How do we reforest?

Every spring, in a race against frost, drought, and snowdrifts, we reforest felled forest stands. This year, IP forest managers will reforest around 200 hectares and plant approximately 800,000 seedlings, mainly pine, spruce, and birch.

Forestation is the responsibility of every forest owner, and it is up to the owner to decide which method of reforestation to choose, taking into account the natural conditions and circumstances.

On infertile sandy and sandy loam soils, there is little choice. Only pine and birch trees grow here. Maturity is mostly reached by pure pine forests, as birch matures 40 years earlier and is either cut down or declines on its own. There is no viable undergrowth here because pine and birch are light-demanding trees and do not grow under the crowns. Herbaceous cover includes blueberry and lingonberry, sedges, ferns in wetter habitats, and lichens in the most infertile and driest areas. Under these conditions, reforestation is usually carried out in a classical way. In the second year after felling, pine trees are planted in prepared soil in the furrows, at the bottom of the furrow. Planting in the second year is necessary because in the first year after felling, pine weevils, which like to eat the bark of the young seedlings – and may even eat half of the bark of the young seedlings – will grow on the still green stumps of the pine tree, which will mean extra work and costs for the owner. It is possible to restore a pine forest without planting – seed trees (20-50 per hectare) should be left behind when cutting down the birch, and also bagged and waited for to self-seed. Alternatively, mature pine forests can be harvested selectively instead of clear-cutting, i.e., selecting and felling the poorest trees, evenly leaving about 100 of the best trees per hectare, and scarifying the site, with the expectation that it will regenerate within 5-7 years. The remaining pine trees can then be felled.

The situation is different in the more fertile and productive areas, where spruce and oak grow well. Elm, maple, alder, and birch are more comfortable here than in the sand and grow much more vigorous trees. In addition to the “good” trees, or rather the economically valuable tree species, aspen, alder, sycamore, blind, birch, linden, rowan, hazel, and a wide range of smaller shrubs, as well as raspberries, and a large number of broad-leaved grasses do very well in the more fertile habitats. For example, in a mixed conifer and deciduous forest, if you put off reforestation work for a year, if it was harvested in the winter, you will find, come autumn, a stand of soft deciduous trees 2-3 meters high, so dense that it will be difficult to get through in places. Root regeneration power is extremely strong! Aspen and alder grow fastest. So, after winter felling, such a site should be scarified and replanted. If you scarify in autumn, planting will be possible the following spring.

Planting in unscarified soil is popular in Žemaitija (Samogitia). Its rationale is to save seedlings, as some parts of the birch forest have promising undergrowth – young trees such as spruce, birch, and oak that have grown up on their own – and do not need to be planted there. If there is a lot of undergrowth, this is not planting, it is supporting self-regeneration. But in cases where self-seeding does not take place, or has not taken place at sufficient intensity, seedlings will have to be planted when the reforestation deadline comes.