It's nice to get some aggressive growers', says Andy. Andy prunes lower limbs from the hardwood trunks every spring, giving him the branch-free trunks he needs to grow clear hardwood saw logs. Andy highlights a vigorous black cherry with a nicely pruned trunk. This tree species prefers lots of sunlight but still needs shelter and light competition from nearby poplars to grow straight and tall. It is very important that the hardwoods compete with the nearby poplar, and the other hardwoods, for sunlight.
Light competition helps force the hardwoods to grow in a straight up direction.
Poplar also protects the hardwoods from wind that hampers upward growth. If the poplar rows are too far apart, the hardwoods, especially walnut, will grow wide and branched, instead of upwards. The suckers take time to remove every spring, plus they can wreck the wood quality if sprouting continues. Similar undesirable trunk sprouting happens to hardwood trees that are left standing in a woodlot after over-harvesting. Adding more shade by adding some conifers to the site would also help shade off the lower trunks, reducing sprouting.