks.

[@edibleacres]

Good reminder. Absolutely no way we'll be ready to mortise and tenon with them in a short window, so that will have to wait, but peeling may be worth exploring sooner than later...

[@peterellis4262]

Are you familiar with the "dead hedge" technique? Basically what you (and I) are already doing with stacking the brash, but with the addition of a bit more structure by placing vertical posts in the ground in pairs and stacking the debris between them. On getting ropes into trees, I started with a soda bottle loaded with sand, throwing them just like Juan ;) Then I remembered that I have archery gear, and not only archery gear, but a fishing arrow. Now I fit a string to the head of my fishing arrow, shoot that over a limb and pull the heavier rope up and over after that. Saves me loads of time and allows me to reach much higher limbs. One more thing about trees that are unstable, as your larches are becoming, they are a serious danger in a woodland. I stay out of our woods on windy days because it is an unacceptable level of risk.

[@cecilycronin6243]

What is it ?

[@thecurrentmoment]

I was watching a few videos on dead hedges and I saw a guy in England weaving the branches in a bit. I think he would stick them into the hedge of branches and then bend them around some other parts of it. It looked more sophisticated and secure than simply piling branches so I took a mental note of that, it looked like a great way to do it (maybe more tedious though)

[@peterellis4262]

@@thecurrentmoment Some people choose to do a weave to bind the vertical posts together at the top. Optional, not necessary, depending on how well your soil holds the uprights. We're very sandy here, and doing the top weave would probably be helpful to stabilize the system and help it last a bit longer. But it's only at the top that weaving through is needed, and then not always. Does give a much neater appearance, where that is desired.

[@edibleacres]

That could be a great approach for all this, but at the scale we're working (brush piles around nearly a 6 acre site) it would just be too too much for us... Having the brush wall and then an offset metal post fence line seems to be quite effective in changing the routes of deer. It's a slow process for us :). We did a dead hedge style between our home and new neighbors on a small scale and it was amazing how vertical it got!

[@peterellis4262]

@@edibleacres you're already piling the brush and you're going to put in posts. I'm confused where what you are doing is any less work than putting in posts and piling brush ;)

[@aron8949]

Excellent forest management. This is what the world lacks.

[@edibleacres]

Trying to be thoughtful

[@timobrien4281]

Thank you for sharing so much knowledge with us! Currently planting into a 98% wooded lot. In case it helps with your future projects I have used the Greenworks 80V chainsaw in an Alaskan saw mill. Slow going, but good for squaring the ends by cutting in a foot or so.

[@robertlarsonwoodford]

Square rule roundwood cordless electric timber framing-nice! Cheers from KY!

[@edibleacres]

Cool to know it works for that!

[@danweddle4044]

I hope you're working on a succession design for your own life. KZbin is great but you have so much to pass down to future generations.

[@edibleacres]

I hear you... We'll have to see what unfolds

[@jkochosc]

That’s gonna be a huge release, and a vastly different front yard!

[@edibleacres]

Yeah, I'm excited for you to see it next. Won't be a 100% clear cut, but a few of the trees we'll leave up are actually completely dead so there will be some amazing perches for hawks and such... Should be a nice upgrade to the landscape

[@jkochosc]

@@edibleacres and larch is such an amazing lumber, what a great yield!

[@TammyPerry]

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.

[@morganraimond]

Hi Sean, I have heard that deer hate a double fence so maybe one of your 30# test fishing line fences on one side of the dead hedge. Great work you guys are doing!

[@edibleacres]

That could be a very reasonable addition... We are planning to add a sturdy and strong fence element on the 'inside' that can double as a trellis for vining crops and support cane crops. More details to follow soon...

[@TwistedRootsVanVelzerPress]

Great Habitat for Lightening Bugs too !!! they need that debris to overwinter :)

[@edibleacres]

Fun!

[@lucassaueressig1411]

Cool

[@Tinaejs]

Are you going to make an Airbnb cabin? Because I'll be the first guest!

[@gunning6407]

Looks fun! FWIW, I'd love to see how you use your pole saw. I'm slowly learning woodlot management, & pole saws seem very useful, but tricky...

[@edibleacres]

I have a manual one that is Fiskars made and really quite nice and an electric one that is the same 80v platform as the chainsaw here... The manual one is a great start and less than 60-80 dollars or so, highly recommended...

[@Lifeguard102]

Please remember the birds and animals that need trees for their homes. Be compassionate :)

[@edibleacres]

For sure. We are keeping MANY trees up surrounding this area but this can be a good nudge to make time to build more bird houses this winter, too :)

[@Lifeguard102]

@@edibleacres thank you.

[@iamGrowing]

I’m all for taking trees down to make a bountiful garden, especially if they’re sick.

[@edibleacres]

I think it will be a reasonable trade

[@thenextpoetician6328]

That good for nothing blizzard a few weeks ago knocked down a ridiculous number of trees everywhere around. There's enough wood that's begging to be salvaged that that might be the main source of work next winter, and snow removal will be over with. I'd like that. Taking the horses out to do some of the hauling so the skidder doesn't have to dig into the woods so much would be cool. I went with the 16", and the second battery is 5Ah. Good unit.

[@edibleacres]

Glad you approve of that saw, I think it is really quite nice... Hope you have safe and fruitful wood harvest when the time comes!

[@thenextpoetician6328]

@@edibleacres Cool thing is both the saw and the second battery were on sale, or the budget gods would have wagged a finger I think. :) The time is always now. The etymon of time is to cut up, to divide, incidentally. Looking stormy and cooler for a bit, so maybe in a week we'll get to the wood in the yard, and eventually get to the woods to haul more. The saw mill is tuned up.

[@ericcesare9609]

Thanks for the video! This is become a relevant topic for our landscape, so the timing couldn't be better 🙂 Heard you mention using a weed whacker as part of your suite of electric tools. We stopped using these in the past couple of years out of concern for putting additional plastics into the environment (and metal blades and cutters seem to be out of electric's torque range). I've read there are some oxo-biodegradable lines available now which ought to eventually break down enough so bacteria and fungi can convert them back into usable organics, but even that process can take as much as a decade. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on weed whacker use and what sort of line you use?

[@edibleacres]

I have heard of this as well and it's something to consider for sure. I use a very heavy duty line, I think 105 line and it seems like it lasts and lasts so hopefully (!?) there is less concern there. I use the tool less each year, it's just a perfect fit for where a push mower can't reach but is too complex and tight for a scythe to dip in, but maybe phasing it out wouldn't be so bad...

[@ericcesare9609]

@@edibleacres Thanks for sharing! It really is a uniquely useful tool in certain situations.

[@justinp1773]

Great stuff. How large/old are the trees you intend to plant. The issue I’ve had with adding new characters into existing woods is that they get shaded out by mid spring and either struggle to grow much and/or die from lack of light. I’ve started now keeping young seedling in nursery beds, have yet to transplant any. Obviously you are thinning the canopy back considerably but I’d be interested to hear more discussion around the specifics. How much of the canopy to clear, how large to get new plants before moving them in, etc. As always, thanks for sharing!

[@edibleacres]

I don't have a definitive plan on what/how the planting goes in here... I suspect a good number of grafted pears and apples will go on, we grafted last year and grew in a bed for a season so 2-3' tall. They will need fencing. Some plants like Apricots don't need much protection, 'fillers' like currants and elders can be stuck as cuttings, N-fixers seem like they don't need protection, so we'll focus protection around some key plants. Almost certainly I'll make videos about it. For our purposes here we are aiming for a pretty full clearing (for us) with just a handful of nicer/older/straight trees to remain. We'll share more as it goes...

[@justinp1773]

@@edibleacres awesome! Can’t wait to see more!

[@joshua511]

Would love another update to the Orchard Development Series.

[@edibleacres]

Good nudge, yeah, when things green up I'll take a wander through!

[@jonathanrich4213]

I have tried to preserve our dwindling spruce copses but I don't really see a way to do it without shipping in pine mulch. The competition in the understory is too high.

[@farmyourbackyard2023]

The perimeter deer defense is called a dead hedge, is it not? Can't wait to see what you do with a cabin project!

[@edibleacres]

I'd describe this as maybe a very 'rough sketch' dead hedge :)

[@farmyourbackyard2023]

Whatever works. 😂 Can’t wait to see the cabin come together.

[@j.m.k.3406]

Always good to have free lumber, while replenishing the Forrest! The gods will smile down upon you sir! Way to go...

[@edibleacres]

Thanks

[@liad4482]

I love the rock in a sock trick! I have been using a roll of duct tape for that :)

[@edibleacres]

We've all got our different 'tech' to work with, ha!

[@rickbailey7183]

Have you ever tried Electroculture?

[@timothy4weigel]

Timber

[@famulan3479]

What is the average age of these trees, please?

[@edibleacres]

Not quite sure but I'd venture a guess of 20-40 is the range

[@famulan3479]

@@edibleacres oh wow, thank you! trying to gauge if I let some grow, how many years I have compared to strength I have to harvest them. It is helpful. Love your channel.

[@growingwithfungi]

Sounds wonderful Sean, thank you so much for sharing your notes and plans as always. Exciting too! I love hearing you two are working together, the projects are always so cool. Just as a side note.. your kind video last week has been incredible for me. I was able to connect so much more with your community and subscribe to many many wonderful channels. My mind was blown at the incredible channels and v few subscribers.. I can imagine like myself they are super grateful for the help and support. I have received over 25 new subscribers since your video! Made the 1000 milestone ( after 6 years ) Thank you so much! Iv connected strongly with a few of the channels and feel like I am in the right place! Like part of a community of people doing similar things. It’s been incredible and I am very grateful! Excited to see this project progress.. thank you so much! 😊🌱💚🙏✨🍄🪱🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@edibleacres]

Congrats on your growing channel!

[@growingwithfungi]

@@edibleacres thank you so much! Huge gratitude to you Sean.. it’s beautiful of you to do this.. Amazing community you have built here! Iv met some amazing channels through this endeavour of yours. 😁🌱💚🙏✨🍄🪱