A few habitat pics I thought you might enjoy

[Native Hunter]

Arrowwood Viburnum was bloomed out nice yesterday. I had to cage these at first, but after they got some size to them I removed the cages. Now they just nip at the new growth, but it doesn't seem to bother the plants.



It's hard to believe that two years ago the woods at this spot looked like a park. After logging, the blackberry filled it in quickly. I love blackberry where I want it but hate fighting it in fields. This is blackberry heaven. The new trees will eventually overtake it, but they have their work cut out for them (and I do mean CUT with all those briers).

 

[Native Hunter]

Loved the look of this white clover yesterday. This is a spot where it has kept the grass at bay. If you look at the top right corner you can see some grass browning where I spot sprayed cleth recently. That end of the plot really needed it.



One of 6 grafted persimmons planted last spring. Two varieties that cover October and November drop times. Glad they all lived, because I paid a mint for them.



Grass after two weeks treated with cleth.

 

[scott44]

Great Pics!

 

[Freeborn]

NH, when does your growing season start? Has it been a typical spring for you? We are having a cool spring and I would say I am at least a month behind you.

Spring has arrived in the north but its dragging its feet. I planted my corn and soybeans last weekend and could use some warmers temps to get good germination. My prairie grass is still dormant.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, they look great.

 

[Native Hunter]

NH, when does your growing season start? Has it been a typical spring for you? We are having a cool spring and I would say I am at least a month behind you.

Spring has arrived in the north but its dragging its feet. I planted my corn and soybeans last weekend and could use some warmers temps to get good germination. My prairie grass is still dormant.

Thanks for sharing the pictures, they look great.

Freeborn, this spring has been typical except that early on we had non stop rain - day after day after day with few breaks. Then, about 3 weeks ago it quit raining and we didn't have another one until today. Our ground was actually getting very dry. I think the blooming of trees and other growing factors are about the same this year as normal.

The thing most untypical about this spring is that we have no fireblight. It's incredible, because it's been bad the last 8 years.

People have started cutting their cool season grass hay here just recently. Most of those grasses have a good seed head. My Big Bluestem is over knee high already, and this rain today will really make the warm season grasses really take off. Yesterday, I saw just a few Partridge Peas starting to germinate.

I've been on a marathon getting habitat work done recently. Set 600 Norways by hand, mowed 60 acres (with my father's help) to prepare for spraying Plateau, and cut out hundreds of sweet gums in an oak planting with a pole saw. But, very soon it's going to be so hot, and I will be so busy with my real job that I won't be doing much the rest of the year. I'm going to get out and let the deer and other critters have their home back. I do plan on doing some plot work in late summer and there is always a little mowing that needs to be done here and there, but it will be less intense than the year so far.

It's hard for me to imagine you prairie grasses still being dormant. There must be that much difference in our locations.

 

[Freeborn]

Sounds like you have been busy. I still have a few hundred trees to plant and a couple of small construction projects to do.

It has been very cool this spring and the matted prairie grass works as an insulator slowing the green up process. I am starting to think that I should mow 10-15 acres every year in a rotation to lesson the thatch build up and speed up the process. I did mow an acre that I am inter-seeding with additional grasses and it has greened up nicely. Have you amended your prairie grass soils to encourage growth? Mowing in very early spring might improve the strength and height of my prairie grass stands.

Minnesota is a state of extreme temperatures, frozen tundra with 4' frost in the winter and 90+ in the summer. Still, its where I call home.

 

[Native Hunter]

Sounds like you have been busy. I still have a few hundred trees to plant and a couple of small construction projects to do.

It has been very cool this spring and the matted prairie grass works as an insulator slowing the green up process. I am starting to think that I should mow 10-15 acres every year in a rotation to lesson the thatch build up and speed up the process. I did mow an acre that I am inter-seeding with additional grasses and it has greened up nicely. Have you amended your prairie grass soils to encourage growth? Mowing in very early spring might improve the strength and height of my prairie grass stands.

Minnesota is a state of extreme temperatures, frozen tundra with 4' frost in the winter and 90+ in the summer. Still, its where I call home.

I think that mowing in the spring does help a lot. Briers and goldenrod start very early while the NWSGs are still sleeping. Briers will be in bloom by the time NWSGs wake up. So a strategically timed mowing sets everything else back and opens up the canopy for the NWSGs to take off.

I haven't done any soil amendments, but there is one 5 acre field where I have considered it. It's the only field where NWSGs aren't really strong. This weaker field does get a little better each year, but still not where I want it. I've considered fertilizing, but at the cost of fertilizer, I will likely never do it.

Good luck on your trees and construction projects. I keep dreaming up jobs. This afternoon I took a 35 foot ash tree down a limb at a time with the pole saw. It was close to one of my best chestnut trees and shading it. Only broke one small limb out of the chestnut, so all is well.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Hey Native - The pic you posted of the Arrowwood Viburnum ........ is it planted in wet ground ?? Or do they grow pretty much anywhere for you ??

 

[Native Hunter]

Hey Native - The pic you posted of the Arrowwood Viburnum ........ is it planted in wet ground ?? Or do they grow pretty much anywhere for you ??

All of them I have planted are on ground that is not generally wet, and water never stands on it. But, it's flat and always retains moisture better than the hillsides.

I didn't plant any in the wetter areas, so I'm not sure how much difference it would make. I've planted Red Osier Dogwood in both places, and it does seem to prefer ground that has more moisture.

 

[Native Hunter]

Last year I found that at some places in my woods that wild blueberry came back after logging. One place was near the highway, so I decided to try and keep them going in a spot since I wouldn't be going back into the woods and disturbing the deer. I worked on clearing last year and found that they have really come on well since then. I gave them some more light today. Looks like a while before they will be ripe. I ate some last year and they were good.

I can't believe how much shade these things can take yet still produce fruit.

 

[SD51555]

Not bad!

 

[Native Hunter]

Not bad!

I think I can spend two hours a year and keep these going indefinitely. They have already spread a lot since I cleared out around them the first time last year.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks for the info on the arrowwood, Native. I was thinking of planting some for browse and cover.

Good find on the blueberries. Great thing to have around. We have them all over our mountains near camp. They DO seem to pop up quick after a fire. A 1 acre burn near camp is thick with them - birds spread them I think. Seeds may be in the soil or duff layer and fire triggers them ?? I know they appear the spring after a fire - too quick for spotty bird droppings. Ours seem to grow thickest in sun, but the best berries are where sunny areas meet shade for some reason. My son & I picked a big batch of nice berries in the shade of a pine tree on the mountain. Good eats !! Good luck with them, Native.

 

[Native Hunter]

Fall planted plot still looking great:



Briers in the native grasses bowing their heads 3 hours after being sprayed the other day - a nice site. But, they will only be stunned. I will see them again full of life someday.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

The food plot looks really good, Native. Clover & chicory are great together. We have a good sized plot of the same.

 

[Native Hunter]

I have a few random pictures taken over the last few days:

Betsey Deaton - always shows some signs of CAR, but is a reliable tree every year. Never saw it affected any by FB:



This is how tall the chicory is that I planted last fall. I've been getting a lot of trail cam pics of deer eating these big leaves. Also noticed that they had taken the tops out of several plants. They will eat these non stop all summer regardless of how big they get:





Red gets a lot taller than the white:



This is my cousins field where dad has been coyote hunting recently. Three females taken out in the last few days - sweet.



This is CIR Switch that was mowed a few weeks ago. Coming back nicely and should be 7 feet tall in a few more weeks:



Goldenrods biting the dust after a recent spraying of 24D:



Snacked on a few cherries today while walking the edge of the tree planting:



I could have bought this washing machine for $109 today but something tells me my wife wouldn't use it...LOL.

 

[Native Hunter]

New resident already likes salt:






Same spot as the fawn the next day.




I think I know this deer from last year. Will be able to tell soon:

 

[Freeborn]

Great photos NH. Nice to see how green we are going to get in a few weeks. Just curious, what are the cash crops planted by you? It's corn and soybeans mostly by me and then some wheat and some rye.

Interesting how food plot demand differs by region, I couldn't get deer to eat chicory but they do like clover.

Tell your dad he is still on the payroll, looked like there is more work together done.

Old washing machine, I wouldn't go there, who knows what she would buy for you; (horse and plow)??

 

[Native Hunter]

Great photos NH. Nice to see how green we are going to get in a few weeks. Just curious, what are the cash crops planted by you? It's corn and soybeans mostly by me and then some wheat and some rye.

Interesting how food plot demand differs by region, I couldn't get deer to eat chicory but they do like clover.

Tell your dad he is still on the payroll, looked like there is more work together done.

Old washing machine, I wouldn't go there, who knows what she would buy for you; (horse and plow)??

Or she might buy me a mule. I had to set tobacco when I was a kid on a mule drawn setter. You need to learn how to close your eyes fast and duck when the tail goes up.

We are out of the crop and cattle business on our farms now, but corn and soybeans are big around here in the last few years. We never grew beans, but used to grow corn for our own use when we had cattle. When prices went up, lots of fields that had been pasture started getting farmed. All my fields are in NWSGs now, but dad still has his in cool season grasses. He has a guy who takes the hay off, but we still have all of our equipment if we need to do it ourselves. I'm in the rolling part of the state, so we don't have as many crops as they do in Western KY. They do it big time down that way.

My guess is that dad will be out hunting again in the morning. He's had two days to rest, and his eyes kind of lit up when I told him there was at least one still running around. I hunted myself this morning, but only saw deer. But that's a good thing I guess.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Yep - Keep Dad on dawn and dusk patrol !! Ol' dead-eye to the rescue.

You have some serious greens growing there Native. Our one plot of Ladino, Alsike and Dutch white clover + chicory is doing well - but not as thick and lush as your plots !! Great job.

Looks like you have some Moms & fawns hanging around. That's always good to see. That buck looks to be growing some big bone - very cool.