Organic Forestry

Ak84

We are going to plant a sizable portion of the farm. 20 hectares.
Reading up on the maintenance of a new forest, it seems to involve a lot of herbicide to control weeds.
I would rather not have the likes of glyphosate or any toxic chemicals sprayed if it could be helped.
Is there such a thing as an organic forest, or is there organic farmers who have planted and what have they done.
I can only. Think of a thick mulch on the floor to keep weeds down. I keep. Looking at 50 or so 2019 silage bales.

Accidentally

I never used any herbicides, just planted into mounds and let nature take its course. Patches of brambles for the first 10 years, but these died out as the canopy filled out. Just spring flowers and ferns now.

Vittu

Depends on what the land was used for previously. If it was farmed and received fertiliser and slurry the grass will swamp the trees and kill them. The cost/time it would take to put mulch around approx 60K trees would deem it not practical.

In reality if it was been farmed progressively for the last few years we say another, 2-3 years of a small amount of herbicide is not really going to matter in the greater scheme of things.

Manual grass cleaning with a slash hook is another option, will be expensive and might need to be done twice a year.