Looking to add lots of browse shrubs. What nursery would you recommend ?

BobinCt

5 year old buck +
Want to add lots of browse and I’ll cage them up for a few years. I’m located in Connecticut. What nursery would you recommend and shrubs for my location ? Any input is always helpful . Thx
 
Do you have a state forestry that sells trees and shrubs?
 
If you are planting these trees for wildlife, I would check with the various state conservation departments that have bare root seedling sales. That's going to be your most economical way of planting trees for wildlife browse. We have land in Missouri and use MDC. I would try to use plants that are both already native to your area as well as something that you or your neighbors don't have a lot of and it would allow your place to be differentiated.

My favorite native browse plants are the several species of dogwoods. Eventually you can just take cuttings and stick those in the ground if you time it right and protect them. @Native Hunter has an incredible thread on native plants in his neck of the woods. I believe that he's a fan of arrowood viburnum. Personally I don't find a lot of browse on our farm, But that is also when I would definitely check out regardless.
 
I like using the New Hampshire State Nursery for bare root shrubs and trees...everything they offer is grown in NH and native to the Northeast.
 
I am next door in NY but have worked quite a bit in Conn so I know you are close to my hardiness zone. At my place any of the Dogwood's, Highbush Cranberry and Ninebark are some of the preferred browse. My Cranberry is struggling to put on size because I didn't cage it so I don't know the end size but for cover and browse you can't go wrong with Dogwood. Easy to grow and like Hoyt said, you can take cuttings and just stick them in the ground (or pot them over winter) to make more.

I got all of mine through the NYS DEC seedling sale and they are very affordable going that route, they are small though. If I did it again I would start them in pots to get some size before planting them, it was a cheap endeavor money-wise but high maintenance keeping the goldenrod from shading out and killing the small plants every spring/summer. Hindsight weedmats would have been very helpful.
 
Last edited:
Honestly, creating browse that deer cant eat for years is a counterproductive use of your time. Instead, you should be focused on creating an environment where browse can sustain itself. For example, you are far better off hinging maple or other undesirable trees in the canopy and providing immediate browse and the conditions for natural regeneration than to further foster an environment without adequate browse for several years. Obviously, if you dont have enough browse now you will probably need to supplement natural browse with food plots. Assuming, you cant or dont want to enhance natural browse and food plots all you will accomplish by caging shrubs for years is a caged landscaping project for years that will be destroyed once it is uncaged. No amount of established shrub planting will sustain deer in an unbalanced environment. In fact it will almost immediately become detrimental as the deer eat everything off the shrubs up to browse level and you then have a shaded, biological desert forming under the shrub canopy.
 
If you are planting these trees for wildlife, I would check with the various state conservation departments that have bare root seedling sales. That's going to be your most economical way of planting trees for wildlife browse. We have land in Missouri and use MDC. I would try to use plants that are both already native to your area as well as something that you or your neighbors don't have a lot of and it would allow your place to be differentiated.

My favorite native browse plants are the several species of dogwoods. Eventually you can just take cuttings and stick those in the ground if you time it right and protect them. @Native Hunter has an incredible thread on native plants in his neck of the woods. I believe that he's a fan of arrowood viburnum. Personally I don't find a lot of browse on our farm, But that is also when I would definitely check out regardless.

Yes, that is correct. Arrowwood Viburnum has become a favorite shrub for me. The deer on my farm browse it more than any other species, except for Strawberry Bush. Red Osier Dogwood is another good one, and I like the way it does well on wetter ground, where other shrubs might not thrive. For nut producing shrubs, I really like hazelnut and Allegheny Chinkapin.
 
I got some wild plums from Missouri DNR. They've done well for me. I'm looking to add some more shrubs to my browse. Link below. I agree with White Birch too though. If you're looking for something sooner you're better off doing some hinge cutting/stump sprouts if you have the trees to do it. I timbered my hemlocks off because they were dying but most of my regrowth since has been black birch. The deer might eat it but I haven't seen any eating it or seen signs of browse. It also doesn't hinge cut at all for me at least. I thought the buck would like it to rub because of the smell but they don't seem to rub it all either.

https://mdc12.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/TreeSeedling/?page=6
 
is a caged landscaping project for years that will be destroyed once it is uncaged.
I respectfully disagree. The Dogwood that was present on my property when I bought it gets browsed all year long, especially in the winter when everything ground level is under several feet of snow and unreachable. They grew naturally without human help or cages and continue to produce browse (and cover) year after year, as opposed to dying off due to browsing.

Of course every area is unique and things like deer density and available food sources vary greatly. But to say if you plant a bunch of woody browse it will be destroyed and useless from the time you take off the cage seems a stretch to me. Along the lines of don't plant Oaks because it takes 10-20 years to get nuts. Just my 2 cents.
 
Last edited:
Thx for replies. I have very low deer numbers in this area.
 
Honestly, creating browse that deer cant eat for years is a counterproductive use of your time. Instead, you should be focused on creating an environment where browse can sustain itself. For example, you are far better off hinging maple or other undesirable trees in the canopy and providing immediate browse and the conditions for natural regeneration than to further foster an environment without adequate browse for several years. Obviously, if you dont have enough browse now you will probably need to supplement natural browse with food plots. Assuming, you cant or dont want to enhance natural browse and food plots all you will accomplish by caging shrubs for years is a caged landscaping project for years that will be destroyed once it is uncaged. No amount of established shrub planting will sustain deer in an unbalanced environment. In fact it will almost immediately become detrimental as the deer eat everything off the shrubs up to browse level and you then have a shaded, biological desert forming under the shrub canopy.
I was just going to put this up, but thought I should give the thread a little time before the anti-planting guy (me) chimes in.

1667311571481.png

Fastest path to browse is to use what you got. There isn't much a deer will not browse, and even at that, just because it isn't browsed when we look doesn't mean it isn't getting browsed later. I've been whackin' like a mad man the past 4 years and I am making an assessment each summer and winter on the durability of what I've got by how hard it's been hit. If they are still obliterating my browse, I'll keep whackin'. If it looks like I'm getting too far ahead, I'll idle back a little.
 
What some people forget about planting is that after you plant one time, the birds take over and plant until the end of time. I planted 4 Arrowwood Viburnums. I now have more than 4,000. And, I might add that it’s hard to find one that hasn’t been browsed. Other shrubs do the same thing. Rocky the Squirrel has been very helpful in that regard as well. All of the nice shrubs are filling in spots where I have killed sweetgums and other undesirables.
 
Here's a study that includes preferences and nutritional info (per month) of native species. Even if you don't have the species listed it gives some good insights and trends. I like native stuff but am also willing to plant extra's such as plots and fruit trees. Browse shrubs can be included just as easily as the others we tinker with.

 
Here's a study that includes preferences and nutritional info (per month) of native species. Even if you don't have the species listed it gives some good insights and trends. I like native stuff but am also willing to plant extra's such as plots and fruit trees. Browse shrubs can be included just as easily as the others we tinker with.

How can I "like" something more than once? This is a great resource. Thanks for sharing!
 
I am working on a 3 year plan for winter browse on my land. I just finished up on year 1. I planted about 500 ROD, ninebark, a bunch of American plum, and choke cherries, along with several other random bushes and shrubs. My first year I was kinda scatter brained and wanted to do everything, this coming year I am breaking it into sections. I am going to focus more on low land plantings. More ROD, and river willows planted in and along low areas.

If I have more time after planting them, I am going to uproot thick areas of some spruce and plant them in higher areas that is in the low areas. Creating bedding areas.

Then if I still have time, my brothers land has white pine growing like weeds on it, I am going to pluck out a few hundred of them and plant them in clusters of 10 in random thin areas throughout my land.

When I first bought my land it was basically untouched small section of land in a big woods. It was identical to everything else around me. I thought like everyone else, I have to make food plots, then I needed to plant apple trees, now I want quality winter browse and bedding.

A few years ago my plan was to release oak trees, and cut any trees around oaks that are holding the oaks back, and using them as firewood. But then realized Mother Nature drops, and kills a lot of trees on her own, and it gives me a lot of wood just cleaning up after her. My plan is to save the oaks for firewood for when I am old, and don’t want to feed the wood boiler sever times a day with pine, maple and poplar.

A couple people brought up cutting down trees and opening the canopy to allow natural browse, well I do that regularly do to needing firewood. I usually wait until February or March and cut the trees down I want to cut up, this brings the buds from the tree tops down to the deer, then after the snow melts I go out and cut up the trees, and leave the brush for cover, and with the new openings, I get fresh regrowth. For now this is the plan that makes the most sense in my head, for my land. But I change my mind a lot.

As for nurseries, check with your local county, and state nurseries. Don’t be afraid to look at your neighboring states as well. I am in Northern Wisconsin and I have orderd from MN, Iowa, Missouri and even a couple times from Wisconsin.
 
Last edited:
How can I "like" something more than once? This is a great resource. Thanks for sharing!
Glad it can be of use to you! I've referenced it so many times I may have it memorized. It's awfully nice to have around to evaluate your properties current attributes per season. Once that's figured out it's pretty easy to know what native stuff to manipulate and what to add to fill gaps.
 
Wild american plum, elderberry, high bush cranberry, hazzlenut, service berry. The wild american plum, once established, competes the best with deer browsing. Service berry and elderberry have a slight preference advantage. I planted these years ago around my foodplots. Deer will browse them as they pass, year round, even with lush clover, soybeans, a few feet away.
 
Not everyone lives in an environment where the chainsaw is the best form of management to create browse.

I'm all for planting native shrubs. They just don't show up if there is no seed bank. And I'm not planting a tree and waiting 15 years just so I can hinge it.
 
Not everyone lives in an environment where the chainsaw is the best form of management to create browse.

I'm all for planting native shrubs. They just don't show up if there is no seed bank. And I'm not planting a tree and waiting 15 years just so I can hinge it.

I know you don't have a seed bank but you can hedge the bets in your direction. I like to make brushpiles and feed birds near them. If there are berries or seeds being eaten within the region they will get dropped into the bushpile. Then the brush protects the new plants from pressure. With that said it sounds like you may not have a brush to work with. Instead of brushpiles I've been known to create a row by hanging a wire for birds to perch on, then dump some bird food near the wire. Realloy want to hedge your bets disc the ground under the wire first.
Maybe, maybe not?
 
So far the suggestions are really good. I would also add Thuja occidentalis. Great cover and winter browse.
 
Top