Elderberry, or other bush

4wanderingeyes

5 year old buck +
I am looking for a bush/tree to plant like elderberry, ninebark, or silky dogwood that would grow good in Zone 3 (NW Wisconsin). I figure I would check here, and I can order from John.

Also is it to late to plant this year? Or would it be best just to wait until spring?
 
and highbush cranberry, service berry, hazel nut, and wild plum. You could plant now if you keep them watered, and caged for several years to get established without browsing pressure.
 
I could cage them, but watering would be hard, it's 200 miles away, and I only go there every 2-3 weeks.


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The suggested shrubs are all good and I would also recommend throwing in some crabapples and hawthorns as well. You could plant some trees now and they might live if you get really lucky with timely rains, but I'd just wait until next spring when your survival rate will likely be higher. Rather than plant this summer, I'd spray the future planting areas once now and then once again in September and call it good. I've had good luck with bareroot trees available from the WI DNR's nursery.

Cuttings can do really well also, especially if you can put down plastic to prevent weed competition and to conserve moisture. Cuttings have a tough time competing with weeds initially in my experience, so if you don't put down plastic your success may be limited especially in a dry year.

If you want to get something in this year, you could wait until the wild plums start dropping fruit later this summer and direct seed them into your sprayed areas. I've done that several times with good success. Just fill a bucket with plums and throw a few on the ground and cover with an inch or two of dirt. Then repeat the process about 500 times and you'll be good to go.
 
I have a few crab apples planted now. I just wanted to add some bushes.


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plums, dogwood (gray and red osier), hazelnut and ninebark are all good choices if you want shrubs.
 
elderberries are also nice, but they seem to like moist areas so they might be more limited than some of the other choices. If you're looking primarily for cover, shrub willows also make great cover in wet areas as well.
 
Will all of these work good in zone 3?


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Yes, I've planted all of them in Rusk County Wisconsin which is borderline zone 3 so they all should survive anywhere in Wisconsin.
 
@4wanderingeyes - as dry as we've been I would be careful with planting now. We finally got some rain recently and it's about to rain again right now.

Typically you would be good to go in zone 3 at this time of year, but this year is exceptionally dry up here.

If you want to start some at home in pots send me a PM and I'll hook you up.

Thanks,

-John
 
Thanks John, I don't have a green thumb, so if you suggest waiting until next year, I will.


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I agree with Ben's " spray now & again in Sept. " idea for later planting. ( Post # 4 ). I've done that to prepare planting areas and had very good outcomes with no weed competition. FWIW.
 
Of the 8 or so shrub types I tried planting, American Plum is proving to be the toughest.
 
I could cage them, but watering would be hard, it's 200 miles away, and I only go there every 2-3 weeks.


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If you don't cage them, they create an excellent over winter food source ... they will never get higher than your snowline.

First spray the spots you want to plant in so there is not water competition. Then plant fewer and cage more more. Once they achieve a height for fruiting stage you may get natural regeneration due to seed dispersal.
 
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