wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
I ordered some root stock high bush cranberry shrubs. I'm wondering what size cages I need for them? Thanks
High bush cranberry cages?
- Thread starter wisconsinteacher
- Start date
I have some that have been in the ground 2 years and I'm getting by with just 2 ft diameter by 3ft high cages. I will have to go to atleast to 4ft high cages probably this year or next. These things can get huge. I gave a bunch to a friend that planted them along his road by his house. I would say the have to be 8-10ft high x 10ft wide and absolutely loaded with fruit. The last couple years he said the turkeys have been up in them in the winter eating the fruit. He did have trouble with the deer browsing them when they were younger.
wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
Thanks. Sounds like I need 4ft high at least.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I'm going to plant some in strips and use t-posts and cheap plastic fabric around them for a couple years to help get established. Same with ROD and arrowwood viburnum.
wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
What diameter would you make your cages if you were going to keep them around the shrub for 2-3 years.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
I'm sure a guy could do the typical 3'ish diameter circle like apple trees. What I'm doing is laying out 10-15' long strip of 4' landscaping/weed fabric to put a bunch of highbush cranberrry/arrowwood viburnum/ROD and then use t-posts and this cheap mesh to fence it off. https://www.amazon.com/Gardeneer-Da...ocphy=9019624&hvtargid=pla-2281435180458&th=1
Less $ in fencing areas and more plants in the ground rather than putting a full cage around each one.
Brian662
5 year old buck +
I have some 3-4 year old cranberries that were bare root from the SWCD. I used 10' rolls of 4 or 5' cage and they are now growing out of the cages and the stems are around 1" thick. I removed some of the cages to see how they fare without protection. I think they'll do fine from the deer but do worry a little about rabbit and rodent girdling.
I'll try to get some pics, but very happy with the progress...standard weed mat and mulch setup.
I'll try to get some pics, but very happy with the progress...standard weed mat and mulch setup.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Our HB cranberry cages are 3' in dia. X 5' tall. Planted on a slope with many small springs / trickles running down it.
wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the info. I don't know if I have enough fencing for each plant to have a 3' diameter cage. I'm guessing putting 2 plants in a 3' cage would be tight and cause over crowding. I'll cage as many as possible and let the others go without cages and see what happens.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
I have one highbush cranberry at home. It's not browsed hard.
You can dump branches around your planting to keep the deer out of it. I do that at camp and seems to work ok. Spots right by foodplots, so the deer are there often
You can dump branches around your planting to keep the deer out of it. I do that at camp and seems to work ok. Spots right by foodplots, so the deer are there often
I would definitely spread them out. The recommended spacing is 8-10 feet in rows. When I planted my the first go round I didn't cage mine and they just disappeared. I'm not sure if it was rabbits or deer but the following year there was no sign they were ever there. I would try to do whatever possible to invest in something to cage them. I learned the hard way like many others on here trying to cut corners not fencing. It not only sucks loosing the money in the tree but the time and work spent for no return is what really gets me.
wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
I bought more fencing. My plan was to space them all out 15-18' and have a fence for each one. I will have 20 clusters of dogwood and 10 highbush cranberry in an area in the swamp. I really hope they take off. I plan on planting them in early May and babying them as much as possible. The goal is to keep the weeds/grass at bay as well.
wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
I just wanted to update on the ROD and high bush cranberry. I planted it in May and then the rains came. At one point they were in water that was thigh high and all you could see were the tips of the plants. I figured they were gone but after the water went down I was able to check them out and 97/100 were still alive!!! In July, I pulled the cages up and weeded around them. So far they are all growing!! I planted the ROD in groups of 5 and they are 12" apart from each other in clusters. The high bush cranberry are in cages by themselves. I plan on weeding them again next summer and keeping the cages on for at least 1 more year.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Glad your shrubs are doing well, W.T. They'll be a benefit for you for years! Nice work.
Our high bush cranberry shrubs are now about 6 to 7 ft. tall. I caged them when I planted them about 5 years ago, and the cages are still on them. Limbs are growing out through the cages, but at least the deer can't rub on them & shred them. They were planted about 15 to 20 ft. apart. Last fall they had quite a few red berries on them.
Our high bush cranberry shrubs are now about 6 to 7 ft. tall. I caged them when I planted them about 5 years ago, and the cages are still on them. Limbs are growing out through the cages, but at least the deer can't rub on them & shred them. They were planted about 15 to 20 ft. apart. Last fall they had quite a few red berries on them.
wisconsinteacher
5 year old buck +
After reading about how you kept the cages on them, I might do that so they don't get shredded by bucks.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
The cages just seem to have prevented bucks from tearing them up. They can still browse anything that pokes out through the cages, and the berries are accessible to all birds. Good luck with yours!
