More Pine Trees Than Palm Trees!

 David: 

 

Step 1. Clear the land.

The natural growth in the sandy souls of the Florida Panhandle includes scrubby pines. The first step to creating a pine tree farm is to clear the land. Bulldozers and backhoes are used. There are lots of signs advertising stump grinding services. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2. Prepare the rows.

Just like farming any other crop, farmers prepare rows for their new trees. When I lived here in the 1970s, farmers would rent their land to flower growers for 2 years before planting pine trees. The fertilizer applied to the soils for flowers allowed the pine trees to grow as large in 18 years as they did in 20 years without the fertilizers. However, the faster growth made the trees weaker. The fabricators who make trusses out of pine have had to recalculate their designs to achieve the same load bearing capacity. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From this angle, this looks like a field of free growing scrub pine.

 

 

 

 

Standing in the same place but turning a quarter turn reveals the straight rows of a stand of pine getting closer to harvest.