Combining Natural and Planted Regeneration Large clearcuts are becoming less socially acceptable. Planting does not require a clearcut, and many plantings that begin with well-spaced trees are complicated by natural seeding anyway. Professional forest managers and woodland owners may want to consider combining natural and artificial methods, to gain the advantages of each and mitigate the negative effects. With careful planning, natural regeneration from seed trees selected for form, species and stability can be supplemented with planting to increase species diversity, introduce genetic improvements, and improve overall regeneration success. Many potential variations could help meet our increasingly complex expectations for forest lands in an economically and environmentally acceptable manner.
Foresters consider the time of timber harvest as a beginning.
It provides an opportunity to have a hand in shaping the future forest. Landowners and professional land managers need to have all the information they can and understand the advantages and disadvantages of alternative strategies. Selecting the best regeneration strategy is a silvicultural decision that needs to be made before beginning any other activities that may limit your alternatives.