The silvicultural operations cover the activities associated with the management of the plantation from the initial planning activities through to harvesting and replanting of the forest. The Trees4Trees™ team work with the program’s tree growers to apply the silviculture principles most appropriate to the site and the tree grower’s management intent.

To maximize returns to growers through the reduction in rotation length and the production of high grade timber, some intensive silvicultural operations can be implemented by the forest manager to produce ‘target trees’ i.e. a tree which meets or betters the standard requirement for sale into a specific market.

Primary criteria may include maximum or minimum log length and diameter, tolerances for taper, spiral grain, sweep and sapwood, allowable and not allowable defects may include rot, pith and shake and wood density requirements. Different tree species and different product markets will require different criteria to be achieved in a ‘target tree’. The Trees4Trees™ team can assist tree growers with the ‘target tree’ requirements for the various tree species that are promoted through the Trees4Trees™ program.

The Trees4Trees™ team develop training materials and resources for assisting tree growers to undertake the following silvicultural operations:

Tree planting and Establishment – techniques are outlined to maximize planting survival and encourage successful occupation of the planting site through good weed control.
Form pruning - is used to maintain a single leader or apical dominance of the tree.
Tree selection - trees are selected based on criteria including species, form, dominance spacing and stocking. Trees possessing the desired characteristics are retained in the stand to grow on whilst others are removed through thinning operations.
Thinning - trees are removed from the stand to produce a stand of desirable trees which will grow at optimum rates to produce target trees.
Lift pruning -  is undertaken to remove tree branches from the trunk of the tree to a specific height. Lift pruning is undertaken in tree species which do not shed their branches to increase the volume of clear grade timber which is free of defects associated with branches and or knots.