Planted forests

Hello,
We are a Norwegian family now building a solar panel house and planning a Forest garden. The Forest in the closest vascinity of our house is planted spruce,  not native all same height and age.  Not native. The buttom is brown and nothing grows. We have to remove some of the trees cause of our solar panels but we are wondering if we ought to take everything down in one blow or little by little. That spruce type is not something that is natural to the rest of the surrounding forests. Any thought or tips are warmly welcome. Thank you,  in advance.

Hello! My first thought on trees all the same age is that it might be used to protect the house from wind.  If so, you might need to add new wind protection  in your forest design.

Or use the forestry companies method for plantation spruce management  and remove every 7th row of trees,a first thinning method to open up the canopy to allow remaining trees room to grow --- maybe adapt this or use a similar method then start inter planting some other fast growing native species and as they get taller and start to buffer the wind start on bringing down the rest of the spruce rows---maybe invest in a rebak ---and process the downed spruce tops and branches into mulch right there on the spot .

I would be tempted to clear what you need for the solar panels and some garden space and then cut out a reasonable percentage of the rest (say 40%) but do it in a gradient so that more are cleared where you want to use the property and fewer are cleared out farther away from the house.  Then clear more each year if you find you need to.

Can they be used for building materials?  Might be an option to get a higher use from them.

Welcome to permies!