Differences in composition and quantity of tree seeds, and environmental factors, may mean that red pine plantations promote more desirable hardwood regeneration than hardwood stands. To explore, we monitored hardwood seedlings and canopy openness across transitions from hardwood edges to plantation interiors at 40 sites in northwestern-lower Michigan. Hardwood seedling density declined from edges to interiors – stabilizing 30-m into plantations – at all but low-quality sites, was reduced by thinning, and was greatest at intermediate-quality sites. From edges to interiors, species composition shifted towards oaks and away from many competitors (sugar maple, American beech, white ash, and ironwood). This suggests pine plantations promote oaks, which are widely failing to regenerate in adjacent and unmanaged hardwood stands, and that spatially varied rotations of red pine plantations and hardwood stands may address economic and ecological management concerns in the Great Lakes region.