In one of the areas on my buddies place we did 3 conifer "bedding" plantings into a large area of reed canary, we had good success with the following method. First step is to mow the area in early spring(we did it in early April), we rented a tow behind DR brush mower and pulled it with a 4 wheeler due to the fact that the area we were mowing/planting would get very wet at times. We mowed an area about 10 yards larger than we were going to plant the trees in(for a burn buffer). After it was mowed, we did a very careful burn in each of the locations we mowed. Following that, we would wait until the area greened-up and got about 3"-4" tall and then we sprayed each area with Rodeo(aquatic glyphosate) and Habitat(Imazapyr), I recall it being sprayed 3 or 4 times over that first summer. It was basically the same "cocktail" as bigeight used. Later that fall we planted bareroots, plugs and about 3 dozen container trees that my buddy picked up at an end of season auction at a local nursery for next to nothing. For maintenance, the area around the plantings was mowed each spring, and then sprayed with Select(clethodim) 3 to 4 times over the course of spring and summer for 4 years until the conifers and other shrub plantings got tall enough to compete on their own. It was a ton of work, but well worth the effort in the end, it holds deer year around and not only does, but he has seen some nice bucks(for our area at least) bedding in those areas as well.