Crop tree release is a silviculture technique that promotes the growth of individually selected trees. These trees are able to thrive and become dominate once the competing vegetation has been removed, allowing more sunlight and nutrients to reach crop trees. Typically this is done during the early stages of the trees development and may need to be done several times before the tree becomes dominant. When releasing crop trees a good rule of thumb is to remove anything within 6ft of base  and anything impeding the growth of tree crowns. This technique can be used on sites where new trees have been planted or to protect any natural regeneration on forest floor.