This is probably more a forestry question, but would appreciate some input.
I live on acreage here in the Sandhills and except for the house and the shop, I have left my land with pretty dense forest untouched.
The forest is mostly pine, it appears as if the land was cleared about 20 years back and what came back is a pretty dense forest with mostly Pine trees, tall and then a lot of small trees situated in-between the Pines. I'm not sure how this was done, as they don't seem to have been planted, the positioning of the Pines are totally random. To give an idea of the density, to build the house and shop, I cleared a little less than 2 acres and removed approximately 1,500 trees.
In-between the pines, there are lots of small trees. Holly, various different varieties of Oak, Ceder, Persimmons, Hickory, Maple, Red Maple, Sassafras, Dogwood, Black Cherry, Black Tupelo, etc.
So the question is whether there is any merit in working the forest part, or just leave it to nature? I thought about clearing some of the Pines around a few of the healthiest hardwoods, to give them a better chance, but not sure if it is worth the effort.
I live on acreage here in the Sandhills and except for the house and the shop, I have left my land with pretty dense forest untouched.
The forest is mostly pine, it appears as if the land was cleared about 20 years back and what came back is a pretty dense forest with mostly Pine trees, tall and then a lot of small trees situated in-between the Pines. I'm not sure how this was done, as they don't seem to have been planted, the positioning of the Pines are totally random. To give an idea of the density, to build the house and shop, I cleared a little less than 2 acres and removed approximately 1,500 trees.
In-between the pines, there are lots of small trees. Holly, various different varieties of Oak, Ceder, Persimmons, Hickory, Maple, Red Maple, Sassafras, Dogwood, Black Cherry, Black Tupelo, etc.
So the question is whether there is any merit in working the forest part, or just leave it to nature? I thought about clearing some of the Pines around a few of the healthiest hardwoods, to give them a better chance, but not sure if it is worth the effort.