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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Volume 24, Number 2 (1973) → Economical site preparation for pine in the sandhills

Economical site preparation for pine in the sandhills

Most pines cannot be planted amid scrub hardwoods (principally turkey oak and bluejack oak) and wiregrass in the Florida sandhills with any assurance of success. Soils are droughty and infertile, and the dense mat of established woody and herbaceous roots rapidly and efficiently depletes available moisture. Growth of planted pines that survive is slow because of the intense competition. Conversion of the scrub to pines is possible, but competition from hardwoods and wiregrass has to be reduced. Pine survival and growth is directly related to the intensity of site preparation (5, 6), amount of topsoil present (2), and soil depth (1) . Heavy brush cutters or "choppers" are commonly used for preparing sandhill sites because they cut wiregrass and most hardwoods into the soil, yet leave the topsoil in place. Two treatments with an 11- ton chopper at a prescribed interval between successive treatments are currently recommended for sandhill sites that are to be planted to pine (3, 4). However, repeated use of 11-ton choppers is expensive. Lighter equipment is cheaper to operate.


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Author(s): Russell M. Burns

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 24, Number 2 (1973)

Volume: 24

Number: 2