Should I cut alder and poplar to give oak seedlings light or leave them so oaks grow straight and tall?

Question

Should I cut alder and poplar to give oak seedlings light or leave them so oaks grow straight and tall?

Answer 1

any tree you want to grow straight and tall you need to trim the limbs off of it at the bottom..it will then grow fuller and taller..we have done this to all of our trees you see the difference in a few weeks especially with a fruit tree..the oak trees we have look healthier..nothing is lower than 5foot 8 it makes a huge difference when you look at landscaping to see the trees with no scruffy bottoms

Answer 2

Depends on where it is and what you want from a full grown tree.

Do you want a tall thin tree or a rounded well-branched tree.

Will it be a shade tree?

Will it be sharing the terrain with others in a woodlot?

Sounds like it's in a bit of a woodlot already.

Personally I think of alders as weeds and would remove *them* immediately. The advantage of poplars is that they grow quickly and will give you foliage sooner. Oaks are slow growers.

Perhaps you could let the poplar continue for now (maybe trimming it periodically to allow some light through) and get rid of it when you're happy with the size of the oak.

Poplars are messy. They drop a lot of branches and are less sturdy as they get older (and will not last as long as the oak in the long run) However, if they're not on a lawn you won't really have to worry about picking up after them before cutting the grass.

:)

I should add...

If you're in an area frequented by deer you may want to leave foliage around the oak, until it grows to an above-deer height, to keep it somewhat hidden (or find a way to discourage the deer). The deer seem to love my oaks above all else.

Answer 3

You should cut all other trees within a 10 ft. radius of the oak seedling you want to grow.  Every ten feet you want to leave another tree, another oak if it is there, second choice a poplar, and last choice an alder.  This is the proper spacing to give your seedlings the proper start, as the trees get larger, in about ten years, you can cut out some of the lesser trees for pulp and give your oaks still more spacing.