Thank you, Jamie! Appreciate the feedback. Blessings to you!

Thanks!

Thank you for watching and commenting! I'm glad the video could be of some help. If you're anything like me, you don't mind time spent in the woods running a chainsaw and improving the quality of your land. Best of luck with your project as well!

Thankfully, I truly enjoy going out and working in the woods, as I know you do! It will be a long term project, but one I always look forward to - especially at the end of a day at work indoors. My goal is often to just go out and run through one tank of gas.

Don't be too worried about the buckthorn. I had lots on my land 40 years ago and as the good trees grew the buckthorn was killed off by shade.

Ireland! The land of my ancestors! Thank you for watching and commenting - I really appreciate it. Blessings to you and yours.

+St. Isidore's Farm Irish are far and wide,keep up the good work you are blessed with that property, I'm living in concrete jungle but some day that will change lol,

It was a progression for us, from living downtown, to the suburbs, to further out of town, to now - finally being out in the country. So maybe some day will come sooner than later!

Yes, I can certainly call to mind all of the choicest trees on our property. Haven't named them - yet!

Welcome to our channel and all of our random farm "adventures." Thank you for subscribing. As to resources on tree health, we've found thing as a result of trying to figure out what was going on. The forest service has resources as does Ag Extension from NCSU. Most of what we have cleared is obviously damaged. As to the red oaks dying, the guys from forest department that came out to look at our woods said they're just weak trees and often just die. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Thanks! Happy to read that it makes someone happy. What a wonderful thing to say. The bridge has not washed out, and to our observations has little to no chance of ever doing so. It is about five feet above the small stream, and even in the heaviest and longest of rains, it doesn't rise more than a few inches. As to sapling coming back (for us it is maples and sweet gums), the only real way to permanently get rid of them is to completely remove the stump and roots. The next best bet would be to severely damage the stump/roots with some sort of axe or pick. Unless of course you're not opposed to a chemical approach like brush b gon - that would be another route. My view is that the farmer's work is never done. It is a constant battle against nature trying to reclaim the land. Thankfully, I enjoy the battle. :-) Thank you again for watching and commenting!

Must admit not paying as close attention to it in the past, but try to now. Understand not wanting to adjust sound levels with a video.

Great suggestion! Thanks!

Eye protection is even more important

Eye protection is mandatory, usually sunglasses for me.

Thanks! Central NC, but what friends who come to visit from Raleigh refer to as "Southern Virginia."

We're in the Piedmont area and have some land in south VA as well. The more work I do the more I see I have to do. Keep up the great videos!

Great question. We only have 10 acres of woodlands, but they are surrounded by unmanaged forests (at the time I write this) and pastures. When I suggest we are trying to manage for wildlife, it is by eliminating damaged saplings and trees that are not beneficial for either firewood or mast for deer and wild turkey. So we're trying to keep all of the acorn and nut producing trees, and trees that flower prolifically for our honeybees. On that point, it won't be long before we'll have 10 acres that will nearly be covered by acorns in the fall - which we hope will serve as a natural attractant. Additionally, some of the clearing is to allowing for shooting lanes for hunting. We did end up having two men from the NC Forest Service come out and both said to keep doing exactly what we were doing. Hope this helps! Thanks for watching and commenting. God bless!

The best way to get more deer is to cut down and remove big trees. The sunlight in those openings create the thickets of small growth which the deer can reach to eat and hiding places.

It seems counterintuitive to "cut-down" in order to improve a forest, but attend a few forestry classes at your local extension office and it will make more sense. It really depends on what your personal goals are for the property as to the extent of your management. Woods are very resilient but it does take time to happen so meeting with professionals from the division of forestry, department of natural resources, fish and game, wildlife biologists, etc. will help give the insight into what management strategies are right for your property :) There are a handful of free programs and even financial assistance to aid in maintaining, preserving, and establishing privately owned forest land!

I shouldn't? Any particular reason?

@@StIsidoresFarm Don't pay any attention to that nonsense about not owning a chainsaw. Anyone with a forest has to have one. The key is knowing when to use it and when not to use it. I like the Husky 353. Light enough to lug around but powerful enough to take down a 16 inch tree.