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Douglas-fir trees, which are native to the Pacific Northwest and are one of the most important conifers to softwood lumber production in the United States, require abundant sunlight and naturally regenerate following disturbances such as fire, and windstorms. This high standard creates a sustainable source of locally-grown timber, and favors management styles that implement clear-cuts followed by even-aged plantations, mimicking the natural cycle of these forest ecosystems.
DOUGLAS FIR SEEDLINGS FREE
The Oregon Forest Practices Act requires that harvested areas are not just replanted, but that those trees are evenly distributed and free from competing vegetation within six years. When they reach maturity they’ll be harvested to create lumber for houses or pulp for paper, and then the re-planting cycle starts all over again. The end result is a young forest that will provide wildlife habitat and clean water and air for decades. This two-year-old Douglas-fir seedling will establish and spend the next 45-60 years providing clean air, water and wildlife habitat near the Oregon coast. Foresters are careful not to open the bags until right before planting to keep the seedlings in the best possible condition while they’re out of the ground. In order to prevent damage from drying out, it’s important that the seedlings stay out of direct sunlight and remain in a cool environment. Seedlings are transported in specially lined paper bags or boxes of about 120 in a covered, well ventilated vehicle, and they aren’t stacked too high.
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That number increases substantially as labor, transportation and storage costs are factored in.īecause those seedlings are so precious, considerable care is taken when transporting them from the nursery to the ground. The average area being reforested in Oregon is about 50 acres, thus bringing the cost of seedlings for each unit to about $7,500. Seedlings about 4 cm Cotyledons about 2 cm Colour. Foresters make individual decisions based on many factors (elevation, health, soil condition, etc.) about which species and how many trees to plant in a given area, but at roughly 400 trees per acre, landowners are paying about $150 per acre for seedlings alone. Newly germinated seedlings with a stalk surmounted by a whorl of 510 upcurved cotyledons with smooth edges Needles form above the cotyledons, clustered at first, later spreading along the new shoot Length. Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, Grand Fir and Noble Fir costs more, at about $420 for 1,000. Douglas-fir seedlings presently cost about 36 to 38 cents each, or about $380 for 1,000. Starting the seeds in a nursery dramatically increases the likelihood that the seedlings will survive and reestablish the forest, so it’s worth the extra cost. Foresters plant tree seedlings (or two-year-old baby trees) even though they cost almost ten times as much as the seeds. Tree planting in Oregon typically gets underway around February when trees are still in winter dormancy and the hard freezes are over, but the process actually starts two years before that when the seeds started growing in the nursery.
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Cones mature in one year.Tree planting crews unpack Douglas-fir and Hemlock tree seedlings and load them into carrying bags on Hampton’s Big Creek Tree Farm. Oblong, tan cones, 3 to 4 inches long with conspicuous three-pointed bracts protruding between scales. Monoecious, male flowers are pendulous along stem, female flowers are on tips of branches. Blue-green to silvery gray-green, shiny needles have two white bands on underside.
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Leaves are evergreen needles, spirally arranged on branches or two-ranked. Leaf or needle arrangement, size, shape, and texture: The mature bark is thick and fissured and has a reddish-brown coloration. It is native to western North America from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific northwest. Excellent specimen plant or used en masse to create screening. Grow your own Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), the worlds second tallest tree species Transplanting and care instructions included Seed-grown at our. In its native habitat it can reach 150 feet high. It grows 40 to 80 feet high and 15 to 20 feet wide in landscape situations. A broadly conical to narrow, pyramidal evergreen tree which has open, tiered branches that are slightly pendulous.
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