REFORESTATION BEST PRACTICES and TECHNIQUES from Mt. Cuba Center - Ep. 089

[@84wister]

That hanging shot from the side of the John Deer was pretty funny, nice work guy behind the camera well played. Just started watching these videos, I like how the camera man is sort of a silent commentator that pops in out of nowhere every now and again.

[@annsosie1515]

Informative! I like the thought of a tree reaching for the sky because of their neighbor 🙂

[@vcheekv]

The upsidedown deer fence 💖

[@FlockFingerLakes]

This is how we learn!

[@Jeuro38]

So great to be able to see side by side the effects of the various methods! Safe to say most of us have an instinct that just leaving nature take care of things will be best, so it's edifying to see the control!

[@FlockFingerLakes]

I definitely felt it was the most telling aspect of the whole video. Although, as Nate shared, it's hard to extract what we're seeing in this control and apply it to all situations, because it can be very site specific. But in this case, (as in many cases), it's important to have a control.

[@stevenappleman3440]

As a native of the Philly area, I've been to the Mt. Cuba Center many times and have always enjoyed my visits! Love the work they do there!

[@bettenotap4791]

Very interesting, the last area that was left undisturbed was very telling, it shows the impact of non natives so clearly. In my area, seeing vinca minor and knotweed in forested areas is heartbreaking. We really have messed up this continent. 😢

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Just found some Vinca minor escapees on our land the other day. It's contained, but my oh my-after seeing it in more 'natural areas' and how it spreads, definitely going to be nipping it in the bud...all puns intended.

[@jameswinnett4012]

Great video and subject matter, for me anyway! I'm doing this on a smaller scale in Central Iowa. Removing Bush Honeysuckle and going back with fruit bearing shrubs and nut bearing hardwoods initially, but will continue with this method until we get the entire 6ish acres on its way to Iowa Native. It's a lot of work, but hopefully it will reach its self promotion eventually! Love what you are doing, Flock!

[@travisdavis1042]

I love how you talk to different professionals in your area. This has really helped me with what I’m planning for our property.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We love learning best practices from others. As Nate shared in the video, it's how we all learn!

[@rossmail5924]

Just yesterday I handed in my final assignment for a university biodiversity course; it's great to hear some of the terminology I learnt being used here in real life and that I understand in a new way what you are talking about. I'm learning!

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Always nice to see it applied in life outside the university.

[@clarencesmith9882]

Absolutely fascinating! I thoroughly enjoyed this discussion. Thank you for bringing us along.

[@jimscott8678]

You need more knowage.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

You're most welcome.

[@lesliesmith7312]

I wonder also if it might be better to focus on plants native to America, but maybe a hardiness zone or two warmer then places are historically, where I live in Michigan has turned from zone 4 to zone 6 in my mothers' lifetime and I can see the colder weather trees just aren't reproducing as well and suffer from more disease then the invasive plants that are used to the warmer climates

[@TubeThambiAuroville]

*Pretty cool* to see this _elsewhere_ in the world 👍🌱❤

[@charlesbale8376]

I really, really enjoy your Flock videos that discuss the natural world. I have incorporated many tips and ideas, practices you've presented into the food forest I'm developing.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Splendid! Glad it pushes your interest and knowledge forward into practice.

[@SamDoeckeAussiebonsaibloke]

I'm in Aus doing some planting of trees and was great to see the difference between density planting trees 🌳 Also how quickly you can walk away if you have the money or time to plant super close. Luckily we don't have too much of a deer problem but still have to guard as rabbits love to ring bark the trees. Cheers for an Awesome video. 👌

[@84wister]

First youtube vid I've watched where a guy gave a tour holding a coffee thermos. This made the tour feel oddly more real to me.

[@riftsawn933]

Great interview! Really appreciate your focus on forest restoration/regeneration content. You should check out Duke Farms in NJ. They are doing similar ecological restoration work, with a focus on aggressive deer management. The regeneration of native species and suppression of nonnative plants they have seen as a result of deer management is astounding.

[@lesliesmith7312]

So interesting, in my town there's a huge abandoned parking lot that's practically a cottonwood and maple forest now, the trees are 20 feet tall and the asphalt is crumbing away.

[@gardengatesopen]

That particular situation sounds pretty good! Paradise takes the paved parking lot back!

[@gardengatesopen]

That particular situation sounds pretty good! Paradise takes the paved parking lot back!

[@eddienomoney1882]

excellent episode.

[@katiecannon8186]

Glad to see 5 foot spacing. Because it’s what I’ve done on a MUCH smaller scale. Just because I wanted the diversity and even though folks have told me it’s too close 😃

[@gardengatesopen]

SO interesting! 👍

[@formidableflora5951]

Great discussion. Hope you make a return visit in years to come. I grew out a bunch of American hornbeam from collected seed and planted them in our shaded, incredibly sparse understory. Looking good at three years.

[@ThreeRunHomer]

First class video! Very informative. I’d seen references to Mt Cuba Center but had no idea it was so big and impressive.

[@SM-ik8lu]

That cup has been places

[@sandylee1717]

Fascinating as a.ways!

[@jenniewilliams1668]

Wow, great video! That last parting discussion of the difference between NY and Mid Atlantic states in intensity of invasive plant pressure - its something I had never thought of. Also - I hadn't thought of grass as a competitor, I hadn't realized the power of voles, I hadn't understood the power of the close planted mix of trees and shrubs in creating the right conditions for a forest. Warm regards Jennie

[@Sblatus]

I’m pretty sure that way of densely reforestation planting is called Miyawaki method. It would be cool to see if there are some examples of that in the US

[@ttime44]

Very interesting point about the meter by meter experiment at Cornell. I would be curious to see what would happen if you were to start off by conducting a controlled burn to knock back the grass and essentially reset succession in the plot with minimal soil disturbance.

[@rickyt3961]

such fascinating information! thank you 🌲🌳

[@ramthianthomson601]

Thanks again xx

[@Banano91f]

great video, thanks for sharing

[@93VIDEO]

Bravo ! ... From France ^_^

[@judymckerrow6720]

VERY interesting 🌷💚🙃

[@alexwachira9152]

Hi there. I thoroughly enjoyed your video (that last area was pretty jarring). I have been learning about the Miyawaki method of reforestation and wonder if you’ve heard of it and what you think of it (I think that patch that looked best was kind of like Miyawaki).

[@dr.gretachen1988]

Great video today. You and your viewers may find the channel, Bealtaine Cottage, of interest. It is Colette O'Neill's inspirational story about how she reclaimed three acres of rushy land in the west of Ireland and single-handedly planted a magical woodland.

[@gardengatesopen]

I watch that channel too. It's quite nice. ❤️

[@boreduser1583]

Wonder what the $ cost is? I like to see a comparison of low cost seedlings ~$0.25 a piece verses their $15 a piece!! Small seedlings could be planted very densely at much lower cost and possibly similar results?.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

true, there is a wide pricing on trees. We just got some bare roots from our county for $1 - $3/tree roughly, some cheaper. They are in great shape too, so was impressed with that.

[@mountainfigsperennialfruits]

Despite the reason given in the video, it seems strange that perhaps the most cost effective method of reforestation is not studied there even on a micro level, forcing speculation: plowed furrows/strips on contour. Granted, invasive pressure could render it unacceptable, especially on a large scale, but even a very small study of it there could shed a lot of beneficial insight. Similarly with the introduction or restoration of wetlands. Though based on a highly destructive activity, studies of regrowth/reforestation along the many miles of gas well pad access roads in Pennsylvania and elsewhere would shed some light on ground disturbance as reforestation tactic and problem.

[@VanillaAttila]

I wish they did a control plot where they just put a 8 inch layer of wood chips to snuff out the grass.

[@gcxred4kat9]

I do a lot of invasive species control/restoration here in Florida. I'd be interested to know if Delaware has it worse than we do.

[@kairon156]

While I imagine they want to use local grass I wonder if they can use some slow growing grass around those trees.

[@BCole83]

How big were these trees when they were first planted?

[@LaviniaDeMortalium]

Kudos for the shoutout to Indigenous peoples for controlled burnings. So much of that knowledge was lost when those individuals were removed from their land.

[@ulla.umlaut]

I loved hearing the shout out to the land management that was done by Indigenous people too! Good to see land stewards at least acknowledging it.

[@JoannaLouise200]

In the really dense tree planting that is further enhanced with a shrub understory, I'm guessing it will eventually become entirely impenetrable for human access at an intermediate growth/height stage ~ therefore unlike a mature natural forest. So I'm guessing that, as the newly planted forest eventually matures, that the burgeoning canopies of the stronger taller species of tree will shade out, and therefore thin-out, shrub layers and maybe some of the other smaller trees species?

[@lindaleal809]

so that means everything in it's own time?

[@JoannaLouise200]

@@lindaleal809 and with a well-informed helping hand, as beautifully demonstrated at the Mt Cuba Center, the forest will eventually re-establish its local species equilibrium again.

[@bryanhumphreys940]

Oh what a difference predators make. The deer populations around me are greater than 30 in town and go down to 5 per mile in the mountains where there are healthy mountain lion and bear populations.

[@ValeriaVincentSancisi]

might be able to use several spacing techniques thus staggering the succession ..more like nature...I wouldn't plant a grid I would vary spacing within each technique

[@karensicard7304]

Canada thistle is a pain here in Canada also.

[@DayDreamsofGreenDesign]

This might be a long comment but I really hope this is the right community for these questions/ thoughts. Thank you in advance for anyone who reads and responds! I've been thinking about the concerns deer pressure brings since Summer's professor friend said to eat them on a previous video. That struck me as eminently practical and brought to mind the reindeer herding that happens in Finland and how low impact that protein supply is on their ecosystem. And I began to wonder if an increased deer population on the west cost would aid in reducing forest fires? There has been a large increase in sustainable agriculture and things like the electric fencing and herd movement are showing to have great improvement on degraded farmland... I'm not sure I have enough information about the deer species on the east coast or the correct population levels to help reduce dry brush while still allowing forest regeneration but is there any merit in relocating and managing a herd of deer to the west coast?

[@arttreestick7434]

Maybe place a couple large mirrors to get light to the interior. Lol!

[@startingfromseed3]

You should do a plot where you have bare soil.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

We did briefly talk about that here. If you recall he said, "Bare earth here means invasive species." (paraphrasing). But he shared that the non-native species pressure is really high in that area.

[@mlindsay527]

Why are there so many deer? Are people not hunting them enough?

[@ulla.umlaut]

Yes. Fewer people are hunting, and there are fewer areas where hunting is allowed. It is the case in many areas that in order to hunt you have to own the land you are hunting on or have CLEAR permission of the land owner, and hunting is often not allowed on government owned land. I live in a city with large enough parks that there are deer. The city has to have a cull relatively frequently (maybe not every year, but many years) done by professionals because it wouldn't be safe to have random people shooting in the city limits.

[@wimhance6541]

So the absolute worst one can do is to do nothing? I suppose every National Park (even the Serengeti), is, to some degree, a managed landscape. You have time and options and they don't have to cost a fortune (a mini natives only nursery may be an economic idea.) Fascinating.

[@FlockFingerLakes]

Well, as Nate suggested here, it's hard to extract all the findings here to every site because it's very site specific. Obviously the control group in this situation is very, very telling. But it doesn't mean that a control group-in say-your area would respond the same way. However, if you have a non-native, aggressive thatchy grass covering the earth, then perhaps you would have a very similar result to the control group here, particularly if you're looking to establish a forest.

[@ricksgardendiary]

Looks like a Miyawaki forest.

[@PlantNative]

Falcate orangetip butterflies lay eggs on mustard and get confused and lay on garlic mustard. The caterpillars eat it and die. 😢Don’t wait…pull it.

[@burtnation1357]

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