Chokecherry

[Bowsnbucks]

Since 4wanderingeyes mentioned chokecherry and weed mats in his thread .......... is anyone growing chokecherry, or have it on your place naturally?? I've ordered some for planting at camp in a particular location this coming spring. If anyone has it - what's your experience with chokecherry??

 

[PrairieShadow]

I've got some growing naturally in a fence line at my place. I've never saw anything besides pheasants hiding in them. Deer rub on them but I cannot recall them ever using them as browse, or at least not enough to notice. My 0.02

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

We have some on my place in SE MN, but it doesn't seem to stand out. It seems produce food when food is abundant and it doesn't provide much cover either.

They seem to show up on fencelines and random corners and woods edges. They offer a little variety and might take the place of a buckthorn, so I keep them around whenever I see them but I wouldn't go to the effort of planting them. I prefer wild plums and dogwood, but a few chokecherry mixed in with those shrubs would be a good thing.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Since 4wanderingeyes mentioned chokecherry and weed mats in his thread .......... is anyone growing chokecherry, or have it on your place naturally?? I've ordered some for planting at camp in a particular location this coming spring. If anyone has it - what's your experience with chokecherry??

The reason I am planting some cokecherry was for a variety. I have some open/ish wet areas that not much grows in. One being between my house and the road, and I wanted to put something in there that would grow in the wetter spots. I am going to plant dogwood, chokecherry, and ninebark. I know deer will eat the chokecherry, but it isnt as preferred as dogwood. So I wanted a variety from a food source, to just short bushy cover.

 

[Telemark]

What about elder instead?

 

[bwoods11]

I have some chokecherry mixed in with plum in my CRP tree rows, but I prefer Plum overall. Tough tree though.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

The other reason I chose chokecherry was because it spreads from suckers, seed, and from cuttings

 

[rocksnstumps]

Deer do browse it while shoots are young and shorter. I had several older trees for a number of years and finally got some new growth when I had some logging done and the nearby tops protected the shoots enough to get established. Now that the tree tops have rotted down has not spread much.

Does not have heavy crops every year but does better than black cherry. Heck with the critters, I've collected in the past and made chokecherry jelly, chokecherry syrup (good over ice cream), and chokecherry liqueur. Fair warning, takes a bunch of sugar.

I think elderberry will get browsed more than chokecherry and does not get as tall. Chokecherry turns into a small tree.


This is chokecherry or black cherry. They look about the same but taste somewhat different. The jars are mostly black cherry but any CC is chokecherry steeping to make liqueur.

 

[g squared 23]

I’ve got some on order for this spring as well, also looking for diversification. My thought is to have as many different shrubs as possible which will provide a variety of browse so the deer’s nutritional needs are optimized as much as possible. Different plants have different levels of vitamins and minerals and deer will seek out whatever they are lacking. And likewise certain shrubs might be preferred browse in certain areas because it is providing what the rest of the habitat is lacking. The block of timber I’m connected to has plenty of white and red oaks, so planting more is a vanity project and will not help the deer at all. Opening the canopy in areas and planting different shrubs should provide something different than can be found in the neighborhood. This is all theoretical of course and might also be a vanity project


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[PrairieShadow]

The reason I am planting some cokecherry was for a variety. I have some open/ish wet areas that not much grows in. One being between my house and the road, and I wanted to put something in there that would grow in the wetter spots. I am going to plant dogwood, chokecherry, and ninebark. I know deer will eat the chokecherry, but it isnt as preferred as dogwood. So I wanted a variety from a food source, to just short bushy cover.

I'd personally look to willows for what you are asking Everything from pheasants, to coyotes, to deer seem to live/use in my willows throughout the year.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I'd personally look to willows for what you are asking Everything from pheasants, to coyotes, to deer seem to live/use in my willows throughout the year.

I dont have willows, yet but I was looking into them. The majority of what is growing in my lower lands is alder. It is a rather thick jungle in some of it, but where the land transitions from really wet, to wet soil, it isnt as thick, and you can see through some of the areas. Willows were considered, and I may plant some next year. I have a friend in MN that has a lot of it growing, and I was thinking I would go grab a few hundred cuttings and just transfer some here. But I have a crap tone of other trees, and bushes on order already for this year, so that will be next spring.

 

[Angus 1895]

Chokecherry is toxic to eat as in the leaves, nuts.

I planted two from ace hardware as my fondest memory of my grandmother is her chokecherry jelly. ( gathering, cookingetc]
I bought them before I learned of their toxicity.

one had a nasty bug infection, caterpillars.

I read they need a lot of water when transplanted from pots in summer.

cool colors

 

[SD51555]

CC was the one tree that grew exceptionally well in heavy clay with wet feet in southern MN for me. Up where I am now, there is a decent amount of naturally occuring chokecherry, and I've given about an hour each year to ID and clear around them to give them a helping hand. To date, I'm starting to get some to maturity before the birds get them. In southern MN, the birds take all the fruit when it's still 100% green.

I still don't have enough to do anything with them, but I've got my fingers crossed there are enough seeds getting spread around now that I should get some volunteers in my cutover areas nearby.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

What about elder instead?

We have elderberry in several spots.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

The spot I'm looking to plant chokecherry is between 2 food plots areas, which is about 20 - 25 yds. wide, and runs along the one plot for about 100 yards. I want to mix CC plantings with Washington hawthorn to create a shorter (height) strip of food & cover that won't grow tall enough to shade the long food plot. We cut down tall pines in that divider strip, so we want to plant things that won't shade what the big pines used to. I figured CC and Washington hawthorn would fill the bill. We have Washington hawthorns in other spots at camp, so we know what we'll get from those. We have no CC, so with a clean slate area to plant, I figured some of you guys would have knowledge of CC.

I'm always looking to learn as much as possible from real-world experienced guys. Keep the info coming!!!

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

elderberry seems to do pretty well in areas that are a little moist, but not really wet. Red osier dogwood can take a little wetter area too.

I agree though that having a variety of shrubs is a good thing.

Ninebark is a really good shrub for dry areas with poor soil. I've never tried planting it in wet areas, but it does really well in dry places.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

The spot I'm looking to plant chokecherry is between 2 food plots areas, which is about 20 - 25 yds. wide, and runs along the one plot for about 100 yards. I want to mix CC plantings with Washington hawthorn to create a shorter (height) strip of food & cover that won't grow tall enough to shade the long food plot. We cut down tall pines in that divider strip, so we want to plant things that won't shade what the big pines used to. I figured CC and Washington hawthorn would fill the bill. We have Washington hawthorns in other spots at camp, so we know what we'll get from those. We have no CC, so with a clean slate area to plant, I figured some of you guys would have knowledge of CC.

I'm always looking to learn as much as possible from real-world experienced guys. Keep the info coming!!!

I think crabapple and wild plum would be good to add in there as well. Those shrub patches are absolute magnets for wildlife.

I like hawthorn as well, but the variety in my area doesn't hold fruit as long into the fall as red splendor crabapple.

 

[yoderjac]

Since 4wanderingeyes mentioned chokecherry and weed mats in his thread .......... is anyone growing chokecherry, or have it on your place naturally?? I've ordered some for planting at camp in a particular location this coming spring. If anyone has it - what's your experience with chokecherry??

It abounds here. Some deer browse but not significantly preferred. Good overall wildlife benefit.

 

[PoorSand]

The main thing my wild chokecherry trees do here is provide forage and nesting habitat for tent caterpillars.

 

[Angus 1895]

Tru dat