The harvest can be planned to occur in any year and the seedling availability can be scheduled to coincide. In contrast, natural seeding success depends on harvest activities that coincide with a good seed year and that provide specific seedbed conditions. Insects, rodents, birds or diseases affect both natural seeding and planting. In addition big-game, cattle and human error can be serious problems with planted trees. These problems are compounded with planting because the investment is so much more than with natural regeneration.
Planting is a very complex activity.
It begins long before the seedlings go into the ground and ends only after several years of maintenance during establishment. There are many opportunities for failure during seed collection, nursery production, shipping, storage, field handling, planting and maintenance. Nevertheless, planting is a more certain alternative for regenerating a forest and is the only method available in some situations. Planting is favored on the best forest sites where future returns can justify the investment, or on any site where social values justify the costs beyond the value of the timber products. Social values include the development or improvement of wildlife habitat, mitigating visual impacts and conservation plantings to control erosion and improve water quality.