Adding more browse/cover to overgrown fields

[Yarg]

this is an old dairy farm that hasn't been mowed and probably 30 years. I added lime last year as I had the spreader and tractor already so along with doing my food plot I spread most of my open Fields with approximately 3 ton/acre. So pH is probably 5.5
Whats currently growing...blackberry thickets, goldenrod, random ash and Hawthorne.
This past spring, I've added several "clumps"of Norway spruce seedlings as well as several live stake red osier dogwood (rod) in the seasonal wet spots.
My goal is in creating diverse cover and browse utilizing natives as much as possible... I chose the Norway spruce over the white spruce 4 faster growing lol..
My plan is to Live stake alot more rod and try elderberry and ninebark as well.
I've held off on Willow and Alder thinking they would take over too fast??

Should I wait for rod to establish before introducing Willow and Alder,
or
get them started but don't protect them as that might take some pressure off the rod?

when live staking in high amounts what's the easiest protection to provide?

I have a large button Bush what's the best way the propagate it?

What other species would you recommend?
thanks

 

[willy]

I like your plan, elderberry have been easy for me to establish via cuttings in my clay soil. hybrid willows are used as browse heavily on my farm. If I want them to survive I have to fence them. What they don't eat they shred with horns or other critters eat them off as cuttings in first year. I have a high deer density but if you don't you will probably be alright. If mullberry grow there they'll make good browse as well.

coniferous trees with tall native grasses surrounding them are a heavily used cover, bedding, fawning, roaming areas for bucks seeking does during that phase of the rut.

 

[yoderjac]

this is an old dairy farm that hasn't been mowed and probably 30 years. I added lime last year as I had the spreader and tractor already so along with doing my food plot I spread most of my open Fields with approximately 3 ton/acre. So pH is probably 5.5
Whats currently growing...blackberry thickets, goldenrod, random ash and Hawthorne.
This past spring, I've added several "clumps"of Norway spruce seedlings as well as several live stake red osier dogwood (rod) in the seasonal wet spots.
My goal is in creating diverse cover and browse utilizing natives as much as possible... I chose the Norway spruce over the white spruce 4 faster growing lol..
My plan is to Live stake alot more rod and try elderberry and ninebark as well.
I've held off on Willow and Alder thinking they would take over too fast??

Should I wait for rod to establish before introducing Willow and Alder,
or
get them started but don't protect them as that might take some pressure off the rod?

when live staking in high amounts what's the easiest protection to provide?

I have a large button Bush what's the best way the propagate it?

What other species would you recommend?
thanks

I might take a different approach. If you are looking for diverse cover and browse using natives as much as possible, I don't think I'd plant anything. I'd consider putting in a firebreak and using fire every few years to keep it in early succession. You didn't mention the acreage, but I'd probably construct the breaks in such a way that I could burn sections individually. I think the bigger threat over the long haul is a canopy shading out vegetation and browse. I'm amazed at how fast dover develops here after a burn. Burning in sections ensures there is always cover and food available.

I will say that this idea of quality food in cover can make deer harder to hunt. It takes very little pressure for them to stay in the thick stuff and feed there until after dark.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Yarg]

I might take a different approach. If you are looking for diverse cover and browse using natives as much as possible, I don't think I'd plant anything. I'd consider putting in a firebreak and using fire every few years to keep it in early succession. You didn't mention the acreage, but I'd probably construct the breaks in such a way that I could burn sections individually. I think the bigger threat over the long haul is a canopy shading out vegetation and browse. I'm amazed at how fast dover develops here after a burn. Burning in sections ensures there is always cover and food available.

I will say that this idea of quality food in cover can make deer harder to hunt. It takes very little pressure for them to stay in the thick stuff and feed there until after dark.

Thanks,

Jack

It's only about a hundred acres..80 of which are the overgrown fields. After snowfall there just doesn't seem to much cover. I guess you would call these fields in early succession the deer kind of keep them there.my goal is to grow some nice racks that stick around and feel comfortable so with the limited acreage looking to create good cover with good browse aside of my one destination food plot

 

[yoderjac]

It's only about a hundred acres..80 of which are the overgrown fields. After snowfall there just doesn't seem to much cover. I guess you would call these fields in early succession the deer kind of keep them there.my goal is to grow some nice racks that stick around and feel comfortable so with the limited acreage looking to create good cover with good browse aside of my one destination food plot

Unless you develop a cooperative with neighbors, your goal is probably unrealistic. In most places, the lowest hole in the bucket when it comes to rack size is age. This means letting young bucks walk. With an average home range of about 1,000 acres (varies somewhat with habitat), unless you have an unusual situation, young bucks will be shot on adjoining land.

You might consider changing your goal to making you land more huntable and attracting bucks during the hunting season. Here is something to consider: The best way to attract bucks and deer in general to your land during hunting season it to provide sanctuary. The best way to keep them there during daylight hours is to provide a quality food source during hunting season.

To my way of thinking there are four things you need to achieve this, thick, undisturbed bedding cover, a quality food source, a transition zone, and arrangement. Consider the prevailing wind direction during the season and routes to access the transition zone for hunting without deer in the bedding area detecting you. You may want to shape this transition zone so it can be entered without detection given several wind directions. It needs to be between bedding and the quality food. It needs to be cover but huntable cover. This means more cover than the surrounding area but less than the bedding area. For example if adjoin lands are all pasture, it could be a small wood lot between the thick bedding and the food plot.

The cheapest way to develop cover is fire. It needs to be done correctly at the right time of year to promote the kind of growth you want. In most areas, the native seed bank will provide the cover. Keep in mind that this will put quality native foods in the bedding. During early season it will take very little pressure for deer to stay in the bedding until after dark. As the season goes on and things cool down, the quality of food in the bedding area will decrease. It will still have woody browse but that is lower quality than the forbs and vegetation earlier in the year.

On the food plot end, you will want to choose crops that are attractive and high quality as the native foods dry up. They need to be chosen for your region and planted with appropriate timing.

Can you fit this in 100 acres? I don't know. It will depend on a lot of specifics. I'm just suggesting you consider these kinds of things from a big picture view first. You may already be doing this, but I'm sure there are lots of folks in a similar situation just reading the thread.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[MickT]

Jack beat me to it. 4-5 burn units with clover firebreaks and you should have about as good habitat as anyone in the neighborhood.


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[trampledbyturtles]

Can anybody answer his original question?

Is alder to prolific to plant at the same time as his spruce planting. Will it take over the area to quickly before his other plantings can establish?

I am attempting something similar. Pockets of alder an white cedar along a slough edge that is currently void of life after Nov 1.

Any info on speckled alder appreciated.
Has searched sp. alder before with varying results.

 

[sandbur]

this is an old dairy farm that hasn't been mowed and probably 30 years. I added lime last year as I had the spreader and tractor already so along with doing my food plot I spread most of my open Fields with approximately 3 ton/acre. So pH is probably 5.5
Whats currently growing...blackberry thickets, goldenrod, random ash and Hawthorne.
This past spring, I've added several "clumps"of Norway spruce seedlings as well as several live stake red osier dogwood (rod) in the seasonal wet spots.
My goal is in creating diverse cover and browse utilizing natives as much as possible... I chose the Norway spruce over the white spruce 4 faster growing lol..
My plan is to Live stake alot more rod and try elderberry and ninebark as well.
I've held off on Willow and Alder thinking they would take over too fast??

Should I wait for rod to establish before introducing Willow and Alder,
or
get them started but don't protect them as that might take some pressure off the rod?

when live staking in high amounts what's the easiest protection to provide?

I have a large button Bush what's the best way the propagate it?

What other species would you recommend?
thanks

What state are you located in?
Location does not appear on my phone.

I bought an old dairy farm over thirty years ago and in my location I am not a fan of the fire idea.

In short, you want cover and access to stands without disturbing deer.

I like thick cover that is slightly different from surrounding cover. Conifers if it is all hardwoods around you.


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[H20fwler]

this is an old dairy farm that hasn't been mowed and probably 30 years. I added lime last year as I had the spreader and tractor already so along with doing my food plot I spread most of my open Fields with approximately 3 ton/acre. So pH is probably 5.5
Whats currently growing...blackberry thickets, goldenrod, random ash and Hawthorne.
This past spring, I've added several "clumps"of Norway spruce seedlings as well as several live stake red osier dogwood (rod) in the seasonal wet spots.
My goal is in creating diverse cover and browse utilizing natives as much as possible... I chose the Norway spruce over the white spruce 4 faster growing lol..
My plan is to Live stake alot more rod and try elderberry and ninebark as well.
I've held off on Willow and Alder thinking they would take over too fast??

Should I wait for rod to establish before introducing Willow and Alder,
or
get them started but don't protect them as that might take some pressure off the rod?

when live staking in high amounts what's the easiest protection to provide?

I have a large button Bush what's the best way the propagate it?

What other species would you recommend?
thanks

Along with what you have already I like the adding clover strips myself I would mix in some chicory.
Also would look at a few wide strips of native tall grasses like Bluestem/Indian/Switch

For other shrubs to ad I like hazelnut, chokeberry, highbush cranberry, elderberry, winter berry, gray dogwood and crab apples

 

[yoderjac]

What state are you located in?
Location does not appear on my phone.

I bought an old dairy farm over thirty years ago and in my location I am not a fan of the fire idea.

In short, you want cover and access to stands without disturbing deer.

I like thick cover that is slightly different from surrounding cover. Conifers if it is all hardwoods around you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good point. Location can make a difference. Fire works great in my area but that may not be true everywhere. Up north, thermal cover may be more important to bedding where that is not a big issue in my area. I'm also on a pine farm where fire is a good tool for timber management so using it for keeping bedding in early succession is pretty easy. With fire, timing can make a lot of difference in what plants are advantaged and different locations have different things in the native seed bank. What works well in one location may not in another.

I'd encourage everyone to include you location in your profile. It really helps folks provide you better answers, and it lets you weigh the value of the answers your receive based on the location of the responder.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Diesel5610]

Try some American Plum. Deer will browse it, it creates thickets and also has fruit. It is the perfect fit for what you are looking for and is native to our area. I like it better than the Alder or Willow idea for deer habitat. I have done the same thing and have Norway, Red Osier Dogwood and the American Plum. Saratoga Tree nursery will have it for sale starting Jan 2nd. Order early, it is one of the shrub/trees that sells out quickly the years they even have any.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/75799.html

 

[rocksnstumps]

Try some American plum but see how they respond on YOUR land before putting too much into them. On my land I won't plant them anymore, crabapples outgrow them 5X. I think they like wetter ground for best growth. I'm on top of a hill (drumlin actually), sandy loam. Apples and oaks grow great, plums not so much. But just down the road from me along the road ditches there are old plum thickets and they make fairly thick cover. I even have some plums I've since discovered in my old fence lines but I have to rescue them from the prickly ash that grows like weeds and the plums do not bloom and start to die off. Plums I planted full sun 14 years ago are still just single plants and not that big really. Variety is the key until you find what works best and then maybe double up on that shrub but still try to keep a mix. Just my perspective so take what you read from others with some caution until proven results for you.

 

[ksgobbler]

Plums grow best on dry upland. Something isnt right if you cant get them to take.

 

[rocksnstumps]

To OP, try reading these threads on creating cover from a blank farm field. Scott Bishop has unfortunately passed on but had some good threads on cover and also spruce plantings.These are in the MS archives back when they used to share some good info. Don't go there much any more.

https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/cover-thats-holding-the-most-bucks.400235/

https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/the-spruces.323745/

 

[rocksnstumps]

Plums grow best on dry upland. Something isnt right if you cant get them to take.

I think it depends on what kind of variety of plums. My short take on plums after more than a decade of trying to baby them to grow well.....plums suck and the fruit is gone before Labor Day when corn and beans in neighboring fields are still all over. I think the raccoons like them though...so if you are into those, maybe good fit. They grow SLOW by me.

 

[ksgobbler]

Heck American plum we were picking and making jelly out of labor day weekend. Our bushes were loaded. Most of those pics are next to our driveway. I cut down a big one in our yard earlier in the week.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Yeah, plums grow well some places. Actually where my house is I am surrounded by shallow ditches and clay soil (also a different USDA growing zone). Too high a water table to have a mound system even. Have a bunch of plums along one side and they do much better than my hunting land area, hence why I say they do better with some wetter soils. Got some pics somewhere of them loaded, still all done by Labor Day here. When I lived in Texas, my plum trees in yard were done by Memorial Day! They had to get er-done before the hot Texas summers.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Late Aug, trees so full they were really getting in the way of mowing the lawn.

 

[Yarg]

What state are you located in?
Location does not appear on my phone.

I bought an old dairy farm over thirty years ago and in my location I am not a fan of the fire idea.

In short, you want cover and access to stands without disturbing deer.

I like thick cover that is slightly different from surrounding cover. Conifers if it is all hardwoods around you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm in NY

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have no experience with alder. But for that situation, if it were me - I'd plant crab apples, American plum, high bush cranberry, Washington hawthorn, Norway spruce ( in clusters of about 6 or 8 ), elderberry and gray dogwood. But you may have to cage some of those so they don't get browsed to death, until they get established. Those will give you cover, food at various times during the year, and patches to roam around and/or bed in.