Forestry planting season begins this month

The planting season begins in late October and continues until June depending on weather conditions. However, this year, nurseries, landowners, foresters and forestry companies will try to get the afforestation programme off to a good start by maximising autumn-winter planting after disappointing spring returns. This means that ground preparation including mounding and fencing is well under way and nurseries will shortly be lifting plants providing they are dormant. The planting season is dictated by plant dormancy in the nursery. Dormancy is the period in a plant’s life when growth is suspended so plant lifting can start.

Ideally dormancy begins in October so the planting season can begin early but it can be delayed by a number of weeks if the weather is unseasonably mild. We are fortunate in Ireland to have a mild climate which allows planting to take place throughout the planting season for most species. The general planting guidelines apply for all species. Planting should never be carried out in frozen or waterlogged ground or during prolonged cold or dry periods. A few points are worth noting for broadleaves and conifer plants.

Broadleaves

Ideally, November and December are the optimum times for planting broadleaves but most foresters and landowners don’t have the luxury of completing broadleaf planting before Christmas. However, planting should end by April although cold-stored plants can extend this period but these should be planted within two weeks after their removal from the cold store.

Care in plant handling is vital even for resilient species such as birch. Once regarded as an amenity tree with aesthetic rather than timber benefits, more is now expected of this species since the birch improvement programme was initiated. While birch is resilient, its roots are susceptible to rapid drying or desiccation, so it should be planted as soon as possible after reaching the site while roots should be kept moist at all times.

Conifers

Conifers can be planted throughout the season but if time permits, Douglas fir should be planted in November and December.

While Japanese and European larch are no longer approved species for the afforestation programme some hybrid larch is still planted. Larch flushes early in spring so planting should be completed by March although a few weeks’ grace may be permitted for cold-stored plants.

A change in Government policy on forestry is urgently needed maintained IFA president Joe Healy at the recent launch of the IFA’s Five Point Plan to Revitalise Farm Forestry. “This is required to ensure the forestry sector achieves its potential to create jobs and help Ireland to meet its climate change and renewable energy targets, while ensuring a balanced regional spread,” he said. “The Government must take a serious look at why Ireland is failing to meet its forestry targets and address the barriers that exist to planting, some of which are a direct result of current policy.”

He identified the following five actions which are required to revitalise the afforestation programme:

The IFA president was critical of barriers imposed on afforestation. “These must be addressed by increasing the land available to forestry across the country and ensuring that all land that satisfies both environmental and productive requirements is eligible under the afforestation scheme.”

He said there is an over-concentration of forestry in certain areas of the country. “The perception of forestry has been seriously damaged among farmers and the public by the over-concentration of planting within certain counties such as Cavan, Leitrim, Mayo, Roscommon and Sligo,” he claimed.

“The fact that more than 36% of planting is now undertaken by investors who do not live within the communities in which forests are planted is also damaging to how forestry is viewed. In addition, forest policy must prioritise supporting farmers to plant, and key to this is the reintroduction of the farmer premium differential.”

Commenting on the reintroduction of the premium differential between farmers and non-farmers, a Department spokesperson said: “It’s important to note that the ‘non-farmer category’ also includes individuals who already own the land such as retired farmers and sons and daughters of farmers. This means that the investment from the afforestation programme is largely remaining locally in rural Ireland. Actual investments by investment funds is a tiny proportion of overall plantings at just 126ha in 2016 and 53ha in 2017.”

Pat Collins, IFA farm forestry committee chair, said it is important that the profitability of timber harvesting is maximised. “Forest producers need support to collectively manage and mobilise their wood supply. Supporting co-operation is essential if the small and fragmented forests are to be economically managed and new value-added opportunities, particularly in the wood energy market, can be exploited.”