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Raemelton Farm

Raemelton Farm is a historic farm once owned by Charles Carroll, a signatory to the Declaration of Independence. This 185-acre farm was originally a part of a 17,000 acre estate owned by Carroll and his heirs, located in Frederick County, Maryland.

The present owner of Raemelton, Mr. Stephen Black, has established an ornamental tree farm and is keenly interested in maintaining the sustainability of the farm, while minimizing input and labor costs.

sprinkler

Sensor Network Description: We have established a twelve-node wireless sensor network (Decagon Devices), in two blocks of 'indicator' trees.

The sensor network is monitoring the soil water status at three depths within the root zone of six Acer rubrum ‘Franksred’ Red Sunset^® and six Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Princess’ trees in real time.

We are sensing soil temperature and soil electrical conductivity and measuring rainfall, irrigation water applications, air temperature, relative humidity and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) on a 15-minute time interval for each block.

Production Objectives: The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate the performance of these sensors and the capability of the network to provide real-time data to Mr. Black, so that he can make more effective day-to-day decisions for the precise management of water and soluble nutrients to field-grown trees.

We are also monitoring tree growth over time, using dendrometers, and plan to monitor root growth, using rhizotrons and to enable us to place moisture sensors in the appropriate position, for precision irrigation and nutrient management.

sprinkler

Sensor Project Objectives: This study will continue for at least a two-year period. In addition to the production objectives, we would like to determine whether these wireless sensor systems are cost-effective in reducing input costs (including labor), and whether they can improve water, nutrient and systemic insecticide uptake efficiency and minimize the environmental effects of production practices.

Additionally, we would like to explore extending the life of the tree inventory on the farm, by optimizing initial growth rates, and at the appropriate time, to minimize water and nutrient inputs to slow tree growth and extend the “marketing window” of saleable trees.

Current Results: You can learn more about this project and the preliminary results from Lea-Cox et al, 2008, a paper presented at the Southern Nursery Research Association Conference in August, 2008.