Effects of Clearcut Openings on Quality of Hardwood Border Trees

The forest manager interested in producing high-quality material cannot afford to ignore effects of epicormic branching. A study of border trees left in patch cuttings in West Virginia indicated that epicormic branching was generally more prevalent on trees of lower crown class and on the upper stems. Among the three species studied—northern red oak, black cherry, and yellow-poplar—epicormic branching was greatest on red oak and least on yellow-poplar. For this reason, yellow-poplar probably should be left as border trees in preference to the other species.