Four Season forestry: A Guide to Summer Trees

Summer is the ideal season for forestry activities. During this time, ample sunlight and dry weather provide favorable conditions for various tasks. This period is crucial for both tree planting and commercial thinning/intermediate cutting. Abundant sunlight promotes the growth of new trees, while dry weather facilitates logging and other related activities. In this article, we will introduce you to some aspects of forestry activities in summer.

How to prepare trees for summer?

For the sustainable development of forestry, the care of trees is indispensable. Summer is a great time for trees to grow, and plenty of sun in the summer will allow your trees to thrive. However, if you neglect to take care of them, they can also be affected by hot weather. Getting ready for summer is an important step in making sure trees thrive in hot, dry conditions.

Challenges for trees in the Summer

The high temperatures of summer can significantly impact the health of trees. Under intense sunlight, trees struggle to retain adequate moisture and nutrients, leading to cracked bark and yellowing, withering leaves. This phenomenon can occur not only in small trees, but also in mature trees. Therefore, whether it is small trees or large trees, it is necessary to take appropriate protection measures in the summer.

Prune trees

You can prune trees in the spring or early summer, because trees tend to grow quickly in the summer, and prune them ahead of time to reduce their weight and help reduce the risk of them being broken off during summer storms. Pruning dead and diseased branches also improves the health and beauty of trees.

Fertilize the trees

In spring or early summer is the best time to fertilize trees, through fertilization can provide trees with essential nutrients and promote healthy growth.

1. Due to the strong sunlight in summer, please avoid the high temperature period at noon and fertilize in the morning or evening.

2. The summer temperature is too high, it is recommended that you slow release fertilizer, excessive fertilization will hurt the roots.

3. Water well before and after fertilization to keep the soil around the tree moist.

4. Wood mulch is a good choice. wood chipper mulch is made by wood chipper and spread around the fertilized trees to help maintain soil moisture and prevent fertilizer from running off too quickly.

Check for pests and insect infestations

Summer is the peak season for insect breeding, and some of these pests can cause serious damage to trees. So when there are some common signs of infestation, such as holes in the bark, withered leaves, and spider webs appearing on the trees. In addition, slow or abnormal tree growth is also a signal of pest infestation. Once you find these problems, please take timely measures to ensure the health of the tree.

Staking tree

For newly planted trees or trees that are prone to being blown over by the wind, there are steps you can take to increase their stability in storms. Support posts or lashing are provided, installed next to the tree and connected to the tree trunk by lashing or rope. staking well in advance can effectively reduce the swaying and leaning of trees in storms and prevent trees from being blown down.

Pre-Commercial and Commercial Thinning in Summer

During the summer, many forestry workers engage in a series of felling operations to prevent trees from excessively competing for resources, ensure their growth, or meet usage demands.
 
When it comes to felling trees, what you need to understand is that we typically need to consider their moisture content. Generally, people believe that winter is the more suitable season for tree felling because trees cut during this time are easier to preserve, as they are in a dormant state, resulting in lower moisture content in the wood. In contrast, trees felled in summer have higher moisture content, making them more susceptible to fungal and insect infestations. Additionally, wood with high moisture content is prone to deformation and cracking during the drying process, which may lead to instability in size during wood processing.

However, this doesn't mean that we cannot fell trees during the summer; many practitioners still opt for summer tree felling. Typically, you can schedule tree felling for mid-June when sap flow slows down, as tree bark is more susceptible to damage at that time, ensuring better conditions for the trees you cut. Additionally, it's worth noting that birds usually grow feathers in July, so forest owners prioritizing bird habitat should schedule harvesting for August and September.

Milling wood and the best tools

What do you want to do with the wood after you've finished commercial logging? Many people will want to sell the wood to local sawmills for milling. Have you ever thought about milling the wood yourself? Try buying your own portable sawmill to mill wood.

Mr. Lucas and his son tried milling with MechMaxx 26" Portable Sawmill on the forest farm and had a very good experience. You can learn about his milling process with mechmaxx sawmill on his channel and share his tips on the process!

Conclusion

We hope that every user who loves forestry can harvest in the summer. By giving your trees attentive care, you can ensure their healthy growth during the summer. Proper use of various tools and methods, such as support posts or lashings, can help protect your trees from natural disasters like storms, sun exposure. In addition, you can also use the right tools and choose the right time when you cut wood and process wood. If you would like to find tools for Woodworking Machinery, please contact us and view more products.