Farm forestry videos
When establishing trees in an agricultural setting, proper planning, preparation and management are essential to the success of your project. This matters whether you are growing trees for environmental values, timber products, carbon capture or any combination of the above, it is important to understand the challenges and benefits of actively managing trees on your property.
Below is a series of short films outlining some of the important stages and procedures for planning and managing your tree project.
Planning and planting
Planning and objectives
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Text on screen: The Prep and Planning Video
Text on screen: Wally Notman, DEECA
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Text on screen: Planning and Objectives
Wally Notman: Planning for farm forestry starts with determining objectives. This is really the foundation upon which everything else is built, so it's worthwhile investing plenty of time and effort to clarify what the objectives of the timber tree plantings are. They may be multifaceted. For example, the objective on a dairy farm may be to also provide shade and shelter for livestock in strategic locations, as well as sequestering carbon on an ongoing basis. For others, an increase in biodiversity and improved amenity will be important.
In determining the objectives and designing the tree planting, it's well advised to seek out the best information available.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Text on screen: Gippsland Forestry Hub (The Hub)
Gippsland Agroforestry Network (GAN)
Gippsland Farm Forestry (AgVic)
Tree Alliance
Otway Agroforestry Network
Australian Agroforestry Foundation
On screen Graphics: Agriculture Victoria Logo.
Wally Notman: That could be found online and in other publications, connecting with experienced practitioners, participating in agroforestry networks and also potentially engaging specialist consultants.
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Wally Notman: From this, a much broader perspective might again, which will in turn shape a plantation design that suits the individual situation. Value stacking, where performance of your timber tree planting is optimized across a range of objectives, is a worthy factor to consider in the planning size.
Text on screen: Value Stacking
Objectives
Carbon sequestration
Biodiversity
Shade and shelter
Wind protection
Timber value
Wally Notman: All of these elements will drive the design of the old plantation. A whole farm plan will assist in the placement and design of the farm forestry regimes, with land types and existing infrastructure determining this to some degree. But the design should be reflective of those clear objectives. To fit this, regimes can be applied in various shapes, sizes and planting densities.
Wood lots generally refer to larger, dense plantings where the growth of timber is prioritized. Wide space plantings refers to less dense plantings, where the growth of the timber trees is balanced with other crops or pasture. Shelter or timber belts are usually linear but with good design, and some width can provide multiple valleys beyond just shelter or timber.
Thinking about how timber will be extracted is critical. For some, this may be relatively straightforward. For example, a farmer on a gently undulating block might be able to extract timber themselves using a three-point linkage device on the standard farm tractor. Providing they're cognizant of the relevant safety aspects.
On steeper country though, planning to extract timber requires a great deal of forethought. And potentially the installation of an extensive track network. But this will vary from farm to farm.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
www.agriculture.vic.gov.au
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Species selection
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Text on screen: The Prep and Planning Video
Text on screen: Wally Notman, DEECA
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Text on screen: Species selection
Wally Notman: One of the most interesting but sometimes challenging aspects of a tree planting project is species selection. The questions we need to ask are: What's the desired end product? What species is capable of producing it? And can I successfully grow that species on my site?
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Wally Notman: Although there are some versatile species out there, if you think about it in car terms, it's a bit like an SUV. The form's great in most places, but some sites are just going to be too difficult for it.
And in the case of trees, your choice of species can be quite narrow. Areas known for severe frosts. Sites with poor drainage and areas with an impeding rock layer not far below the surface are just some examples. In most cases, though, there will be at least a few choices, but all come with a degree of compromise, which it's important to understand.
Hence, once we arrive at these choices, some further but more specific questions might be relevant. Does this species unduly increase fire risk? To what extent cannot tolerate livestock rubbing against it?
Again, tapping into others’ knowledge and experience and determining how these factors may apply to your specific situation, is important here. Species that produce hardwood timber are likely to continue to be sought after, and domestic supply of these is currently low, with no substantial resource in the pipeline.
Some versatile, non-durable species have an existing and very large market, with equally large growers supplying it. Radiata pine is a prime example. It can be grown successfully on a broad range of sites but, for the smaller grower, the question of scale needs to be considered. Will I be able to find a buyer for a relatively small amount of a product and still make a profit?
Another consideration is stand thinning. This necessary intervention, conducted to allow site resources to be concentrated on the final crop of best trees, usually occurring about midway through a rotation, generates product that ideally more than covers the cost of the operation. Species selection will influence this, with more durable species likely to offer more options in terms of value product, including posts, picket, stakes and firewood.
It can be appealing to interplant different species for aesthetic reasons and to achieve a more natural-looking stand. While this is fine and up to personal choice, it is important to understand that this will make pruning and managing your stand a more complicated and time-consuming procedure, compared to planting in single species rows.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
www.agriculture.vic.gov.au
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Site selection
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Text on screen: The Prep and Planning Video
Text on screen: Wally Notman, DEECA
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Text on screen: Site selection
Wally Notman: Good site preparation is a foundational aspect of working towards achieving those desired objectives from your timber tree planting project. It's all about providing the conditions to give your seedlings the best possible start, getting them through that first spring and summer, when the risk of being overcome by competition and from animal browsing is at its highest.
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Wally Notman: Ripping and/or ploughing and mounding and methods that may be beneficial on some sites to facilitate easy planting, enable quicker route development and in the case of mounding, provide a raised bed where waterlogging may be a problem Initially. Understanding what those competitors are, plant or animal, is important, and this will influence what measures are undertaken to reduce risk.
Use of knockdown herbicides, pre planting, can be relatively straightforward and will offer a degree of short-term control over undesired plant competition. Follow-up spraying or the incorporation of residual herbicides pre planting may be desired. In this instance, specialist advice should be sought, though, where a landholder does not wish to use synthetic chemicals. Other knockdown light preparations are commercially available, offering short-term effectiveness but likely requiring follow-up application.
Short-term weed control can also be achieved by scalping the planting spots or strips mechanically. For example, in the case of pasture, this would involve removing the mat down to just below the root zone, exposing bare ground that is relatively free of active plant matter and contains less soil-stored seed.
All methods will require careful monitoring, particularly through the first spring and summer, and the grower may need to intervene at any point.
Protection of seedlings from livestock may seem obvious, but it still needs some thought. As just one instance for a bovine intruder, for example, can have disastrous consequences. The risk of animal browsing from pest and game species and other wildlife needs to be well understood in the seasons leading up to planting. Most landholders will have a sense of what that looks like, but for those living remotely, they may need to spend some time, day and night, to better understand this.
With so much time, effort and cost invested in setting up a timber trees project, heavy losses to browsing can be devastating and costly where such animals are prevalent, Efforts to control their numbers before planting is advisable, as is diligent monitoring after planting. Even still, individual tree guards may be required across some or all of the tree plantings. In the case of deer, expensive fencing may be required, along with the continued use of other methods to control numbers.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Planting
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Text on screen: The Prep and Planning Video
Text on screen: Wally Notman, DEECA
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Text on screen: Planting
Wally Notman: With good site preparation, planting should be relatively straightforward, but needs to be done when good soil moisture exists.
Hence the importance of having the site prepared early enough. The timing of planting in general seeks to avoid the worst of the frost season, but, before soil conditions start to seasonally dry out.
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Wally Notman: For most areas, this means planting in late winter early spring. Of course, there's always exceptions with the weather, but it's about managing risk. What planting tool to use depends on site preparation.
Where no soil preparation has occurred, planting tools that penetrate unprepared ground are preferred. The top of the potting mix around the seedling should be buried at least 1 cm below the soil surface, with some soil over the top to minimize evaporation directly from the tube stock.
Where planting occurs little lighter than desired, and in warmer weather, it may be appropriate to plant the seedling even deeper: say, up to 4 cm below the surface. The plant needs to be pressed down firmly to ensure good contact with the surrounding soil, at the bottom of the hole, and on all sides.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning
Form pruning – introduction
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Introduction
Clinton Tepper: The main reason why we form prune is to create as many high-quality saw logs as we can. We want straight logs because sawmills cannot saw around corners. And for the landowners, best returns come from straight trees.
A 6 m log we can cut 6 m boards from, as opposed to a 3 m log, we getting 3 m boards. And you've just got to go into a hardware store and you actually pay more for longer boards of the same dimension. So that's what it's about. That's why we do it, make more profit to the landowner.
Typically, form pruning should be done for less than $200 a hectare. That's what we're looking for. So to actually fulfill that, we're aiming for anywhere between 300 and 400 stems per hectare form prune. So if we establish a thousand stems per hectare, that means we're pruning anywhere from 3 in 10 to 4 in 10 trees to create that saw-log potential.
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Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning – tree selection
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Tree Selection
Clinton Tepper: One of the hardest things in any pruning or thinning within a plantation is tree selection.
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Clinton Tepper: So in this case, we've got 3. So we've got one, 2 and 3 over here.
Now the first thing I'm going to look at is the size of the tree. So which in my trees is the biggest. And I'll look at these and automatically I'm looking at this one over here. This is the biggest tree you can probably see in the shot.
Then what tree in this lot has the best form. You know ideally the biggest tree has the best form as well. And in this case, you walk around right around the tree because it can be deceptive. Walk this thing on one side. And I'm pretty confident this tree has about the best form.
The form of this tree is also quite good, but it's significantly smaller, meaning that this is the dominant tree in 3. And even if we look further around, we can see this tree is still the dominant tree. So that means that it started off dominant, highly likely to be dominant through the life of the stand.
This tree is co-dominant, not as big. Still reasonable form, but keeping in mind we only need to really have one in 3 good trees to meet our objective of that end 100 to 150 six-metre saw-log trees in the stand.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning – 1 in 3 rule
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Form prune 1 in 3
Clinton Tepper: The reason we pick 1 in 3 trees to form prune, we actually got 1,100 stems per hectare here to start with.
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Clinton Tepper: If we prune all of those it takes a long time, less profit for the landowner in the end. If we only prune one in 3, that's enough to get our 100 to 150 stems per hectare.
Why do we only prune 1 in 3 and not try to get all of them? We're very keen to leave the other 2. For one, they provide us some insurance in case something goes wrong with our good tree here. We've got another good tree here, and even the tree over here, we could potentially make a saw log out of.
The other reason for leaving the other 2 trees unpruned is they create an environment whereby the form pruned tree is protected. If we were to take these trees out at this early stage and only focus on this one, if this is exposed to all the elements, exposed to the wind, the sleet, the frost, animal browsing by itself, a whole suite of things.
If we can leave more trees in here for as long as possible, we actually help create a good form tree that can be managed for the purposes where intending. Good form trees, the more of those you've got in your plantation, the better, because you don't need to treat them for form pruning. As a result, you're not taking any branches off, no leaf areas coming off so they're able to grow faster, higher vigour.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning – competing leader
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Competing leader
Clinton Tepper: Another common way to form pruning is to remove the competing leader.
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Clinton Tepper: So in this instance we look at this tree, we can see that some people all it a double leader. We can call it a competing leader today here.
So when we've got a competing leader like this, we need to identify which is the dominant leader that we want to persist with, it's going to create the basis of our straight saw log.
In this instance, we can see that the leader on your left is the stronger one. It's not only stronger, it's straighter. So if we also look at this other one, I can see that it's sort of it's twisting around and it's a little bit shorter.
So we need to promote the growth of this straight one which is actually quite central to the tree's axis.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning – 30% rule
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: 30% rule
Clinton Tepper: So when you form pruning, you're being really mindful of what makes a tree grow.
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Clinton Tepper: So the more canopy we have on a tree, the faster it can grow.
It equates to a bigger engine. So if you take too much off that engine, you might turn a V8 engine into a 4-cylinder buzz box, potentially. And then it grows more slowly.
There's 2 things that help us, not take off too much. First of all, with form pruning, we try to take off 30% or less of the foliage. So no more than 30%. If we take off too much, we're reducing growth and potentially health, creating opportunity for epicormics to grow on the tree as well. So we don't want that. The other thing to be mindful of, given that this is a process that should be done for less than X dollars, 2 to 3 cuts is all you should need. Now there is some exceptions to that, but that's the simple rule. Less than 30% of the foliage taken off and no more than 3 cuts per tree you’re form pruning.
So here we have another tree that speaks to the 30% rule; that is, not taking any more than 30% of the foliage off the tree during the form pruning operation.
So the first thing to do when you're looking at form pruning, and you've actually gone through the selection, is to take off the most significant branch. So we're looking at form pruning is all about promoting that central leader for as long as possible. So that's what is the basis of your 6 m saw log.
So in this instance you can see here we have a double leader that is potentially going to compete with the main leader. So we want to take that off first. So if we take that off, we're probably taking off 10, 15% of the foliage of this tree.
But you can see here we've got another reasonable size branch that is curling upwards. And it's got a chance of competing with that leader at this point. So that's the second branch you want to take off. But if we take that whole off, we're getting pretty close to that 30%. And we want to maximize the amount of crown that's left on this tree so that we can promote its growth, as fast as possible and as healthy as possible.
So in this instance, we'll take this off. There we go. So we've created that central axis.
And now we do a process that is called tipping. So we're actually taking or minimising the amount of foliage we take off, but we're still protecting this main leader. So in this instance instead of taking this all the way back here and taking off more foliage than we need to and reducing the growth of the tree, we're actually going to tip this about here. And that's your final product. And we'll revisit this tree in 6 months time.
Where trees had branching below 1.3m, which is otherwise called diameter at breast height, you need to take out one of those trees. And when you do that, almost invariably you're going to take off more than 30% of the canopy or foliage area. But that's necessary because if you don't, you are going to compromise the form of the stronger bit of stem. So in this case, the 30% rule doesn't apply.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning – cutting techniques
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Cutting techniques
Clinton Tepper: So here we have spotted gum and it needs form pruning.
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Clinton Tepper: It's actually a reasonable size and it's got good form. But what down here we have an issue with this low branch. If we leave this low branch, when we come to do our stem pruning, it will be quite big, as our stem pruning is 18 months, most probably 2 years away. And we'll actually create a bigger wound, plus it takes more time or effort. So we take this off now, we're actually saving ourself some effort and time again working towards improving the profit of the operation.
So when we're cutting, there's a few little things just to observe there. One, we want it to be perpendicular to the branch angle, as perpendicular as we can make it, because if we do that the wound is smaller. You can see here if we actually zone in on this pruning, the pruning wound, so right here we have the branch collar. Hopefully you can see all that around there. It's like a swelling around the branch. And you can see here I've actually damaged it slightly underneath. And that's not the end of the world. But what it does do is it makes, it impairs the tree's ability to heal that over as quickly as possible. But what I haven't done is rip it down. That's a really big no-no. So ideally, the branch collar is intact all the way around.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Form pruning – Edge trees
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Text on screen: Form Pruning
Text on screen: Clinton Tepper, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Edge trees
Clinton Tepper: Edge trees are the trees on the edge of a plantation.
So typically in the outer row at the most the outer two rows.
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Clinton Tepper: Edge trees can be a real advantage to you if they’re managed. But if they're not managed, they can become a liability. And that's for a couple reasons.
The edge trees receive more sunlight, they have access to more water and more mineral per unit area. Because of that, they grow very, very quickly. They can very quickly grow out of spec for markets. For example, a sawmill might have a minimum branch size of 50 mm, and on the edge, trees can attain that branch size very quickly.
So the easiest way to manage them, is to form prune more trees within the plantation. So in practice, instead of pruning 3 and 4 out of 10 on the edge of the plantation, you should aim for anywhere from 4 to 6 saw-log trees, because they're exposed to more weather.
So hail, sleet, strong winds, frost, they're more likely to lose their leader and then put 2 up in their place. And as a result, they'll also have a tendency to be a bit shorter on the edge. So if you can form prune to make sure you've got a single leader, you're going to not only improve form, but you should also have an impact on high growth.
Once you've done your form pruning, you're looking at stem pruning, which typically occurs in 3 phases. And the form pruning is really paving the way for stem pruning to be the easier and less costly form.
Pruning on time allows you to select which trees are going to have saw log potential, and you're putting your effort into the right trees, whereas if you do it later, you don't have any choice as to which trees you’re going to form prune.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Lift pruning
Lift pruning – introduction
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Text on screen: Lift Pruning
Text on screen: Paul McKnight, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Introduction
Paul McKnight: By pruning your trees correctly at the right time to the right height, you're ensuring a high-quality log and a high return at harvest time.
We lift prune so the tree can begin growing clear wood. Clear wood is timber that has no knots in it. So by removing the branches up to a certain height, when that tree is harvested, the log will have the knotty core in the middle. But then outside of that knotty core, you'll have a sheath of clear wood.
Suppose you have a stand that is a thousand stems per hectare.
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You're not going to prune every tree, because some of those trees will have poor form or just poor health. You want to select the trees with the most vigour – the more dominant trees in the stand and trees of good form.
When we talk about dominance, we're talking about diameter of the stem, tree height and the crown of the tree. So the crown of the tree gives you the best idea of how that tree is going to perform moving forwards. So you could have 2 similar sized trees, but the one with the larger crown – so you're talking about foliage – is far more likely to grow quicker moving forward.
If your target pruned height is 2.5 m, you really want the trees that you’re going to prune to be over 5 m.
Text on screen:
First Lift 3–4 Years
Target prune height 2.5 metres
Tree height over 5 metres
Paul McKnight: The first visit might be 3 to 4 years, the second visit bringing it up to 4.5m, it’s going to be at least 2 years after that.
Text on screen:
Second Lift 5–6 Years
Target prune height 4.5 metres
Tree height over 8 metres
Paul McKnight: And it all depends on how quick those trees are growing, what resources they've got access to.
Text on screen:
Third Lift 9–10 Years
Target prune height 6.5 metres
Tree height over 8 metres
Paul McKnight: Then the third lift is more likely going to be around that 9 to 10 year age.
Text on screen:
Prune 250–300 stems per hectare
Paul McKnight: And you prune 250 to 300 stems per hectare in the first lift.
Text on screen:
Prune 200–250 stems per hectare
Paul McKnight: You might only prune 200 to 250 of the second lift and 150 to 200 on the third lift.
Text on screen:
Prune 150–200 stems per hectare
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Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Lift pruning – pruning equipment
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Text on screen: Lift Pruning
Text on screen: Paul McKnight, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Pruning equipment
Paul McKnight: This is my basic set of pruning equipment.
First we have a set of loppers, So the important parts, the blade for cutting the branches and a hook for holding, positioning the branch. These are made really strong and perfect for pruning eucalypts.
The loppers is the tool that I use the most while pruning. The limitations of the loppers is the branch size that it can take on. So the space you've got there is about the size of the branch it can take on after that.
If the branch is any bigger, then we pull out our handsaw, some people call it a jigsaw, has a replaceable blade and, can cut forwards and back.
Carrying this equipment, I use a purpose made pouch. There's a range of different tools that can be used.
Alternatively, you can get electric powered, like, secateurs. Yeah, they're really strong, and they can cope with this. There's some, additional hazards that come with using electric powered secateurs. It's probably a little bit easy to lose a finger with those because you only need one hand to operate them. So you need to consider what you're doing with the other hand.
There's also, you could also use a pole saw rather than a ladder. Personally, I would steer away from long-handled pruners or pole saws, because you're losing your accuracy. You're more likely to cut the branch collar and I find using a pole saw or working from the ground with a saw up high, it's pretty hard on the back as well.
When you're pruning above 2.5m, you will need, unless you’re very tall, you'll need a ladder or something to get you up there, that could be a cherry picker or, some form of hydraulic lift system. The smaller ladder here is 2.4 m long. So from the top of this ladder the average height person will be able to prune up to 4.5 m. The taller one is 4.2 m long.
The important safety features of these ladders is that it has pointed feet. So they jab into the ground and you can gain a really strong footing. You have a V-shape at the top that rests against the tree. So that's also going to help with stability. And you have a safety chain here. This is a harness or a body belt that's marketed as a body belt. This wraps around your waist like this. And then you have a wire rope lanyard that wraps around the tree and hooks back on your other side. And that way you can lean back and free up your hands. The reason why I go for the wire rope lanyards is I do use a chainsaw at times, and the last thing you want to do is cut through your full restraint.
Other PPE to consider is a hard hat for head protection: you're going to be dropping branches above your head. You're going to want to try and avoid them but it doesn't always happen.
A pair of steel cap boots is also pretty important, and the gaiters is just snake protection walking around long grass.
If you're using a chainsaw, you'll need more than just a hard hat. You need a visor for eye protection and earmuffs for hearing protection. You also need some cut-proof, chainsaw chaps or cut-proof pants.
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Text on screen: Trees on Farms
Onscreen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Lift pruning – first lift
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Text on screen: Lift Pruning
Text on screen: Paul McKnight, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: First Lift
Paul McKnight: Here's a tree that we're going to perform a lift prune on. This will be the first lift, so I'm going to work up and down the tree, up to the 2.5 m mark, roughly. And work up my way all the way around the tree. Trying to work as efficiently as possible.
This set of loppers, the blade is on one side and the hook’s on the other side. You also notice that all the nuts on the bolts are sticking out on one side. So we want the nuts and the hook on the outside of the tree and the flusher side against the tree to minimise the risk of damage and to get nice and flusher cuts.
I like to start at the bottom of the tree and work up, so I don't fall any branches onto branches that I want to cut and then miss them later on.
You can see I've got the loppers flush against the tree for these little branches. Now, for this bigger branch, it's important to note the branch collar. So rather than trying to cut it flush with the stem of the tree, I'm actually going to cut it on an angle, very close to perpendicular with the branching direction. That way I'm avoiding cutting that branch collar, which the tree needs to then heal over the top of the wound. If I was to damage that branch collar, I would have to heal the branch collar before it can start occluding.
So I've got the loppers in position. Now, these loppers It can be counterintuitive. You might be tempted to push down on this handle when, in fact, to push that the blade down, you need to pull up on this handle. So I'm going to rotate them and then I'm going to pull up. So you can see that there's still a bit of branch collar, but there's minimal, there's minimal lip on top of the stub.
Now, I'll just continue pruning off these little branches up to as high as I can reach. With this branch here, I'm going to demonstrate using the handsaw. So just like this other branch, I need to be conscious of the branch collar. With a handsaw I'm going to make a bottom cut. So below, I'm going to keep it as level as possible. And I'm going to go up as high as possible before it starts pinching the blade. Then with my top cut, that cut is going to be lined up a little bit further out on the branch than the bottom cut. So once I cut far enough through, the branch will drop away without peeling the bark of the tree. Okay, I can feel that branch starting to pinch the blade. So I'm happy with how far thorough I've cut there. And now the top cut, It doesn't matter if you cut quite far out on the branch. You can tidy that up afterwards with the loppers. So I'm going to start cutting out here where I'm confident I'm not going to damage the stem once the cut has been made. So you can see there's a bit of a lip there for me to tidy up. I'm just going to use my loppers to do that. Actually, I could use the saw and just continue the bottom cut all the way up. But I do need to be careful once I get to the top, because I don't want to damage the stem.
There are some species of trees that you need to be very careful around the base, such as spotted gum. Often the branches will grow almost below the soil layer, so they're really easy to miss. So always check them down low.
So at the end, it's always important to check your work. Run your hand down the side and to check if you've missed anything. Or if what we call coat hangers, which are stubs that are sticking out, they're going to take longer to heal over.
And that's a complete first lift. Something to be careful of when you're pruning is, not to remove too much crown. The more foliage you take away from the tree, the less ability that tree has to grow. So every cut you make on the tree, you are weakening it to a certain degree and you are exposing it to disease getting in or insect attack. You want to minimise the cuts that you make.
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Text on screen: Trees on Farms
On screen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Lift pruning – second lift
[Upbeat music plays]
Text on screen: Lift Pruning
Text on screen: Paul McKnight, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Second Lift
Paul McKnight: Okay, so for the second lift prune I'm going to use a 2.4 m ladder. I'm looking, ideally I want to be on the higher side of the tree, so where the ground is highest against the stem. But I also want to be safe. So the ground is a bit lumpy here, the best I can do it's probably about here.
When you find your spot, it's really important to double check your footing. So I'm going to push that into the ground, and then I'm going to put a bit of force on that side to side to make sure it's not going to twist out on me. Now as soon as I'm high enough up the ladder, so I'm going to put the chain around the ladder and it just clips into a little hook on the other side. If I climb down the ladder now and just check, you can see I've actually put that on quite loosely, but it's not going anywhere. If I tried to put that on too tight, then it's actually more likely to jump out that hook.
So before I start cutting, I'm going to wrap the lanyard around the tree and hook it over my other hip. To adjust the length of this particular lanyard, you squeeze this mechanism and you can pull it through. So with the lanyard adjusted to this length, I can lean back, I've got a bit of space between me and the tree, so I'm not too cramped. And I could begin pruning the lower branches.
When you're pruning from a ladder, you're limited to your pruning position or to the way that you can hold the loppers, particularly when you get round to the back branches, because you cannot walk around the tree once you're up a ladder. So I'm just going to clear the branches that are directly above me for a start. And I can start moving up my ladder. And as I move up, the space between me and the tree, is reducing. So I can adjust the harness just by pulling it through. So I'm just going to continue cutting. Now, with these branches growing out the back of the tree, it takes a little bit of practice, but you can get used to using the loppers backwards. So I've got my hands around either side of the tree, and I can still use the loppers and still get a flush cut. It can be quite daunting using pruning from a ladder the first time, particularly on a windy day where the ladder is moving around just as the tree moves in the wind. But I'm confident with this set up that I'm not going to fall out.
Now I've got everything I can without cutting this big limb, without removing that first. Because I know I want to use another tool for it, which is the handsaw. This particular branch gives us a great example of what that branch collar looks like. It's actually, it's this whole area that bulges out at the base of the branch. We want to avoid cutting that, because not only will the tree have to heal over the top of the stub we're creating with the branch, but it will have to heal that branch collar as well before the branch, the knot, is fully occluded. So the idea is to cut the branch at about perpendicular or at 90 degree angle the direction of the branch is actually growing. Okay, so I found myself a comfortable position to approach this branch from. Generally, a position from the side of the branch is easier than directly underneath. And I'm going to start cutting. So I've put my bottom cut in as high as it will go, until the branch is pinching onto the blade. And I've tried to keep my cut nice and level as well. That will minimise the risk of the branch breaking off and peeling down one side of the branch and damaging the stem at the tree. Now I'm going to put my top cut in, a little bit further out from the bottom cut. And if you make your cuts right, that branch should just pop off the tree like that.
You don't want to be releasing your harness right away because you're at risk until, well, essentially until you've made it to the ground. But I'm going to climb down with the harness still engaged, and I'll just loosen it up as I go. And I'll release it here. Take the chain off. And that's a second lift completed.
It’s a temptation that the forest owner might have, would be to prune more trees. That's fine. There's a higher cost involved. It could be more aesthetically pleasing to the farmer, there needs to be an understanding that If you're doing it yourself, it's going to be a high time cost. If you're getting somebody else in to do it for you, there's going to be a higher cost there. It's more cost-effective to just target the best trees in your stand. A quarter to a third of those trees in the first lift is a pretty good guide to start with.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
On screen graphic: Agriculture Victoria logo
Lift pruning – pruning with a chainsaw
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Text on screen: Lift Pruning
Text on screen: Paul McKnight, Tree Storey P/L
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Text on screen: Pruning with a chainsaw
Paul McKnight: I've identified this tree as a tree that we want to include in our stocking for the first lift prune. It's the most dominant tree within this area. The form isn't too bad. There's a little bit of a wobble up there, but the tree will grow out of that.
The biggest issue with this tree is the large ramekin branch growing out the back. But, yeah, that branch is a bit too big for my loppers and my hand saw, so I'll use a chainsaw for that. But first I'm going to clear out all the small stuff that I can reach before cutting that with the chainsaw.
Okay, so I've cut all the branches that I can take with my loppers, which leaves this big branch for the chainsaw. I'm using a chainsaw now, so I need a bit more safety equipment. I've got earmuffs, visor and cut-proof chainsaw chaps. I'm going to put a back cut, a front cut, sorry. and then a back cut a little bit higher. So it drops out in that direction, and then I'll tidy the rest up afterwards.
Have to be very careful of that last cut to make sure that I didn't damage the stem, so I just took it very slowly. It's very easy to damage the tree with the chainsaw, just the slightest wrong move and you leave a pretty nasty wound that the tree would have to recover from.
Text on screen: Trees on Farms
On screen Graphics: Agriculture Victoria Logo