COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING GUIDELINE - SPGS

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LAWLOG PRODUCTION GRANT SCHEME 5.3 Thinning This is an operation deliberately carried out at different stages of tree growth by selecting and removing some of the living trees from a given plantation stand before the final clear cutting. 5.3.1 Why should I thin my trees? As trees grow, they start competing with one another for light, nutrients, water and space thereby making them grow abnormally. Therefore, some of the trees in the plantation life span should be systematically removed (whether good or not) in order to reduce the competition between the trees. This allows the best remaining trees to grow faster and larger, thus increasing the value of your plantation. 5.3.2 When should thinning be done? 5.3 Thinning This is an operation deliberately carried out at different stages of tree growth by selecting and removing some of the living trees from a given plantation stand before the final clear cutting. Generally 5.3.1 Why should it depends I thin my on trees? tree species, its growth rate and extent of maintenance. Thus like pruning, there is no compulsory time for thinning plantations but it should be done before competition (crowns and branches start trees grow faster and larger, thus increasing the value of your plantation. touching) begins. It is advisable to do first thinning only 5.3.2 after When first should pruning thinning be for done? clear view of trees and safe passage. The rest of the thinning operations can be done before pruning to save money from pruning trees that are after all going to be thinned out. As trees grow, they start competing with one another for light, nutrients, water and space thereby making them grow abnormally. Therefore, some of the trees in the plantation life span should be systematically removed (whether good or not) in order to reduce the competition between the trees. This allows the best remaining Generally it depends on tree species, its growth rate and extent of maintenance. Thus like pruning, there is no compulsory time for thinning plantations but it should be done before competition (crowns and branches start touching) begins. It is advisable to do first thinning only after first pruning for clear view of trees and safe passage. The rest of the thinning operations can be done before pruning to save money from pruning trees that are after all going to be thinned out. Table 7 below shows the suggested thinning type, age and for a pine number plantation. of stems left for a pine plantation. Table 7 below shows the suggested thinning type, age and number of stems left Thinning type Age (years) Stems left 1 st 5 to 7 750 2 nd 7 to 10 500 3 rd 10 to 14 250 to 350 This means at any tree spacing used, e.g. 3mx3m where there are 1,111 trees/ha, the number of trees to be removed per ha at first thinning would be (1,111-750) years. 361. In the 2nd thinning it would be (750-500) 250 and at 5.3.3 3rd What thinning are the steps you taken remove during (500-350) a thinning operation? 150 to leave you with described 350 below: trees per ha for final clear cutting at 18-25 years. Each thining operation requires that you follow 1) What is the appropriate thinning plot size? some important steps for success. This means at any tree spacing used, e.g. 3mx3m where there are 1,111 trees/ha, the number of trees to be removed per ha at first thinning would be (1,111-750) 361. In the 2 nd thinning it would be (750-500) 250 and at 3 rd thinning you remove (500-350) 150 to leave you with 350 trees per ha for final clear cutting at 18-25 In order to successfully carry out thinning of your trees, please follow steps (1-5) This depends on the spacing of trees. For example the thinning plot could be one of 5 trees by 5 or 10 trees by 10 trees. For 5 trees by 5 trees area it gives a thinning plot size of 15m x 15m (225m 2 ) when your spacing is 3m x 3m. 5.3.3 2) How many What of these plots are (225m 2) the are in one steps hectare? taken As one hectare is 10,000m during a 2 , this gives (10,000m thinning 2 ÷ 225m operation? 2 ) 44 plots. 3) How many trees do I need to leave on each hectare after first thinning? An example of a well thinned stand like this will allow trees to quickly gain more volume This 2-year old plantation of E. grandis is for fuelwood (James Finlay Ltd.) and thus has many trees per hectare (i.e. high stocking): if grown for sawlogs, it would have to be thinned to give the best trees more growing space. In order to successfully carry out thinning of your trees, please follow steps (1-5) described below: 1) What is the appropriate thinning plot size? This depends on the spacing of trees. For example the thinning plot could be one of 5 trees by 5 or 10 trees by 10 trees. For 5 trees by 5 trees area it gives a thinning plot size of 15m x 15m (225m 2 ) when your spacing is 3m x 3m. 2) How many of these plots (225m 2 ) are in one hectare? As one hectare is 10,000m 2 , this gives (10,000m 2 ÷ 225m 2 ) 44 plots. 3) How many trees do I need to leave on each hectare after first thinning? For our example of table 7 above, it is 750 stems per hectare 4) How many trees should I leave on each plot after thinning? Number of trees to be left on each plot = 750 ÷ 44=17trees 5) Therefore, how many trees should I thin out (remove) from each thinning plot? 22 Community Tree Planting Guideline 24
LAWLOG PRODUCTION GRANT SCHEME Since your thinning plot has a total of 25 trees (5 trees x 5 trees), you should cut off 8 trees so as to leave 17 trees needed per plot. NB1. The 8 trees to be removed also include empty holes (where trees died), bent trees, tree with branched tops in form of letter “Y” or any poor growing tree. Note that whether all trees are good the thinning should still be carried out to create more space within the remaining trees. The trees fit to be removed by thinning are (2) one – sided crown, (3) bole (trunk) deformed, (5) forked stem, (6) overtopped tree, (8) crooked stem, and (11) very small tree next to larger ones. NB2. If thinning is being carried out for sale the operation should be closely supervised to ensure that bigger trees do not end up being cut as a priority for sale. In this case, the objective of thinning as recommended in forestry will have changed. lose part or all of your year’s investment in one hour! To minimize fire risk on your plantation, observe the following fire protection measures: Firebreaks: These can be internal or external depending on size of your land. For community woodlots of 1-5 acres, an external open area of at least 5m wide should be kept open around the trees. If the woodlot is bordered by gardens of food crops, then ensure that after their harvesting, the drying food crop remains should be removed 5m away from the trees. This strip of area should be kept open through slashing or hoeing before each dry season (June-August and December-Feb on average) until rains come back. As your plantation expands, internal firebreaks need to be included. Careful burning of crop gardens: While clearing adjacent land for food crops, make sure the rubbish is heaped and burnt in the middle of garden. Burning should be done during cool non windy conditions and should be closely supervised until you are sure the fire is completely dead before leaving the area. Timely weeding: Make sure that all your trees are well weeded during the rainy season such that in the dry season, there are no tall dry weeds that easily catch fire to burn your trees. More wide information concerning thinning can be found on <strong>SPGS</strong> Thinning Guideline No. 26. 6.0 Protecting Your Trees Just like any other investment, you have to protect your trees until the recommended time to harvest or sell them arrives. Normally, trees are protected from fires, pests, diseases and animals. 6.1 How do I protect my plantation from fire? Tree left to grow with a drying weeds like these do have a higher chance of being burnt down during the dry season A plantation with a good fire break between blocks Fire is one of the worst enemies of your trees. If you do not care to protect your plantation from fire you could Good relationships: Ensure you have good relations with your neighbours so they do not set your plantation on fire and can also be of assistance when called upon to help put off fire. NOTE: Get more information on Forest Fire Protection from Guideline No. 18. 23 Community Tree Planting Guideline
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