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Pb1766 Saving Trees And Making Money In Residential Development, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

It’s a common sight in developments that are 3 – 5 years old. A homeowner had initially purchased a property for its wooded and natural aesthetic appeal and thinks he or she has succeeded in preserving this beauty. When the home is finished and the nearby trees still cast shade, the owner considers the trees to be past the critical stage. It isn’t until after the interior is furnished and the lawn is established that the homeowner soon notices he or she is picking up a few more fallen branches in the yard than is customary. Eventually, the owner looks …

Sp683 Tree Wounds - Response Of Trees And What You Can Do, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Trees are commonly wounded and the causes are many: broken branches; impacts, abrasions and scrapes; animal damage; insect attack; fire; etc. Wounds usually break the bark and damage the food- (phloem or inner bark) and water- (xylem or wood) conducting tissues. Wounds also expose the inside of the tree to organisms, primarily bacteria and fungi that may infect and cause discoloration and decay of the wood. Decay can result in structurally weakened tree stems and unsightly trees and can shorten the life of a tree. Decay in a tree cannot be cured. However, proper tree care can limit the progress …

Sp684 Selecting A Tree-Care Company, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Choosing a tree-care company is similar to choosing most any professional service. The people performing the work must be knowledgeable, properly equipped, safetyconscious and have the experience to perform the service. Outlined below are a few questions that will help the informed consumer select a tree-care company and expect quality work at a reasonable cost.

Sp686 Dieback And Decline Of Trees, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Tree decline is a general loss of vitality throughout the entire tree caused by a systemic disease or by a sequence of stressing events that causes the tree to deplete its energy reserves. Twig and branch dieback is initiated in the tree as a response to poor growing conditions, physical injury to the tree and/or pest attack. Usually a combination of physical, climatic and pest problems lead to decline and dieback of trees. The factors that contribute to this decline are the subject of this publication, as well as management practices to prevent decline.

Sp687 Tree Owner's Rights And Responsibilities, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Many of us own trees as part of our real estate. This endows us with certain rights associated with those trees. Tree ownership also requires certain duties on our part to prevent our trees from becoming a nuisance or a liability. The objective of this publication is to reduce misunderstandings among neighbors regarding their trees.

Sp682 Watering Trees, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Water is the most limiting factor for tree survival and growth. Trees use water during photosynthesis and lose water during transpiration. Water shortages affect both young and old trees. Drought conditions can lead to tree decline, making the tree more susceptible to pest problems. Supplemental watering can greatly assist trees during stressful drought periods in the summer and in the dormant season when soil moisture is limited. Desiccating winds and lack of precipitation can increase transpiration in evergreens (conifers) and create soil moisture deficits even during the winter.

Sp685 Landscaping Guidelines To Protect Your Home From Wildfire, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

As Tennessee’s population continues to grow, more people are building homes in rural forested areas. Each year Tennessee experiences approximately 2,000 wild (forest) fires. With the influx of new homeowners in and around forest land, the chances of wildfires damaging home structures increase. Improper landscaping around homes increases the likelihood of fire damage, while also hindering the activities of firefighters.

Pb1731 Identifying Oak Trees Native To Tennessee, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

From the bottomland swamps in the west to the mountain peaks in the east, Tennessee is enriched with a medley of forest trees like few other states. Diversity in soil types, climate and elevation give Tennessee an environmental gradient that provides habitats for approximately 190 native forest trees and large shrubs.

Oak trees are an important component of many Tennessee forests and are of particular interest to landowners, homeowners, the forest industry, students and outdoor enthusiasts alike. Oaks are deserving of special recognition, due to their important role in Tennessee’s history, both ancient and modern. Unmatched in economic and biological …

Sp677 Hardwood Plantations As An Investment, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Deciding what to do with a piece of land is not always easy. Appraisers use the phrase “highest and best use,” which implies that one should use the land for its maximum “economic/monetary value.” For example, would the landowner make more money by building a new shopping center or residential subdivision (with a substantial investment required) or would he or she do “better” renting to a livestock producer for grazing or cutting hay? Many acres are valuable as cropland growing annual crops such as soybeans, wheat or cotton. The choices for using land are many.

One choice that should be …

Sp678 Forest Management Strategies To Minimize The Impact Of The Gypsy Moth, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Use of silviculture to manage gypsy moth effects gives foresters additional tools for developing integrated pest management programs. Silvicultural actions should be taken prior to gypsy moth outbreaks to reduce or minimize the potential damage that arises in stands vulnerable to gypsy moth. Three approaches to reduce stand susceptibility to gypsy moth are applicable. First, change the stand composition by reducing the proportion of favored species and increasing the number of non-favored species in the stand. This can be accomplished through intermediate thinning treatments. The percentage of favored species that remain should be less than 30 percent of total composition. …

Sp680 Treatments For Improving Degraded Hardwood Stands, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Pthe large trees of tomorrow. This assumption has been perpetuated in the diameter-limit harvests that have led to what we call high-grading today. The largest and best trees are repeatedly harvested leaving the smaller, inferior trees to perpetuate the next stand. In reality, the trees being released are probably of similar age as those being cut. The smaller, released trees did not have a chance to prosper in competition with the faster-growing, overstory trees. These released trees are incapable of continued growth with their small, spindly crowns. The consequence of removing only highly valued trees with each harvest is a …

Sp679 Two-Age System And Deferment Harvests, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The two-age system is designed to maintain two distinct age classes in a forest. This system is generally initiated using a deferment harvest, sometimes referred to as a shelterwood or clearcut with reserves (Figure 1). The deferment harvest retains a limited basal area of canopy trees while allowing the majority of the area to regenerate. The harvest initially creates a stand that contains scattered or small groups of older trees, typically one rotation length in age, surrounded by a regenerating age class. The canopy trees that are left are termed reserve trees. At the end of a second rotation length …

Sp503-H Beech Scale, A Potential Threat In The Landscape, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The beech scale (Cryptococcus fagisuga Lindinger) was first found in the U.S. in Massachusetts and Maine in the 1930s. This European insect feeds on American and European beech by inserting its long, needle-like, piercing-sucking mouthparts (or stylets) through the smooth bark, where the scale remains stationary throughout its life. This persistent feeding can stress the tree, especially during drought conditions, and reduce the overall vigor and quality of beech. However, it is this insect’s association with two species of fungi, Nectria galligena (a native fungus) and Nectria coccinea var. faginata (an introduced European fungus), that can cause mortality …

Sp675 Managing Oak Decline, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

Oak decline is a slow-acting disease complex that involves the interaction of predisposing factors such as climate, site quality and advancing tree age. No single cause is responsible for the decline. Trees that are greater than 70 years of age and that occur on drier sites such as shallow, rocky soils on ridgetops and south- to west-facing upper slopes are most affected. Mortality of rootlets in the upper 12 inches of the soil initiates dieback in severe droughts. Secondary insects and diseases (red oak borers, twolined chestnut borers, armillaria root rot, defoliating insects, hypoxylon cankers) are contributing factors that cause …

Sp676 Oak Shelterwood - A Technique To Improve Oak Regeneration, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The oak shelterwood method has been developed to enhance the regeneration potential of oaks growing on intermediate and high-quality sites. The method involves a welltimed mid-story removal to improve the number and vigor of oak advance regeneration and a subsequent overstory removal to facilitate regeneration of the stand.

Sp673 Forest Certification For Family-Owned Forests - Who Will Certify And Why?, The University Of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service

Forestry, Trees, and Timber

The concept of forest certification has grown as a tool to foster sustainable forest management. It began on the global scale in the 1980s, and moved rapidly to the United States. Initially in the U.S., several forest product companies completed third-party certification, followed by many publicly owned forests. Some stakeholders are beginning to discuss the need to accelerate forest certification on family-owned forests. Family-owned forests are particularly important in the U.S. because they comprise the majority of the forest land and contribute the greater part of the nation’s annual timber removal. Yet little is known about who among this diverse …