It is not unusual to read some sort of story about an area being reforested, or an area where trees are planted to create a new forest. Invariably, if any sort of picture accompanies that story, the picture is of a person who has a small tree in his hands, which he is about to place (or has just placed a moment ago) into the soil.
I don’t understand what this person has done to bring more trees into the world. All he has done is to move a tree from one place to another.
Apparently, there is something very basic about growing trees that I don’t understand. Where do these small young trees come from? Surely there’s not a factory somewhere which manufactures ready-to-plant trees. I presume that trees come from seeds of some kind; why not just plant those seeds like we do for flowers and vegetables?
My guess is that the young trees do indeed come from seeds, but that so many of them fails to germinate (or whatever) that a forest of them would be pretty empty. So the better procedure is to plant seeds closer together, and whichever ones grow successfully are later transplanted to a larger area.
If that guess is close to correct, then the pictures of people who plant already-existing young trees are mostly for their public-relations value. Am I close?
The trees you buy for planting come from seed or cuttings, but they are harvested and planted in containers or rows in a nursery. Young trees are very fragile. By doing this, you increase the % germination and survival.
Most seeds released naturally in a forest do not survive, as they land in less than optimum locations or the conditions happen to be wrong for them to survive (shade, water, nutrients, etc.)
Also, if you just allow a field to turn to forest naturally, it will follow a succession of species. Fast growing, relatively worthless trees will come in first, and it will be a long time before the slower growing, more valuable hardwoods take over.
There are some things you don’t quite get. The tiny trees do come from a “tree factory” or more accurately, a large commercial nursery with the facilities to grow mass quantities of given types of trees. The young saplings aren’t just being relocated, that is what they were grown for in the first place. Their tiny nursery containers can’t support growth past a certain point and they are likely in a protected greenhouse type area with rows upon rows of tiny trees being prepared for transplant. The trees don’t do any good if they aren’t shipped and transplanted so that they can grow in a natural setting.
I thing you have another misconception that other types of plants are routinely grown from seed by the end consumer. That isn’t the case for many types of plants unless the person has a greenhouse of their own. Tomato plants for example as well as trees work much better if the pros get them started and then sells them for transplant elsewhere once they reach a safe size. Growing many types of plants from seed just isn’t reliable enough especially for trees where consistent rows are desirable.
Yup, sure are. They’re called “nurseries”. Just one example, of many. *"Currently, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesoperates three forest tree nurseries: the Wilson State Nursery in Boscobel; the Griffith State Nursery in Wisconsin Rapids; and the Hayward State Nursery in Hayward. The mission of the state nursery program remains the same, to insure a consistent supply of high quality seedlings, of desirable forest species, at an economical price, to encourage reforestation in Wisconsin."*
Paper companies like Weyerhaeuser operate their own nurseries, for their own use, and for sale to other reforesting projects. (Note that wholesale prices require a minimum of 5,000 trees, so this isn’t for your local Boy Scout troop “Plant A Tree” project.)
In addition to Wisconsin, as mentioned above, many state conservation departments sell trees and shrubs to the public at good prices. For example, in addition to planting a few thousand seeds, I’ve bought over a thousand trees from the Missouri Department of Conservation (here’s their current online order form). They come from the state nursery at Licking, MO. You have to be a Missouri resident planting the trees on your Missouri property. They sell bundles of all one species and bundles that are mixtures (usually 25 trees per bundle). The order form includes information about the type of environment each species prefers, and the kind(s) of wildlife that make use of it. Oh, and it’s ordering time now; the trees/shrubs are delivered in March, April, or May, as the customer designates.