Awesome video. No truer words spoken than at 3:37. We have cedar trees that we have chosen not to disturb and haven't regretted it. Our whitetails love the habits as evidenced by all the sheds we have found under them over the years. And our mantle over our fireplace is a cedar beam from our property, casualty of a walnut harvest. As with anything in moderation and balance, it is good.
Just about every one out where I live hate eastern red cedar. I love them though. I think they add a wonderful contrast to the rest of the vegetation and sometimes can add a bit of magic to the woods.
Excellent video, friend! My brother recently bought a beautiful property in the Ozarks of Missouri. Many beautiful eastern cedars on his property are healthy. However, due to the density of cedars in certain areas, many are dying off from the ground up whilst hanging on to some foliage near the canopy.
Thanks for the input. It's actually pretty common for cedars to lose their branches in dense stands; they only stay green with direct access to sunlight. Even a lone cedar will turn brown from the inside out, leaving only a green shell. It doesn't necessarily mean the tree is unhealthy, just that they don't bother putting effort into branches that don't see sun.
@@ozarkoutsider Thanks for the quick reply. It's a family farm with amazing potential. We love the cedars for fencing and a multitude of other projects but wanting to preserve all that we can. The land is rich but has been neglected and as a result, a multitude of cedars have popped up and are crowding each other out. Would you suggest clearing many of them out to promote healthy trees and landscape?
I'd advise clearing them IF you have a plan for what comes next. Cedars are good at controlling weedy/brushy undergrowth, and when a large block are removed you can get an unmanageable mess for a while as new things pop up, especially if you have woody invasive plants in the area. So if you know what you want to do (plant a series of good hardwood saplings, keep it mowed/grazed/burned as a grassland), then yeah, clear them. If they're really dense but you still want the cedar cover, you can at least them them out and take off all the lower dead branches to give you something more like a pine grove. Have fun!
Cedar sawn into one and two inch thick boards is bringing 3-4$ per board foot in VA. That is great money especially if you own the logs you are sawing. :)
All invasive species are non-native, but all non-native species are not invasive. I am a bit confused because I thought that if a plant is native it can’t be invasive because all invasive plants are non-native.
From our perspective, the point of the video is that the native/non-native divide is too simplistic and not very useful in many real-world management settings. Honeybees are invasive, but highly beneficial, and few people would advocate for eradicating them. Cedars are native, but present serious challenges for land managers. To us, it's more important to decide whether a given species' role in its landscape and ecosystem is beneficial or problematic than to focus solely on its origin.
It is classified as invasive where I am even though it is a native species. The wildfires that once kept it in check are no longer a factor, allowing it to take over an area quickly.
Red Cedar is not invasive! Life is evolving we used to have millions of bison that would keep the prairies well PRAIRIES, but without the bison the trees will expand and Red Cedar are drought resistant
To us, the point is that humans are inextricably tangled up in these patterns. European settlers not only removed most of the bison, but suppressed the larger-scale fires (often set intentionally by Native Americans) that maintained the "natural" prairies and woodlands of the Ozarks and surrounding areas. This removal of a longer-term control created an opening for cedars to drastically expand their range and become functionally invasive. A landscape dominated by cedars is not "natural" but very much human-created, which is why so many public and private land managers emphasize cedar removal in places where their goal is restoration to a more diverse ecosystem.
Mature cedars are not good wildlife cover. Particularly not the stands you showed in this video. Those stands are biological deserts. No real cover down at the level where wildlife lives and zero food production potential. Sure, animals will pass through simply because it's in their way. In addition, it animals are using them to any degree, it's just because there is nothing better around. Last but certainly not least, in the Ozarks, lots of areas that are covered with cedars were historically glades or savannas. Those habitats were extremely rich food and cover producing areas for wildlife. They both can be restored relatively easily by cutting all the cedars and then reinstating a regular fire rotation. Fire was also historically common in the ozarks, it's elimination is the cause of cedar encroachment to begin with. .
Yes to all of this, which is why we work hard to remove cedars on our property and why we have several videos on using wood chippers to get more value out of cedar removal. We (and most land managers here) consider cedars one of the greatest challenges and barriers to better management.
![Eastern Red Cedar [ Juniperus virginiana ] // Native Plant Profile](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/0k_-fS9h858/mqdefault.jpg)
Awesome video. No truer words spoken than at 3:37. We have cedar trees that we have chosen not to disturb and haven't regretted it. Our whitetails love the habits as evidenced by all the sheds we have found under them over the years. And our mantle over our fireplace is a cedar beam from our property, casualty of a walnut harvest. As with anything in moderation and balance, it is good.
Thanks for watching! Glad you're enjoying your habitat.
But the maples scream oppression as the oaks just shake their heads.
Good video! Didn't expect a Rush reference haha
Just about every one out where I live hate eastern red cedar. I love them though. I think they add a wonderful contrast to the rest of the vegetation and sometimes can add a bit of magic to the woods.
I love the Rush lyric. And, I love red cedars. My mother uses the berries for flavoring certain dishes!
Yes, I've used them in a game marinade in place of store-bought juniper berries.
Excellent video, friend! My brother recently bought a beautiful property in the Ozarks of Missouri. Many beautiful eastern cedars on his property are healthy. However, due to the density of cedars in certain areas, many are dying off from the ground up whilst hanging on to some foliage near the canopy.
Thanks for the input. It's actually pretty common for cedars to lose their branches in dense stands; they only stay green with direct access to sunlight. Even a lone cedar will turn brown from the inside out, leaving only a green shell. It doesn't necessarily mean the tree is unhealthy, just that they don't bother putting effort into branches that don't see sun.
@@ozarkoutsider Thanks for the quick reply. It's a family farm with amazing potential. We love the cedars for fencing and a multitude of other projects but wanting to preserve all that we can. The land is rich but has been neglected and as a result, a multitude of cedars have popped up and are crowding each other out. Would you suggest clearing many of them out to promote healthy trees and landscape?
I'd advise clearing them IF you have a plan for what comes next. Cedars are good at controlling weedy/brushy undergrowth, and when a large block are removed you can get an unmanageable mess for a while as new things pop up, especially if you have woody invasive plants in the area. So if you know what you want to do (plant a series of good hardwood saplings, keep it mowed/grazed/burned as a grassland), then yeah, clear them. If they're really dense but you still want the cedar cover, you can at least them them out and take off all the lower dead branches to give you something more like a pine grove. Have fun!
This video is perfect, it covers everything
Thank you! Hope you'll check out some of our other content.
Good thing the Cedars had no union to demand equal rights. I'm right down the road in AR. I subbed just from the the Rush quote.
The cedars are certainly taking up all our light. Welcome!
Cedar sawn into one and two inch thick boards is bringing 3-4$ per board foot in VA. That is great money especially if you own the logs you are sawing. :)
All invasive species are non-native, but all non-native species are not invasive. I am a bit confused because I thought that if a plant is native it can’t be invasive because all invasive plants are non-native.
From our perspective, the point of the video is that the native/non-native divide is too simplistic and not very useful in many real-world management settings. Honeybees are invasive, but highly beneficial, and few people would advocate for eradicating them. Cedars are native, but present serious challenges for land managers. To us, it's more important to decide whether a given species' role in its landscape and ecosystem is beneficial or problematic than to focus solely on its origin.
@@ozarkoutsider that is true, non-native species do sometimes actually have positive effects on ecosystems.
It is classified as invasive where I am even though it is a native species. The wildfires that once kept it in check are no longer a factor, allowing it to take over an area quickly.
@@karlrovey oh wow
@karlrovey
What state or province are you in?
Thanks.
Rush all day !
There's troubles in the forest...
Red Cedar is not invasive! Life is evolving we used to have millions of bison that would keep the prairies well PRAIRIES, but without the bison the trees will expand and Red Cedar are drought resistant
To us, the point is that humans are inextricably tangled up in these patterns. European settlers not only removed most of the bison, but suppressed the larger-scale fires (often set intentionally by Native Americans) that maintained the "natural" prairies and woodlands of the Ozarks and surrounding areas. This removal of a longer-term control created an opening for cedars to drastically expand their range and become functionally invasive. A landscape dominated by cedars is not "natural" but very much human-created, which is why so many public and private land managers emphasize cedar removal in places where their goal is restoration to a more diverse ecosystem.
@@ozarkoutsiderexcellent answer
Thank you!
Mature cedars are not good wildlife cover. Particularly not the stands you showed in this video. Those stands are biological deserts. No real cover down at the level where wildlife lives and zero food production potential. Sure, animals will pass through simply because it's in their way. In addition, it animals are using them to any degree, it's just because there is nothing better around. Last but certainly not least, in the Ozarks, lots of areas that are covered with cedars were historically glades or savannas. Those habitats were extremely rich food and cover producing areas for wildlife. They both can be restored relatively easily by cutting all the cedars and then reinstating a regular fire rotation. Fire was also historically common in the ozarks, it's elimination is the cause of cedar encroachment to begin with. .
Yes to all of this, which is why we work hard to remove cedars on our property and why we have several videos on using wood chippers to get more value out of cedar removal. We (and most land managers here) consider cedars one of the greatest challenges and barriers to better management.
Stop with the anti-European nonsense.
Here in Jersey it is non-evasive, and is popular among many native trees.
Props for the RUSH - Freewill quote.
You know they also have a song called "The Trees"..🪓🪚