Following the shelterwood harvest and understory removal, you may need to wait several years until you have a satisfactory number of seedlings before clearcutting the stand. During that time, a forester should inspect the stand annually to determine the adequacy of oak regeneration and to monitor re-growth of undesirable trees, shrubs and ferns. Additional understory control may be needed if the oaks require more than five years to regenerate. Clearcutting must follow the shelterwood harvest to provide full sunlight that oak seedlings need to outgrow shade tolerant species.