# Anyone plant pine seedlings with a dibble?



## NancyNGA (Aug 24, 2016)

My parents got some fir trees from the USDA when we lived in northern Ohio and planted them in our backyard.  I believe they were free at that time.  When they moved to southern Ohio, they planted pines on a hillside there.    So when I moved to Georgia, and bought some land, the first thing I did was order Loblolly pines through the Georgia Forestry Commission.  I forget the price, but they were really cheap. 

I ordered 2500 and got 3 friends to help plant them at different times.  You had to traipse over the property in December/January and fight briars. Two friends enjoyed it, and we still talk about it; the other one, not so much. 

 This is how we did it, but it is a lot easier with two people.  My property looked a lot like this place at the time. 

Planting Pine Seedlings with a Dibble


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## NancyNGA (Aug 25, 2016)

"My Long Journey Home" by The New Lost City Ramblers


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## NancyNGA (Aug 26, 2016)

Twenty years later, _IF_ you're lucky.


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## SeaBreeze (Aug 26, 2016)

The end result if definitely satisfying Nancy!  I've just planted a few pine seedlings in my day around my house, but they were bigger than that and I just used a shovel.  Interesting to see how quick that goes!


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## NancyNGA (Aug 28, 2016)

*Anyone plant pine seedlings with a dibble?*
(I really didn't think anyone had, just thought someone might be interested in the process. )

_The rest of the story..._

We were lucky with those pines because there was a lot of rain that spring and summer.  A large percentage of them lived.  They were in a very remote section of the property, so I never got a picture---even prettier than those in post #3.

We were so successful, that one friend mentioned I should have clear cut the entire 75 acres and planted in pines, and I regretted I hadn't, for years.

My mother and I planted more trees in 2002, and we ran across the plot of those first trees.  They had been totally wiped out by pine beetles---100%!  This is what they looked like a couple years after that (with goats browsing).







All that's left are two rows along the road up at the house.   Good thing I didn't clear cut.

We had severe drought in GA for several years right after my mom and I planted our set, and the few trees that made it got ringed by the goats.


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## NancyNGA (Aug 28, 2016)

Tree planting has become almost a right of passage for Canadian Youth

*Tree-planting becoming full-time employment for youth*

"The majority of planters are ... students looking to pay off debt or make money to continue their education..., but more planters are going pro, particularly out west.... Some companies, like Coast Range, located in British Columbia, still prefer students. '[With] some of the older folks, it’s not as much fun with them, sometimes they can be a little more negative or not so much team players. And I just like the dynamic we generally have with students,' said Coast Range director Garth Hadley."
　
Luc Forsyth's Blog

"I am who I am today because of six summers spent living in tents in Canada’s northern forests. As a tree planter I learned what it meant to work hard – harder than anything I had experienced before. And while it nearly killed me during my torturous rookie season, I came out a far, far better person."

Some pictures from his blog...
















Sounds like a fun one-time experience!


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## SeaBreeze (Sep 1, 2016)

Very sad to see your pine beetle damage Nancy, we've seen lots of affected forests in our travels that were devastated by the beetle, heartbreaking when it's your own property and hard work to plant them.


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## yank (Dec 27, 2016)

panted 2500 trees 2 years ago and 500 last year, out of those I have less than 25 left. drought after drought. think about giving up this year


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## NancyNGA (Dec 27, 2016)

Sorry to hear that yank.  I know the feeling.


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## SeaBreeze (Dec 27, 2016)

yank said:


> panted 2500 trees 2 years ago and 500 last year, out of those I have less than 25 left. drought after drought. think about giving up this year



That's sad Yank, trees definitely can't survive without the help of waterings from Mother Nature, droughts are so tough on plants, animals and people too.


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## Timetrvlr (Dec 27, 2016)

Every summer we see a lot of tree planters coming into our Canadian town for a day or two of  R&R. The are mostly young college students and it pays well for those that are fast and work hard.  

One year our gas supplier mailed us a free seedling spruce tree and I planted it and have babied it ever since. It's about 2-1/2 feet tall now, firmly established and I think it will really take off this year. We have 5 mature spruce trees around the house now and that will be a welkome sixth. I like spruce trees best because they are so dense and perfect shapes.


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## Anomaly 73 (May 1, 2017)

SeaBreeze said:


> That's sad Yank, trees definitely can't survive without the help of waterings from Mother Nature, droughts are so tough on plants, animals and people too.



I plant 60 at a time. Enough so you can use mass planting techniques but not so many you can't water them in dry times. We only have 7 acres...that may be a real factor.


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