Spike_Horn_Shooter
5 year old buck +
We bought our property in March of 2022. It has about 20-25 acres of hay fields that are visible from the road - with the road being higher than the property, so anyone on the road can view the any wildlife in the fields. Wanting to increase privacy, discourage road hunters, and provide the wildlife with a sense of security for early daytime movements to the fields; I knew one of the first things to get started on was some road screening.
The road is quite higher than the land, so that precluded some shorter screens (switchgrass). I don’t have a tractor yet, so that precluded an annual screen like sorghum - plus I don’t plan on putting a lot of food plots in the hay fields for a couple of years. An ideal screen would have been some sort of conifers, but they just take so long reach an appreciable height. Plus the area is relatively wet. Soil is classified as muskeylunge clay loam. And the areas I wanted to plant a screen were near/along drainages.
I figured my best option was a combination of hybrid poplars and willows. I’ve seen willows and poplars growing naturally in wetter areas, and I know they have some of the best growth rates of any tree species.
I came across Big Rock Trees and used their website to determine how many cuttings I would need for approximately 600’ of screening. I ordered 175 each of the Hybrid Poplar and Hybrid Willow 12” Cuttings. I calculated I would need about 125 for the 600’ run, but ordered 50 more each to place around the property in strategic locations.
I ordered two 330’ rolls of landscape fabric from Amazon - Big Rock Trees had a better fabric at a better price, but the shipping was a killer. I installed them on a windy day in early May, 2022.
I received my cuttings on May 18, 2022 and kept them in the fridge until I planted them May 21, 2022.
The road is quite higher than the land, so that precluded some shorter screens (switchgrass). I don’t have a tractor yet, so that precluded an annual screen like sorghum - plus I don’t plan on putting a lot of food plots in the hay fields for a couple of years. An ideal screen would have been some sort of conifers, but they just take so long reach an appreciable height. Plus the area is relatively wet. Soil is classified as muskeylunge clay loam. And the areas I wanted to plant a screen were near/along drainages.
I figured my best option was a combination of hybrid poplars and willows. I’ve seen willows and poplars growing naturally in wetter areas, and I know they have some of the best growth rates of any tree species.
I came across Big Rock Trees and used their website to determine how many cuttings I would need for approximately 600’ of screening. I ordered 175 each of the Hybrid Poplar and Hybrid Willow 12” Cuttings. I calculated I would need about 125 for the 600’ run, but ordered 50 more each to place around the property in strategic locations.
I ordered two 330’ rolls of landscape fabric from Amazon - Big Rock Trees had a better fabric at a better price, but the shipping was a killer. I installed them on a windy day in early May, 2022.
I received my cuttings on May 18, 2022 and kept them in the fridge until I planted them May 21, 2022.