When was the last time you planted a million trees? Last year, it turns out! BC woodlots as a whole likely planted over 1 million trees last year (based on some rough math and assumptions). Woodlots are a great place to plant trees to sequester carbon, then cut them down and store carbon in your house as 2×6 studs and beautiful woodwork.
So, how do we find those rascally little seedlings to plant on our woodlots? Over the years the seedlings available on the open market have changed. With wildfires and reforestation programs, overruns are not necessarily available. Here is what you need to know.
- You can plant your own seed. Well, likely not your own seed – you can purchase seed from the Surrey Seed Bank (MoF) or from private seed suppliers. This can all be done online through SPAR. Get your forester to do your ordering. The seed you choose directly impacts your annual allowable cut. When you redo your inventory, if you consistently use Class A seed with a high genetic worth, your AAC will increase.
Keep in mind, you will need to sow your seed at least the year before you want to plant. Here are your timing windows:
- If you spring plant, you’ll need to order your trees 18-20 months prior to planting so the nursery can sow the seed a year before you plant.
- If you plant in the summer then you can order the fall before planting and the nursery sows the seed early in the new year.
- If you fall plant, then your trees are likely sown early in the same year you plant.
In BC we plant over 200 million seedlings a year, so get your order in early – nurseries fill up fast growing all these trees!
- You can purchase overruns. As any gardener knows, if you want a certain amount of tomato seedlings, you sow more seed than you need. The same concept applies to tree seedlings. If a nursery takes an order of 1,000 seedlings, they sow more than 1,000 seeds, for example they sow 1,500 seeds. After the seeds germinate and are about 2-5 cm tall, the nursery thins so there is only one germinate per plug. Then they let them grow, in optimum conditions. At the end of the growing season, there may be 1,400 seedlings growing. When the seedlings get lifted (removed from the plug) they get measured. If they are too short, or the height to diameter ratio is off, the seedlings get culled. The purchaser gets 1,000 of the remaining seedlings, any leftovers are called overruns. The original purchaser has the option to purchase the overruns. If the purchaser decides to not purchase the overruns, they are resold.
These trees become available a few months before planting.
- There is another option, you can negotiate a log purchase agreement that includes planting, and while you are at it, see if they’ll do your waste and residue survey as well. Major Forest Licensees (usually owners of mills) will have a reforestation program and already have seedlings available to plant. For a price they will include the reforestation service into the log purchase and allocate some of their trees to your woodlot.
How do I do that? Well, if you know when you are logging, you can get your forester to order seed and organize a nursery to grow those trees for you. The benefits are that you get to pick your seed (look for the genetic worth) and the location to pick up the seedlings.
If you want to buy overruns, you might find lots of options, or none at all. Some years, especially when log markets are good or Forest For Tomorrow has a large area to plant, overruns are hard to find. Other years, there are lots of options. You may find overruns need to be shipped from a far away location which may add to your cost.
Keep in mind that planting is all about timing. If you rely on overruns, you may miss a planting season, but if you can’t plan your harvesting two years ahead, then you may not have trees ready to plant at the right time.
Remember how your AAC will increase if you consistently use the best Class A seed you can buy? Well, your delay between harvest and planting also impacts your AAC. More than anything else, your cut is impacted by your silviculture regime. It is kind of like a savings account, if there isn’t any money in the account, it’s hard to earn interest. If you don’t have trees in the ground, your block isn’t growing trees, and without growing trees, there isn’t volume accumulating on the block.
So, where can you find overruns? Reach out to the Nurseries. There are a number in BC. I’d give you a list, but then I might miss someone, so I’ll give you a link to the Forest Nursery Association of BC website https://www.fnabc.com. They’ve got a list of 2022-2023 Industry Members (https://www.fnabc.com/_files/ugd/2d5091_35d81e8b2ad943528e073ca00ffdc88b.pdf ) You could also call your local mill. They might have seedlings looking for a new home. Community Forests are also a source. Pull out that old address book and make some calls, you never know who’s got tree stock they have no ground to plant.