Chanticleer Farms
Fourteen years ago this spring, we planted nearly 7000 baby trees in the natural areas of the farm, and they are really starting to grow up! We found some original pictures (snapshots, since it was before the digital camera era) of the planting process, and the 14 year comparison is interesting.
Spring, 2000, operating the planter in the field behind the pond
Spring 2000, carrying a single bundle of tiny trees
Spring 2000 – Loading the trees into buckets to put on the planter
We found the original receipt, and here’s the list of all the trees we planted that spring:
| Tree Type | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Red Oak | 1,900 |
| White Oak | 1,100 |
| White Ash | 400 |
| Green Ash | 300 |
| Black Walnut | 900 |
| Tulip Tree | 800 |
| Chinkapin Oak | 700 |
| White Pine | 200 |
| Bur Oak | 600 |
| Total | 6,900 |
Now, 14 years later, they’ve grown quite a bit!
Spring 2014 – A good shot of some of the planted trees near the path in the ‘new land’ on the east side of the property
Winter/Spring 2014 – Field behind the pond
We originally estimated 30%-40% survival rate, since we didn’t want to use herbicides (recommended for higher survival rate), and this estimate still seems to be about accurate. Some of the trees fared much better than others, as there is quite a bit of diversity in water content in the soil, species of tree, and proximity to deer.
Spring 2014 – Comparison between trees that did well and those that didn’t, but still survived
Spring 2014 – Some of the trees planted in a drier area – Royal Enfield for scale