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The idea of being a permaculture practitioner and also cutting down a bunch of trees feels like it can be at odds… I try to explain the lens I attempt to look through when making these decisions in this video. The stand of Larch and Spruce in this 1/2 acre context have clearly declined in growth rate and over all health and there is a moment here where cutting most of them down in a careful and controlled way can liberate a massive amount of light, soil resources and potential for a new successional pathway to take place. Identifying and working around seedling trees planted by ourselves and the wildlife in this area gives us a 2-5 year boost as well and we can weave walls from branch debris and build homes from the posts. Many layers of yield when we’re careful and hopefully thoughtful with the work we do.
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Happy growing!
36 Comments
First comment!!!! The man is so knowledgeable about everything it’s almost sickening. I’d like to be as smart as he is at my older age of 51.
Are you going to make an Airbnb cabin? Because I'll be the first guest!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on selective thinning and the stacking uses for felled trees. 🌲
Thank you for sharing so much knowledge with us! Currently planting into a 98% wooded lot. In case it helps with your future projects I have used the Greenworks 80V chainsaw in an Alaskan saw mill. Slow going, but good for squaring the ends by cutting in a foot or so.
Cool
Are you familiar with the "dead hedge" technique? Basically what you (and I) are already doing with stacking the brash, but with the addition of a bit more structure by placing vertical posts in the ground in pairs and stacking the debris between them. On getting ropes into trees, I started with a soda bottle loaded with sand, throwing them just like Juan 😉 Then I remembered that I have archery gear, and not only archery gear, but a fishing arrow. Now I fit a string to the head of my fishing arrow, shoot that over a limb and pull the heavier rope up and over after that. Saves me loads of time and allows me to reach much higher limbs. One more thing about trees that are unstable, as your larches are becoming, they are a serious danger in a woodland. I stay out of our woods on windy days because it is an unacceptable level of risk.
Something I forgot to mention. Try using your King of spades for debarking. I have a long nosed shovel with a fiberglass D handle that is my favorite bark peeling tool. The curves in the shovel match up to logs nicely and the handle gives leverage. Makes for an easier, faster, more pleasant experience than using a drawknife, in my experience. My drawknives are all meant for wood working, not peeling bark, and they take very thin strips that just aren't efficient. On trees that hold their bark more stubbornly, I reach for a corn knife, purchased from Tractor Supply for maybe 20 bucks. The curved edge allows matching against the shape of the log and I use the corn knife much like a drawknife, but the shape is far more efficient 😉
Awesome
Very nice proactive tree harvest. Thanks for sharing!
Such a thoughtful explanation keep up the great work.
I love the rock in a sock trick! I have been using a roll of duct tape for that 🙂
Great Habitat for Lightening Bugs too !!! they need that debris to overwinter 🙂
I don't know much but make sure a drier stem can be worked on in the way you want. It may dry out quicker than you think. I recall somone in another context saying you only have a few weeks to peel bark, a bit depending on temperature. You may have until spring. If you intend to mortise and tenon greener may be better, again a few weeks.
Excellent forest management. This is what the world lacks.
Always good to have free lumber, while replenishing the Forrest! The gods will smile down upon you sir! Way to go…
I hope you're working on a succession design for your own life. Youtube is great but you have so much to pass down to future generations.
Super Sharing Sean! 💯
Sounds wonderful Sean, thank you so much for sharing your notes and plans as always. Exciting too! I love hearing you two are working together, the projects are always so cool. Just as a side note.. your kind video last week has been incredible for me. I was able to connect so much more with your community and subscribe to many many wonderful channels. My mind was blown at the incredible channels and v few subscribers.. I can imagine like myself they are super grateful for the help and support. I have received over 25 new subscribers since your video! Made the 1000 milestone ( after 6 years ) Thank you so much! Iv connected strongly with a few of the channels and feel like I am in the right place! Like part of a community of people doing similar things. It’s been incredible and I am very grateful!
Excited to see this project progress.. thank you so much! 😊🌱💚🙏✨🍄🪱🙌🙌🙌🙌
Even though I'm in FLORIDA I 👂 listen to him for the ASMR 🤩🤩🤩
Well that should be a very local and thoughtfull cabin build !
Weird. Your vid on the squirrels planting seeds popped up in my feed yesterday. Good timing.
Timber
What is the average age of these trees, please?
I’m all for taking trees down to make a bountiful garden, especially if they’re sick.
Thanks for sharing! I can now see why you were not concerned about snow load in your area 🙂
Great stuff. How large/old are the trees you intend to plant. The issue I’ve had with adding new characters into existing woods is that they get shaded out by mid spring and either struggle to grow much and/or die from lack of light. I’ve started now keeping young seedling in nursery beds, have yet to transplant any. Obviously you are thinning the canopy back considerably but I’d be interested to hear more discussion around the specifics. How much of the canopy to clear, how large to get new plants before moving them in, etc. As always, thanks for sharing!
That good for nothing blizzard a few weeks ago knocked down a ridiculous number of trees everywhere around. There's enough wood that's begging to be salvaged that that might be the main source of work next winter, and snow removal will be over with. I'd like that. Taking the horses out to do some of the hauling so the skidder doesn't have to dig into the woods so much would be cool.
I went with the 16", and the second battery is 5Ah. Good unit.
That’s gonna be a huge release, and a vastly different front yard!
Always enjoy hearing what you have planned for your property! You are an inspiration!
Looks fun! FWIW, I'd love to see how you use your pole saw. I'm slowly learning woodlot management, & pole saws seem very useful, but tricky…
Please remember the birds and animals that need trees for their homes. Be compassionate 🙂
I have tried to preserve our dwindling spruce copses but I don't really see a way to do it without shipping in pine mulch. The competition in the understory is too high.
Great to hear your process and plans!
Thanks for the video! This is become a relevant topic for our landscape, so the timing couldn't be better 🙂
Heard you mention using a weed whacker as part of your suite of electric tools. We stopped using these in the past couple of years out of concern for putting additional plastics into the environment (and metal blades and cutters seem to be out of electric's torque range). I've read there are some oxo-biodegradable lines available now which ought to eventually break down enough so bacteria and fungi can convert them back into usable organics, but even that process can take as much as a decade.
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on weed whacker use and what sort of line you use?
The perimeter deer defense is called a dead hedge, is it not? Can't wait to see what you do with a cabin project!
Hi Sean, I have heard that deer hate a double fence so maybe one of your 30# test fishing line fences on one side of the dead hedge. Great work you guys are doing!