Site Guide for Mountains
| Landscape Characters | Management Type |
| Landform | Moisture Regime | Texture | Preferred | Suitable |
| Coves, Alluvial fans, Stream Terraces, Flood Plains | Moist | Medium | Hardwoods, Yellow Poplar, Oaks, Walnuts, Sycamore, W. Ash | – |
| | Wet | Fine | Hardwoods, Sweetgum, Ash, Birch, W/W Oaks | – |
| Landscape Characters | Management Type |
| Land Form | Soil Depth | Moisture Regime | Texture | Preferred | Suitable |
| Ridges | Deep | Moist◊ | Fine to Medium | Hardwoods, Oaks, Yellow Poplar, Ash | Pine, Loblolly†, Shortleaf |
| | | Dryθ | Coarse | Pine, Shortleaf, White | – |
| | Shallow | Moist◊ | Fine to Medium | Pine, Shortleaf‡, White | Pine, Virginia |
| | | Dry◊θ | Medium to Coarse | Pine, Virginia | Pine, White |
| | | Droughty◊θ | Coarse to Skeletal | Pine, Virginia | – |
| Landscape Characters | Management Type |
| Landform | Aspect | Soil Depth | Slope Percent | Slope Position~ | Texture | Preferred | Suitable |
| Side Slopes | Northerly | Deep | All | All | All | Hardwoods, Oaks, Yellow Poplar, Ash, Basswood, Walnut | – |
| | | Shallow | All | U | All | Pine, Shortleaf, Loblolly | Pine, White |
| | | | | L | All | Hardwoods, Yellow Poplar, Oaks | Pine, Shortleaf, White |
| | Southerly | Deep | All | U | All | Pine, Shortleaf, White | Pine, Virginia |
| | | | | L | All | Hardwoods, Oaks, Yellow Poplar, Ash | Pine, White |
| | | Shallow | <50 | All | All | Pine, Virginia | Pine, Shortleaf, Loblolly† |
| | | | >50 | All | Limited Management Possibilities | Pine, Virginia |
Footnotes for preceding tables:
Deep >30“ to Bedrock or Hardpan
Shallow <30” to Bedrock or Hardpan
† Winter Weather Risk
‡ Especially where bark beetles are a problem
~ U- upper 1/2, L- lower 1/2
◊ Broad Ridges
θ Narrow Ridges
Wet: Periods of excessive moisture due to periodic flooding, perched water tables (pans), and poor
drainage. Presence of mottled soils.
Moist: Well drained soils, but with sufficient moisture to maximize tree growth throughout the year.
Usually associated with loamy soils with some moisture retaining clays in the sub-soil.
Dry: Sites with insufficient moisture for maximum tree growth at least part of the year, due to
excessive drainage and/or topographic position.
Droughty: Excessively drained, usually very shallow, except for deep sands. Insufficient moisture
for quality hardwood tree growth.
Texture: The relative proportions of the various soil separates in soil material.
Examples:
Fine- usually associated with clay textured soils.
Medium- usually associated with loamy textured soils.
Coarse- usually associated with sandy textured soils.
Skeletal - A soil with more than 35% by volume of gravelly
(<3" diameter) or cobbly (3-10" diameter) material.
