Report on 4th Annual Shimek Education Day: Selecting Trees for Your Yard and Forest Management

Report on Friends of Shimek 4^th Annual Education Day

Twelve people attended the 4th Annual Shimek Forest Education Day presented by Shimek State Forester, John Byrd last Saturday morning.  Despite its crisp beginning, the day was sunny and calm.   In the first part of the program, held at White Oak campground, John discussed urban trees suitable for yards and answered questions.  He recommended diversity in tree plantings due to insects like ash borers and some diseases affecting maples now.  This might mean using trees like ironwood or hackberry.  He recommended native species endemic to a location and encouraged land owners to become familiar with the type of soil and climate conditions in their yards and what type of trees are suitable for such a location.  He stressed the importance of using slower growing trees if you want a long lasting, strong tree. The fast growing trees like many of the poplars are not good choices as they come down easily in high winds.

  Here John is discussing which tree shapes/growth patterns are weak.

He mentioned evidence that a tree planted from seed can outgrow bare root trees or potted trees due to stress to the tree when it is replanted.  He also mentioned that any stress to a tree will shorten its life span, even though the tree may seem unaffected at the time.  This could be drought, insects, severe trimming, damage to the root zone.  He cautioned about planting root bound potted trees and how to cut the roots so a tree was not choked by its own roots winding round and round the pot as the roots can actually girdle the tree.   John mentioned new research about pruning certain trees when the sap begins running in the spring due to evidence that the new sap would heal a wound quickly versus pruning in the fall when the wound remains open until spring. He also stressed that you generally should not paint over a cut as that hinders the tree's own healing process.  Oak trees should never be pruned in the spring when sap is flowing due to the types of diseases that affect oaks.  John recommended mulching yard trees with 6 to 8 inches of mulch each year, being sure not to get any right up to the tree trunk and spreading it out far enough that you can mow around it comfortably.

Experts that you can contact for free help with tree selection and planting are the Iowa DNR district foresters. The District 5 Forester is Lisa Louck in Wapello at 319-523-2216 and the District 6 Forester is Ray Lehn in Fairfield at 641-472-2370. There are Iowa State Extension Service publications available online as well. One excellent article is from Iowa Outdoors entitled “10 Distinctive Trees to Plant” at http://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/22463

 

There is also a new DNR publicaiton availabe: Rethining Maple-Selecting Trees for Your Yard  - A Case for Species Diversity.  We have permission to post it here for your use--Click on this link:

 Trees for Your Yard

 

During the second part of the program John discussed forest management at Shimek State Forest. This began with a walk in the woods at the White Oak Campground shown here, discussing how a forester manages a tract of timber for regeneration with various management practices. 

  Control burns reduce brushy growth of unwanted under story and this can release the growth of young trees like oaks by allowing more sunlight and less competition.  However, some under story is necessary to encourage the young trees to reach for the sky and grow long straight trunks, not like the low branching of a lone tree on the prairie.   Cutting down less desirable trees can release sunlight to choice trees.  Forest management is not just about the trees harvested today but more about trees being regenerated for harvest in the future.  For example, an oak tree may need 120 years to mature for harvest (not to be confused with a life span of 400 to 800 years).   Depending on the height and width of the trunk and any flaws noted like where a tree limb has left a scar, an oak tree may only be worth $100 at harvest after growing for 100 years!   Oak trees are a good harvest tree due to the amount of mast (nuts) produced for wild life and the value of oak trees for harvest.  There are many different species of oak trees in Iowa that thrive in different types of soil and conditions and are valued for different purposes.

                      Here John demonstrates how to estimate the board feet in a tree.

Next was a stop in the Lick Creek unit to see an area about 8 years into regeneration after harvest. John demonstrated how to estimate the number of young tree sprouts per acre with a simple device - a stick with a string to measure a circle of 6'7” diameter or 1/1000 acre and count the number of trees in that circle.  A reliable estimate require taking numerous such samples. He is hoping to achieve 2,000 to 5,000 oak sprouts per acre. This depends not only on his management process but the good fortune of having an excellent acorn crop from the nurse trees. A burn is scheduled soon in the area visited to remove some of the underbrush and let these young oak trees get more light. While learning about the forest, participants also observed a variety of other plants and mushrooms growing in the woods. Among these were a "hissing" mushroom known as the Black Tulip that is considered a harbinger for morel mushrooms, and early spring flowers including serviceberry trees in full bloom, Virginia blue bells, Dutchman's breeches, violets, spring beauties, toothwort, and even a Dogtooth Violet (trout lily.)

John Byrd is responsible for the management of over 9400 acres of forestland and has it in a ten year rotation for management practices so that he works with nearly 1,000 acres each year. Anyone can view the 300 page document for the management of Shimek Forest written by John Byrd and posted on the Iowa DNR website at
http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/forestry/shimek_managementplan.pdf

The Friends of Shimek thank John Byrd for spending the morning educating participants about urban tree plantings and forest management.

                                                     This photo is of the Black Tulip mushroom.

(This article prepared by Ann Bennett and Lora Conrad.)