Direct seeding of bushes and shrubs

[Rit]

Gents help me out here. Some of you have probably read the “let’s talk destination food plot” thread.

I have an area in that field that is about 60’ wide and 1100’ foot long. On one side of that area is a 30’ space for a road screen and the other side is switch. I haven’t decided what I was going to do with this area. Natural regen was my first thought but my seed bank has a lot of invasives.

Lately I have been reading Ernest seeds catalogue and noticed they sell many habitat seeds that are popular with deer. They have all the dogwoods, American plum, button bush, elderberry, and the list goes on and on.

As I was reading I thought why not prep the area like I would for switch and direct seed all these native shrubs. These bushes reproduce in nature all the time. What am I missing here? If I get good early weed control seems like this could work. You can purchase as little as 1 ounce per species of seed. An ounce of seed in some species would be 1000 seeds.

This certainly would beat the hell out of planting that same area. Has anyone tried something similar? Or am I just wishful thinking?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Sounds like a good idea. If you have invasives in the seed bank, I'd consider spending this year exhausting those invasive seeds. Can you let things green up and then disk lightly, let green up, disk lightly, let green up, disk lightly, then spray late in the growing season? That should take care of a lot of the invasive seeds and get you ready for planting the following spring. If you don't take care of those invasive seeds you might end up with a giant strip of buckthorn.

One thing to consider though is how deep each seed needs to be planted. You might need to spread the big seeds like plum first, lightly disk them in (big seeds need to be planted deeper generally) then come back and broadcast and lightly drag over the smaller seeds.

 

[John-W-WI]

I think it's a great idea. Weed control after year 1 will be key, as well as keeping browse down. But you will be planting a bunch of them so I think it would work well!

-John

 

[Northbound]

I'd like to see the results of this! I'd imagine it could be slow going but never any transplant shock delays and faster planting could payoff well if they can compete with weeds

 

[yoderjac]

With some species, putting out seed in a bird feeder can be productive. The seed often gets planted with fertilizer. Can't control where it gets planted this way or worry about weed control, but it can be effective in some situations with some species.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[H20fwler]

Very interesting concept, I would like to see the results of this too.

 

[yoderjac]

Very interesting concept, I would like to see the results of this too.

It was one of the wildlife biologists from our game department that introduced me to the idea. I have not done it myself. I'm sure it is highly dependent on the kind of bush you are trying to propagate.

 

[Catscratch]

Brushpiles and fences (wires) provide great places for birds to deposit seeds. I stack up brushpiles and shrubs soon pop up inside them with protection from deer. I'm sure planting seed and then stacking some brush on top would be successful.

 

[yoderjac]

Brushpiles and fences (wires) provide great places for birds to deposit seeds. I stack up brushpiles and shrubs soon pop up inside them with protection from deer. I'm sure planting seed and then stacking some brush on top would be successful.

Yes, that is exactly the kinds of techniques the biologist I talked to was discussing.

 

[scott44]

Brushpiles and fences (wires) provide great places for birds to deposit seeds. I stack up brushpiles and shrubs soon pop up inside them with protection from deer. I'm sure planting seed and then stacking some brush on top would be successful.

A lot of times I'll run some para cord in between a couple of trees just for the birds to sit on and leave seeds.

 

[ruskbucks]

This sounds like a great idea. Just one question, how are your deer numbers? I have a habitat book by Jeff Sturgis that where he states one of his clients took a field and planted like a 1000 seedling shrubs just like your thinking and the deer wiped almost every single one out. It turned out just like a food plot for the deer. I think if your going to give it a try it might be better to have some weeds and grass in there to protect them. It always amazes me that I can plant 2.5 acres of beans, and there will not be one single plant that doesn't get browsed. I could seed a field full of elderberry,plums, and dogwoods being all browsed just like my beans. It would be interesting to find out, might be worth a shot. Maybe if there was a good mix of shrubs that they didn't prefer mixed in it maybe it would make it.

 

[yoderjac]

This sounds like a great idea. Just one question, how are your deer numbers? I have a habitat book by Jeff Sturgis that where he states one of his clients took a field and planted like a 1000 seedling shrubs just like your thinking and the deer wiped almost every single one out. It turned out just like a food plot for the deer. I think if your going to give it a try it might be better to have some weeds and grass in there to protect them. It always amazes me that I can plant 2.5 acres of beans, and there will not be one single plant that doesn't get browsed. I could seed a field full of elderberry,plums, and dogwoods being all browsed just like my beans. It would be interesting to find out, might be worth a shot. Maybe if there was a good mix of shrubs that they didn't prefer mixed in it maybe it would make it.

If deer numbers are that high, I doubt weeds or grass will provide any significant level of protection. Many of the plants you list need protection during establishment but once established can't really be hurt by deer. For example, deer can wipe out Elderberry or ROD when it is being established pretty easily. But protect it for a couple years and deer can eat it flat to the ground and it will bounce back from the roots.

Some places are so bad that fencing is required to rehabilitate habitat.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[buckdeer1]

Don't know how they grow there but I have planted thousands of chickasaw plum and they make great cover for everything,another is fragrant sumac.I found a place googleing that sells seeds for every plant there is I think.I will try to find it,I planted some plum this way but don't know if they came up.I usually try to plant seedlings

 

[buckdeer1]

Here is a site that has alot,it's where I bought some seed awhile back. https://sheffields.com

 

[Rit]

I am still interested in this and have been doing a lot of reading. The issue that I think I’ll find as some have mentioned is the browse pressure.

A lot of mentions of cover crops with the planting. The deer numbers aren’t really high but at times there can be 15 deer in the field. This particular area I am setting up to be a destination food plot. The field is around 8 acres, has 2 acres of foodplots, fruit trees, switch grass and few browse rows. It doesn’t matter where in the field I plant something if it’s left unprotected it gets browsed.

An acre and a half of 6” seedlings would be worked over in short order. I will probably be better off to plant suckering or thicket forming varieties and protect them for the first couple of years. That in addition to natural regen should get me the cover I am lookin for.

 

[Catscratch]

I've often wondered why food plotters only grow herbaceous plants in their deer plots. In native systems woody browse is very important for digestibility and mineral uptake from the soil. I spend quite a bit of time amending soil, and propagating native woody plants. Often times it's as simple as tossing hedgeapples around the place, but why not disc up a plot and plant a couple thousand mulberry trees... with the intent that they will get eaten. Mulberry is very palatable and high in protein, why not use it like you would wheat... with the expectation that they will need planted again next year? Why not?

 

[ruskbucks]

I am still interested in this and have been doing a lot of reading. The issue that I think I’ll find as some have mentioned is the browse pressure.

A lot of mentions of cover crops with the planting. The deer numbers aren’t really high but at times there can be 15 deer in the field. This particular area I am setting up to be a destination food plot. The field is around 8 acres, has 2 acres of foodplots, fruit trees, switch grass and few browse rows. It doesn’t matter where in the field I plant something if it’s left unprotected it gets browsed.

An acre and a half of 6” seedlings would be worked over in short order. I will probably be better off to plant suckering or thicket forming varieties and protect them for the first couple of years. That in addition to natural regen should get me the cover I am lookin for.

Good luck with your project. I would love to try what your doing. I just don't have a good spot for it. If possible take some pictures along the way. Looking forward to hear how it works. If it comes back in shrubs and grass like a few of my lowland clear cuts did you will be thrilled. I think the key is a mix of grass/weeds and brush/shrubs.

 

[yoderjac]

I am still interested in this and have been doing a lot of reading. The issue that I think I’ll find as some have mentioned is the browse pressure.

A lot of mentions of cover crops with the planting. The deer numbers aren’t really high but at times there can be 15 deer in the field. This particular area I am setting up to be a destination food plot. The field is around 8 acres, has 2 acres of foodplots, fruit trees, switch grass and few browse rows. It doesn’t matter where in the field I plant something if it’s left unprotected it gets browsed.

An acre and a half of 6” seedlings would be worked over in short order. I will probably be better off to plant suckering or thicket forming varieties and protect them for the first couple of years. That in addition to natural regen should get me the cover I am lookin for.

Consider a temporary Gallagher-style fence. It would not need to be large. After the shrubs inside the fence are well established (a year or two depending on the shrub), you can move the fence to the next section and plant more.

 

[Rit]

I've often wondered why food plotters only grow herbaceous plants in their deer plots. In native systems woody browse is very important for digestibility and mineral uptake from the soil. I spend quite a bit of time amending soil, and propagating native woody plants. Often times it's as simple as tossing hedgeapples around the place, but why not disc up a plot and plant a couple thousand mulberry trees... with the intent that they will get eaten. Mulberry is very palatable and high in protein, why not use it like you would wheat... with the expectation that they will need planted again next year? Why not?

I see what you are saying. The area does have 2 acres dedicated to herbaceous plants. The area I am considering seeding this is in between a road screen and a section of switchgrass. I really want cover and food to establish in this area but want the cover before the browse. The 2 acre plot when finished will be lined with all types of browse shrubs.

 

[Rit]

Good luck with your project. I would love to try what your doing. I just don't have a good spot for it. If possible take some pictures along the way. Looking forward to hear how it works. If it comes back in shrubs and grass like a few of my lowland clear cuts did you will be thrilled. I think the key is a mix of grass/weeds and brush/shrubs.

Thanks I will definitely keep the photos flowing no matter what I decide.