Bedding area improvement

[Bark River]

I have a bedding area that I’m going to be working on this year and one of my plans is to take red osier dogwood cuttings and plant them as some side cover and browse. Currently there is only what I believe to be black willow growing in the area as it’s river bottom. The willows have gotten too mature and while it looks thick from the outside I can walk through it pretty easy. I haven’t stepped foot in there in years and only did this year as it seems to be not holding the numbers it once did. I’ve never done cuttings and have been messing with them this winter to try it out. Almost a month has passed and I was about to give up but this week I noticed several of the ones from my first cuttings are finally sprouting! I’ve ordered American plum to plant in there in hopes it will form thickets and I’m cutting back some or all of the black willow in hopes it will thicken up. I’m open to any other suggestions you may have. The landowner (my father in law) has given me free range over that 2-3 acre area. It’s low river bottom that seasonally floods in wet years. I’ll be adding several transcendent, Dolgo, and Arkansas black apple trees to the clover plot that’s adjacent to the bedding area and safe from flooding. I wish I had found Blue Hill earlier as all his stuff is sold out but I’ll be adding several of his varieties of pears and apples next year!

 

[j-bird]

If you have black willow and if you cut them back they will stump sprout like crazy with multiple stems. I prefer to put/make brush piles/screens with what I cut down. I would suggest cutting in rows or small sections and space it out over a few years to keep them at different stages. The willow will also hinge well if it isn't too big as well. Mixing in a browse component is a great idea as well.

I cut all mine off flush with the ground first and they shot up multiple shoots and then once those shoots get big enough....then I hinge them or cut them back again. Good luck.

 

[Bark River]

If you have black willow and if you cut them back they will stump sprout like crazy with multiple stems. I prefer to put/make brush piles/screens with what I cut down. I would suggest cutting in rows or small sections and space it out over a few years to keep them at different stages. The willow will also hinge well if it isn't too big as well. Mixing in a browse component is a great idea as well.

I cut all mine off flush with the ground first and they shot up multiple shoots and then once those shoots get big enough....then I hinge them or cut them back again. Good luck.

That’s sounds good! I was going to try cutting every other willow this year to leave some cover and see what the results are. It’s really mature and only bushy at the top and only trunks at the bottom. If not for the canary grass it would be very open in there. I’ve seen 8-10 deer come out of there at a time and this year only a fawn was using it regularly. I like the idea of piling up the brush, should make good cover and then I don’t have to haul it out of there, it’s too soft to get my tractor in there so it’s all hand work!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I'm with J-bird on making brush piles / rows for extra cover and bedding next to them. Our deer bedded up against the brush piles we made after we logged 22 acres. They also browsed the twigs in those brush piles. Grouse and turkeys nested in and around them too.
I also agree on stump sprouts - if any tree variety puts out stump sprouts - they're FREE and thicken things up quickly at ground / browse level. Take advantage of stump sprouts!!

 

[Tree Spud]

If you are going to plant RDO cuttings, you should plan to tube them. Unlikely they will grow to out compete with the grasses. Any that do will be browsed by the deer. The tubes will protect them from browsing and let them get above the grass.

If it is a bedding area, I would plant conifers like black spruce & norway spruce on the higher ground. This will screen the bedding area and provide good thermal cover.

 

[ruskbucks]

I have doing red,yellow, and silky dogwood cuttings for the last 5 years. I would get growth to start, but then they would die. What I noticed is that leaving justabout 3 inches out of the ground with one bud seems to be the ticket. I think it might put more energy into making roots instead of leaves. I also use a rooting hormone. I'm now having pretty decent results and see dogwood popping up in spots where I didn't think they made it. The best bedding spots seem to be a mix of grass and shrubs in my area. I would try to keep some grass and mix in dogwood and plum randomly . I like treespuds suggestion with the black spruce. They are slow growing, but they grow in my swamp that has a foot of water in it all spring. They provide good cover.

 

[SD51555]

I'd drop those willows and leave them lay. That ground brush can help hold up that canary grass longer into the fall and last long enough for your regen to replace it once it rots down.

I've been doing that for a few years in some spots, and into December, that is solid cover below three feet, enough to hide a bedded deer.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Conifers.


White cedar, tamaracks or balsam fir are gonna tolerate wet conditions. Here is a spot I found this rifle season. All the conifers had beds on that eastern edge. And what it looked like from their bed.

 

[j-bird]

That’s sounds good! I was going to try cutting every other willow this year to leave some cover and see what the results are. It’s really mature and only bushy at the top and only trunks at the bottom. If not for the canary grass it would be very open in there. I’ve seen 8-10 deer come out of there at a time and this year only a fawn was using it regularly. I like the idea of piling up the brush, should make good cover and then I don’t have to haul it out of there, it’s too soft to get my tractor in there so it’s all hand work!

I just made a post on my property tour about how I have worked some willows on my place that may give you some pictures to go with my suggestions...