I have planted many trees in different areas of my property. I have found what works good for me is to intercrop a mix of trees so you,(or the next generation) can remove trees years down the road, leaving your sweet maples eventually. Some trees can help with the nutrient needs of your maples. Also at 30' spacing, it is hard to keep a good central stem & not end up with a bush instead of a tree.
35 years making syrup.
President of Ohio maple producers
4000 taps today...hopefully 5000 soon with some high yields tapped in 10 years?
Leader Dealer
Mountain cur for a woods partner
4' is not enough to protect from deer damage. If a deer doesn't have to lift its forefeet off the ground, to get over the barrier you've put the best part of the tree where it will see it and smell it. 5' minimum for tree tubes to protect from deer.
Last edited by Cedar Eater; 04-17-2018 at 11:15 PM.
CE
44° 41′ 3″ N
2019 -- 44 Red Maples - My home and sugarbush are for sale.
2018 -- 48 Red Maples, 7 gallons
2017 -- 84 Red Maples, 1 Sugar Maple, and 1 Silver Maple , 13 gallons
2016 -- 55 Red Maples, 8 gallons
2015 -- 15 Red Maples, 6 Birches - 3+ gallons maple syrup
An awning over my deck is my sugar shack.
An electrified kitchen sink and an electrified steam table pan are my evaporators.
The "ideal" spacing is typically 25'-35' depending on the literature, slope of land, etc. A diamond pattern will be the most efficient per acre. Perfect 30' diamond pattern spacing yields about 64 trees per acre.
A 35'-36' square grid has a diagonal distance across the grid of 50', planting an offset row in the middle would create an imperfect diamond pattern at about 72 trees per acre.
Remember, sugar maples like drier soils. Drainage will significantly affect the growth rate and survival of sugars, Reds are obviously more forgiving. Some sugars planted in NH were ready in about 27 years and are now 15" across dbh, others (wetter) are still not there after 36 years.
A family of maple heads
Father has over 15,000 taps
Brother has 2,000 taps
I'm just the help!!
I would tend to "overplant" on a closer spacing just because you can never predict what disaster might happen. Some years ago we did some very nice thinning in a mixed species stand, and it was beautiful, but a year later we had the great ice storm of '98. 20% of the perfect trees in that stand were severely damaged or completely destroyed, leaving large gaps that took a decade to fill in. In a hand planted sugar-bush, I would want a little bit of excess.
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