A high quality red oak in need of release.
Now that the fall foliage season is in the rear view it is time to get back in the wood to look at trees in a different light (be sure to put on your hunter orange). As the leaves fall they reveal much more than can be seen during the summer months. Many people see winter as a stagnant period, where we need to hunker down and wait for spring, but I like to get out and see what the leaves have been hiding. The overstory of a maturing forest is a place of vigorous competition. Trees battle for dominance in able to receive the most sunlight. It is easy to see the winners in this competition when the leaves aren't on the trees.
Crop tree release diagram shown from above. The green circle is the crop tree.
Assessing crown competition can be difficult if you don't know what to look for or what you're looking at. The first step is to find a tree with a nice straight stem and few lower limbs, preferably a red oak, or sugar maple. This tree is likely a good candidate. Once you've find a healthy tree take a look at where the crown begins and how wide it is. Are the limbs touching another tree? Does that other tree have a smaller or thinning crown? Would it benefit the healthier tree to remove that tree? Is the healthier tree above the other trees nearby? Keep in mind that you don't need to remove all of the surrounding trees in order to accomplish your goal. Removing just one or two may be all you need to do. The diagram to the right shows the view from above would look if you were a bird flying over a hardwood release. If you work with a forester, ask him or her to join you on your woodlot to mark firewood in an area where higher quality trees will benefit from the removal of poorly formed or damaged hardwoods.