Austrian pine, with its robust form and bluish-green needles is a popular ornamental tree in landscapes across much of the United States. Although the trees can live 100 years or more, there often comes a time when an Austrian pine needs to be removed. Knowing the best time and proper technique for harvesting your Austrian pines will help ensure the process goes smoothly. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore when and how to harvest Austrian pines for lumber, firewood or complete tree removal.
Why Harvest Austrian Pines?
There are several reasons you may need to cut down an Austrian pine
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The tree is declining from old age, disease, or pest infestation. Removing it before it dies prevents safety hazards.
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The tree has become too large for its location interfering with buildings utilities, or sight lines.
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You want to thin woods or clear land for construction, grazing, or crops.
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The pine is mature and you want to mill lumber or harvest firewood.
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Storm damage or other hazards make the tree unsafe.
Regardless of why you’re removing the tree, proper technique and timing are vital.
When is the Best Time to Cut Down an Austrian Pine?
Target the dormant season, ideally in late fall to early spring, to minimize sap flow and stress:
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Fall: Trees are losing leaves and entering dormancy after the growing season. Sap flow is slowing down. Weather is still mild for work.
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Winter: Sap flow is lowest during full dormancy. However, frozen soil and harsh weather can complicate logging.
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Early spring: Sap rise hasn’t begun yet. The tree uses minimal energy with cool temperatures.
Avoid cutting in late spring through summer when sap flow peaks, taxing the tree’s energy reserves. Heat and insect pressure also make logging more difficult.
Preparing to Harvest Your Austrian Pine
Proper planning and preparation ensures an efficient, safe tree harvest:
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Survey the tree and site to identify hazards like power lines or structures.
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Contact utilities to shut off any lines at risk of being damaged during removal.
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Clear brush and obstacles from around the pine to allow equipment access.
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Plan equipment needs and crew requirements for the tree’s size.
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Check weather forecasts to pick a date with favorable conditions.
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Notify nearby residents of removal activities that may temporarily impact access or cause noise.
Technique for Safely Cutting Down Austrian Pines
When dealing with large mature pines, it’s highly advisable to hire professional loggers or arborists. If tackling the work yourself, adhere to these guidelines:
1. Personal Protective Equipment
Use chainsaw chaps, helmet, gloves, steel-toe boots, and safety glasses.
2. Prepare the Escape Path
Clear a retreat path away from the expected falling direction.
3. Face Cuts and Back Cut
Make a notch 1/3 of the way into the trunk on the falling side. Finish with a horizontal back cut on the opposite side to control the tree’s descent.
4. Wedge Cuts
Use wedges or a jack to control fall direction.
5. Limbing and Bucking
Once felled, remove branches and cut logs into movable lengths.
Harvesting the Timber
Austrian pine produces decent timber for construction. Properly milling the logs preserves their value:
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Use mobile sawmills or haul logs to a professional mill.
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Cut planks immediately after harvest to avoid checking and splits as wood dries.
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Store milled lumber stacked horizontally on sticks in a dry, covered area.
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Sticker stack properly so airflows between each layer.
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Allow sufficient drying time based on plank thickness before use, about one year per inch.
Producing Firewood from Austrian Pine
With high resin content, Austrian pine makes excellent firewood. Follow these tips for processing firewood from your harvested pines:
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Cut logs into shorter segmentsto fit your woodstove or fireplace.
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Split rounds soon after felling while still green and easier to work.
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Stack split wood criss-crossed in a dry spot with good airflow to season.
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Give the firewood 12-18 months to dry adequately before burning.
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Get your firewood spit tested for optimal 15-20% moisture content.
Disposing Unusable Wood and Debris
It’s important to properly handle pine harvesting waste:
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Chip unusable trunks and branches for mulch or biomass fuel.
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Haul logs unfit for milling or firewood to a waste recovery facility.
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Never dump pine waste illegally – it can spread pests and diseases to other trees.
With some planning and care, you can make the most of your Austrian pine trees when the time comes to harvest them. Following best practices for timing and technique will help the project go smoothly and safely.
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Reproduction and Early Growth
Flowering and Fruiting- European black pine is monoecious, with staminate (microsporangiate) and ovulate (megasporangiate) strobili borne separately on the same tree (67). Staminate strobili, clustered at the base of new shoots, mostly on older lateral branches in the lower crown, are cylindrical, short-stalked, bright yellow, about 2 cm (0.8 in) long with numerous scales, and contain pollen in great quantity (12,49,52).
One or two ovulate strobili (conelets) emerge near the end of the new growth of terminal and lateral branches; they are cylindrical, small, bright red, and short-stalked or sessile (12,49,67). Pollen dispersal and conelet receptivity occur from May to June. Individual ovulate conelets are receptive for the pollen for only about 3 days, however (67). After pollen dispersal, the staminate strobili dry and fall within several weeks. The scales of the ovulate strobili close within a few days of pollination, and the conelets begin a slow developmental process. At the beginning of the second growing season, the ovulate strobili are only about 2 cm (0.8 in) long (47). Fertilization takes place in the spring or early summer about 13 months after pollination, and the cones, now turned green in color begin to grow rapidly from about May until maturity in the fall (67).
The fruit, a tough, coarse, woody, yellow-green cone during the pre-ripening second summer, changes to shiny yellow-brown to light brown at maturity from September to November of the second growing season (12,49,52). Cones are descending, sessile, ovoid, and 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3 in) long. Cone scales are shiny, thickened at the apex, and end in a short spine on the dorsal umbo.
Minimum seed bearing age is 15 to 40 years (40,52,67). In England, black pine from Corsican sources produce their first heavy cone crops at ages 25 to 30 years and reach maximum production between 60 and 90 years of age (27). The interval between large cone crops is 2 to 5 years.
Seed Production and Dissemination- Seeds are dispersed from October through November of the second growing season. Seeds are reddish brown, often mottled, 6.4 mm (0.25 in) long at one end of a membranous wing 19 mm (0.75 in) long (49). Two winged seeds are produced on the upper surface of each scale of the cone except for those at the tip and base.
Seeds are extracted from harvested cones by air-drying for 3 to 10 days or kiln-drying at 46° C (115° F) for 24 hours. Sound seeds are separated from empty seeds by flotation in 95 percent ethanol (31). The number of sound seeds per cone in Austrian black pine ranges from 30 to 40, of which 15 to 20 are germinable (67).
Cleaned seeds average 57,300 per kilogram (26,000/lb) with a range from 30,900 to 86,000/kg (14,000 to 39,000/lb). Seeds from the Crimea, Turkey, and Cyprus tend to be the largest, ranging from 38,600 to 45,900/kg (17,500 to 20,800/lb), and those from Corsica the smallest, ranging from 61,700 to 79,400/kg (28,000 to 36,000/lb) (31,67).
Seedling Development- European black pine is easily grown from seed and transplants well. Fresh seeds require no pre-sowing stratification; but stored seeds can be cold-stratified up to 60 days to hasten germination. Ninety-nine percent germination was obtained from seeds stored 10 years in closed containers at 6.6 percent moisture content (ovendry-weight basis) at 0° to 2° C (32° to 36° F). No loss of viability occurred in seeds stored in sealed containers at room temperature after 2 years. Storage at moisture contents as low as 2 percent or as high as 12 percent, however, was detrimental to seeds stored for long periods (25). A light period of 8 hours at 30° C (86° F) and a dark period of 20° C (68° F) for 16 hours is recommended for germination (24). Germination is epigeal (31). Seeds from Corsican sources tend to germinate more slowly than those from Austria and Calabria (55).
In nurseries, nonstratified seeds are sown in the fall or spring, at a density to obtain 540 to 650 seedlings per square meter (50 to 60/ft²). Seeds should be sown at a depth of 13 to 19 mm (0.5 to 0.75 in).
Black pine seedlings can be produced in peat-perlite containers using low rates of fertilizers (e.g. Osmocote 18N-2.6P-10K) (1). Experiments with 3-year-old nursery seedlings from 27 different European provenance locations demonstrated that nitrogen and manganese ion uptake was significantly enhanced, but that uptake of potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, boron, zinc, and aluminum ions was suppressed by 45 percent urea (33). Application of a pre-emergence herbicide was found to enhance mycorrhizal formation in nursery-grown seedlings (61).
In Germany, seedlings of all provenances of black pine from Corsica, Spain, and southern France suffered severe frost damage in the nursery, and those from southern Italy suffered some damage; but seedlings from eastern provenances (Austria, Yugoslavia, Greece, and Cyprus) were undamaged (54). Experience in the United States strongly suggests that black pine seed be obtained from the Balkan Peninsula or from the Crimea, for improved winter hardiness (32).
Nursery-grown seedlings are commonly field-planted as 2-0, 2-1, or 2-2 seedlings. Field-plantable seedlings can be greenhouse grown in containers in 9 months following a predetermined schedule of temperature, moisture, relative humidity, and nutrient application (62).
In England, germination success of direct-sown Corsican black pine seed was found to be strongly dependent on aspect; satisfactory germination was achieved on north-facing slopes on young sand dunes nearest the sea (27). Newly germinated seedlings suffered very heavy losses from voles and rabbits but became unpalatable to them within 2 months.
Vegetative Reproduction- At present, grafting is the most common method for vegetatively propagating European black pine. Needle fascicles have been rooted, but only fascicles from 1-year-old short shoots on young (5-year-old) plants were able to form callus or to root. Propagation by cuttings and air-layering has not been reported.
The side graft method is the usual practice, but cleft and veneer grafts can also be used. Grafting is done on actively growing stock, and removal of the stock by pruning must be gradual after scion growth begins.
Stock-scion incompatibility in black pine is not a serious problem, especially if the stock and the scion are of the same race. Black pine can be grafted onto Pinus sylvestris, P. resinosa, P. khasya, P. montana, P. mugo, and P. contorta; but semi-incompatibility has been found with P. ponderosa, P. radiata, and P. armandii (67).
Research in Yugoslavia indicates that a wide range of auxin concentrations, can promote the development of rootable plantlets from shoot tip explants (30).
Plant Trees Like An Arborist- Avoid This Common BIG MISTAKE!
FAQ
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