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private landowner, Eleanor McCain Late November 2024, I planted 5 seedlings in a forested region east of Birmingham, at the base of the Cheaha Mountains. Elevation of this planting is between 1,200 and 1,300 feet. A nearby site between 1,400 and 1,500 foot elevation is where more seedlings (or seeds directly) will be planted, beginning with the 30 North Carolina seeds I also received in November. If more seeds become available in future years, I will likely plant in groups throughout about 30 acres.
ABOVE: These 3 pictures show the forest where the 5 seedings are. All probably about 30 to 50 feet apart. You can see the elevation change. The first image is the east-facing slope, second is the south-facing slope showing up to the crest, and the third faces northwest. The grade varies, from 12 to 15 degrees. It is a mixed hardwood forest of oaks, sweetgum, tulip poplar, and hickory, along with an occasional pine. The canopy is thus open in winter, filtered in summer. (I plan to open around the seedings somewhat.) The understory is open, with lots of Christmas fern. Some greenbriar, hydrangea, sassafras, and buckeye, too. In the 1910s, this area was a severely disturbed mining site for graphite. What is there now seems to be a natural forest progression, and without interventions since then. There was a 9-gauge railway in the area used for hauling out ore. The area is private and not easily accessible.
ABOVE: The 5 seedlings are all between 35 and 50 feet apart. Each is sited under or among the evergreen fern leaves, contained in a tree tube that is staked and secured. The soil is a mixed clay loam, seems to drain well, and has a lot of rocks in it.
ABOVE: A seedling prior to encasement in a tree tube, and a downward look at another seedling through a tube.
We have finished planting all 35 seeds.
We extended beyond the original area where the seedlings were placed, and then planted on a facing slope that was toward the south.
We used more mid to lower slopes, as you suggested, while planting just on the slopes.
Each seed planted is an average of 30 feet from the next, and I estimate having planted 6 to 7 seeds per acre. We have thus covered 4 to 5 acres.
PHOTO LEFT: A close-up of the white threads of mychorrizal fungi, which are prevalent around all the Christmas ferns.
ABOVE: Samples of the areas we planted seeds into.
ABOVE: This is how we protected each seed from rodent predation.
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