There are many reasons to plant trees on private lands, including reforestation of abandoned farm fields, to artificially regenerate tree seedlings under a forest canopy, and to plant desirable understory flora for wildlife.

The most important aspect of designing a seedling planting project is consideration of deer browse. Planting of any hardwood seedling that is not protected by deer browse is not recommended. Depending on local deer densities and patterns, even planting of most evergreen seedlings (aside from blue spruce) may not be recommended.

For most large projects, deer exclusion fencing is the most economical option for protection. For smaller projects, some success has been gained using various types of individual tree protection, such as tree tubes or mesh guard.