N WI swamp/marsh area

[Peeps]

I have some swamp/marsh areas on my property in Marinette county Wi. They are wet in the spring but do dry out in the summer. Right now they are mainly home to long grasses and some evergreens with other dead trees and logs. I would like to plant trees to thicken these areas up. I am looking for suggestions on what to plant in these areas.

 

[tooln]

Maybe a willow. They like wet feet.

 

[wiscwhip]

If you can protect them, balsam fir and hemlock would work as well, but the bottoms that can be reached may get browsed even after they are established. White cedar would be a good choice as well. Red osier dogwood, button bush, high-bush cranberry, and ninebark would be good shrub plantings in an area like you are describing. Most willows, speckled alder and black spruce, as mentioned above, are all good plantings to start with as well.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

If your wetlands are bogs that have really low pH, you may be somewhat more limited than a wet area with a more neutral pH. In acidic areas black spruce and tamarac would likely be good choices. On my land in Rusk County WI I have a swamp/bog that is primarily black spruce and tamarac in the slightly dryer areas and swamp grasses in the wetter spots. There are also areas along the edges of my bog that are dominated by a mix of alders and some shrub willow. Even in the wetter areas you can get trees to grow if there's a bump with a slightly higher elevation. Both the black spruce and tamarac can grow in upland settings as well as areas with more neutral pH.

I would recommend planting a number of different types of shrubs/trees and see what grows best. I would also start with planting them in the dryer areas or humps first since those areas are likely best suited for trees.

 

[wiscwhip]

They would no doubt grow in the area in question, but one caveat to using tamaracks is that they are a deciduous conifer and like other Larix species, they drop their needles in the winter.

 

[bueller]

They would no doubt grow in the area in question, but one caveat to using tamaracks is that they are a deciduous conifer and like other Larix species, they drop their needles in the winter.

True but I love the yellow glow during the fall. I plan to scatter a few in by me for looks and variety only as I know they will do nothing for winter cover.

 

[wiscwhip]

Tons of them up on the Refuge, but the FWS might frown upon harvesting any of those seedlings for transplant, lol.

 

[West Branch]

Tough to beat the view of some black spruce and tamarack in the fall. We didn't have to plant these ones. The brush area in the foreground is mainly willow and alder with some dogwoods mixed in and probably other stuff. The spruce and tamarack are growing in sphagnum moss, while the brush areas seem to have some sort of grasses or sedges.

 

[younggun1849]

John from Bigrock has it figured out. In Reed Canary grass plant willows, using black fabric, tie them down after a year or two, and they keep expanding, overpowering the RC. I'm planting some islands of Willows in my RC at the farm this spring.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

WB - That pic looks like the type of habitat you'd expect to find a big gagger cruising in. Dark-footed swamp buck. And a cloudy, darkish day too. My favorite kind of day to hunt!!
Sorry for drooling.

The pic pretty much shows what nature wants in such areas - black spruce, tamarack, alders, willow.

 

[dipper]

Don't know is I'm the only one, but my area is getting hit hard by a tamarack disease. I'm loosing tons of them. Is like to plant more, but that would be foolish right now.

 

[wiscwhip]

Tamaracks are susceptible to a number of pests including many types of insects and fungi. I would wait to plant more, if it is insects, they tend to run in cycles of 6-8 years, if it is being caused by a fungus, I have no idea.

 

[ELH]

Might be a little outdated, but here is some info on Tamarack mortality from the WI DNR. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ForestHealth/documents/2013/ForestHealthNO-Apr13.pdf

 

[dipper]

Might be a little outdated, but here is some info on Tamarack mortality from the WI DNR. http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/ForestHealth/documents/2013/ForestHealthNO-Apr13.pdf

Yup I've got that bark beetle on both of my properties that are 20 miles apart. I cleaned all the dead tamarack last winter on my second place, and I have around ten that are dying. That brutal cold winter last year didn't kill the beetle.

 

[ELH]

Yup I've got that bark beetle on both of my properties that are 20 miles apart. I cleaned all the dead tamarack last winter on my second place, and I have around ten that are dying. That brutal cold winter last year didn't kill the beetle.

Have you noticed if the beetle affects saplings?..............or does it just target the larger trees.

 

[dipper]

Have you noticed if the beetle affects saplings?..............or does it just target the larger trees.

Larger trees. The is a young stand a half mile away that appears to be fine. Don't know the reason, maybe it just hasn't hit these younger trees yet?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

The mature tamarack on my land in northern WI were hit pretty hard by something about a decade ago. When I bought my land in 2006 the majority of the large tamarack in the swamp were already dead. There are thousands of them still standing but they are dead. Others have blown down and made nearly impassable tangles. There are also thousands of young ones growing back right now, so whatever killed the old tamaracks didn't seem to harm the young ones. It was also interesting to see that when the big tamaracks died in my bog that tons of white birch started growing there. I'm guessing it was just a perfect storm and somehow seeds from nearby birch trees landed in the swamp and germinated at the right time. This area can be under water for weeks or months at a time, so I was pretty surprised that the young birch trees would grow out there. I doubt they will get much bigger than they are now since they should drown out, but I've been thinking that the past several years and they keep growing. Now there are thousands of 5-10 foot tall birches growing in the peat bog where only tamarack and black spruce were growing before.