sandbur
5 year old buck +
What did you plant to thicken it up?
Top of "The Hill" land tour
- Thread starter chummer
- Start date
What did you plant to thicken it up?
chummer
5 year old buck +
Last year I planted Midwest crab, American plum, dogwood, and nine bark. This year I am adding more ninebark, dogwood, and Norway spruce to the road frontage.
chummer
5 year old buck +
I thought I would have time to do both but the rocks got the best of me. It took forever to back fill the holes without stuffing the rocks back in. They should be ok. I planted 13 crab apple trees the last two weekends with 20 hazel nut and none of them have been touched yet.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
If you're in a pinch for stakes for your cages, try using rocks between the bottom wires. I've also used sturdy limbs or fresh-cut " crap wood " from weed trees and thread the limbs thru the bottom spaces of the cage across the cage on 2 sides. Then lay heavy rocks on top of both ends of the limbs to " pin " the cage to the ground. I've done that and had the limbs last for 2 years before deteriorating. Just a quick, cheap way out to tide you over.
I'd be worried about not putting aluminum window screen around the trunks for mouse / vole protection. You may not have deer, but mice and voles live everywhere.
Alsike clover grows in lesser ground with bad pH. Might be an option.
Nice work Chummer, on the plots, trees, and screening !!
I'd be worried about not putting aluminum window screen around the trunks for mouse / vole protection. You may not have deer, but mice and voles live everywhere.
Alsike clover grows in lesser ground with bad pH. Might be an option.
Nice work Chummer, on the plots, trees, and screening !!
chummer
5 year old buck +
I don't put the window screen on until the fall after I paint the trunks. Knock on wood I have never had a tree touched by rodents. Luckily we don't have voles or rabbits there. At my house forget it, it is vole central.
chummer
5 year old buck +
Getting there. Trees are done and plot is plowed. Next week I will drag and plant. Not sure what yet. I am considering oats, chuffa, clover, chicory, and brassica. I might just plant them all and let it go to clover next year.
I am very impressed with the growth I am getting on my seedlings from last year. This is a silky dogwood and a Midwest crab. I am going to spray around them and take the tubes off in a couple weeks.
This is the last apple I want to release. I didn't know what to do with the big tree right next to it. Well as luck would have it the tree has died. Not sure why but good riddens
Finally my white swamp oaks survived another winter. I have a handful caged, this is the all star. These are third leaf from MDC. I guess they can handle zone 3 after the last two winters.
I am very impressed with the growth I am getting on my seedlings from last year. This is a silky dogwood and a Midwest crab. I am going to spray around them and take the tubes off in a couple weeks.
This is the last apple I want to release. I didn't know what to do with the big tree right next to it. Well as luck would have it the tree has died. Not sure why but good riddens
Finally my white swamp oaks survived another winter. I have a handful caged, this is the all star. These are third leaf from MDC. I guess they can handle zone 3 after the last two winters.
chummer
5 year old buck +
I used a chisel plow and just drove around slow multiple times. I did hook a couple elm roots that stopped me in my tracks. It is a great tool for under $200. It goes through almost all the roots and rocks. It does not work well on sod, I have to spray and wait for it to die.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
That sure looks like some nice soil there, Chummer. Nice job breaking it up. Crown jewel apple looks great !! Nice to have that baby in there for sure. Good luck with the planting.
chummer
5 year old buck +
Thanks, this is actually the only spot I have that isn't solid rock. That is why I keep cramming everything in there.
chummer
5 year old buck +
The new orchard has sprouted. I planted oats,clover, and a bag of BoB stuff I had left that has peas,beans,sunflowers, and other things in it. Other than two days of monsoons we have had very little rain.
This is a corner of a field I converted to clover and WR. I broadcast clover into in April, sprayed and broadcast WR into in August. This has turned into my best looking clover. (Alice clover).
This patch is in the middle of the same field. The WR was broadcast into my sweet corn last year. This year brassica will be on the left and corn will be on the right. I plowed and dragged this yesterday and will plant next weekend. The whole time I was working the little guy below was napping in this WR. My daughter was playing hide and seek with the dog and almost stepped on him. His momma was standing there 730 this morning. These are the first two deer we have seen this year. They will be the best fed deer in the state.
She was so excited, and scared to find this fawn. She was standing 6" from it when she saw it. With 0 coyote sign seen this year hopefully he makes it, although I did get a picture of a large bear this week.
This is a corner of a field I converted to clover and WR. I broadcast clover into in April, sprayed and broadcast WR into in August. This has turned into my best looking clover. (Alice clover).
This patch is in the middle of the same field. The WR was broadcast into my sweet corn last year. This year brassica will be on the left and corn will be on the right. I plowed and dragged this yesterday and will plant next weekend. The whole time I was working the little guy below was napping in this WR. My daughter was playing hide and seek with the dog and almost stepped on him. His momma was standing there 730 this morning. These are the first two deer we have seen this year. They will be the best fed deer in the state.
She was so excited, and scared to find this fawn. She was standing 6" from it when she saw it. With 0 coyote sign seen this year hopefully he makes it, although I did get a picture of a large bear this week.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Great pictures, and that Alice really looks nice. Super fawn pic!
chummer
5 year old buck +
Thanks, and I wish I could explain the clover. I have good luck with clover everywhere but this spot has never had lime or fertilizer and the ph is 5.5 Is it possible my cool summer temps allow things to grow that would phizzle out in hotter areas? I am ready to give up on lime because I can't tell the difference in the plots I lime and the ones I don't. My om is also around 10% so maybe that has something to do with it as well.
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
It seems like in every plot that I plant there will be some areas that just take better than others, and sometimes I can't explain it. Good OM can definitely make a big difference.
D
dipper
Guest
Do u know the story behind 10% om? That's surreal, I'm surprised that hill hasn't been cleared and farmed! Farmers will level a woods for 1% around here
chummer
5 year old buck +
I have really good soil but there are a lot of rocks, basically the hill is one big pile of rocks. I can only guess from following threads like yours it is because the soil has never been disturbed. My other guess would be elevation and moisture. The ground is always moist. We have very few days above 85. On a hot day any rocks in the woods will be wet with condisation. Another idea is the ground never freezes. Not sure if that would matter but we get snow so early in the season, and with the snow pack the ground stays thawed. All I have figured out is if you can avoid what ever you plant from freezing it grows really good. The problem is it is a very short growing season. We had a frost last night, and it will return in September or early October. If you have any idea I would love to know because it does seem way out of the norm.
