Screens?

[Dukslayr]

The farm I just sold was 100% timber and I never had any need for screens. I had perfect access routes for stands and no road frontage so this no real need for a screen. I’m now in the opposite of that situation in that I’ve got 2/3 CRP ground and will have a definitely need for both permanent and temporary screens. So two questions here:

1. What are your preferred options for permanent screens? I assume trees and likely evergreens. I’m in northern MO and soils are fine for growing about anything that’s tolerable to this climate. I will need to screen off about 1/4 mile of road frontage in the coming years. It’s no s necessity but I want to get started on it now. Any recommendations on tree type, spacing, etc?

2. What’s your go-to annual or periannual screen for accessing stands and screening from view. I recall a lot of interest and use of Egyptian wheat from the old forum. Is that still the ideal go-to? I do NOT want to plant something that will draw the deer to the screens (like corn). For all intents and purposes this is just for sneaking into and out of stands positioned along CRP fields. Any suggestions I can start researching? Thank you!

Thomas

 

[wiscwhip]

Various types of spruce are a very good bet for permanent screens. The tall varieties of sorghum or sorghum/sudangrass that are used for biofuel production make awesome screens as well.

 

[Dukslayr]

Various types of spruce are a very good bet for permanent screens. The tall varieties of sorghum or sorghum/sudangrass that are used for biofuel production make awesome screens as well.

Egyptian wheat falls in that category I assume? Are most/all of the varieties in this class annuals? I presume so but just curious. The previous owner had warm season geass strips he’s planted for screens but they’re about 2’ short of being effective.

 

[wiscwhip]

Yes. S/SG and EW are essentially the same thing and are annuals.

 

[wiscwhip]

Miscanthus is a perennial grass that guys use for screening as well. I am not very familiar with it, but Bill seems to be fond of it and there is a large thread started on it.

 

[Dukslayr]

Miscanthus is a perennial grass that guys use for screening as well. I am not very familiar with it, but Bill seems to be fond of it and there is a large thread started on it.

I’ll have to search that thread out and read it. I remember reading about that on the old forum but if I recall it’s a bit of process to get it going. Might be a good long term option though. I’ll need to use something temporary until I decide where something more permanent should go.

 

[scott44]

http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?threads/miscanthus-giaganteus-propagation-from-cuttings.480/
With MG should have a decent screen in 3-4years with a double row. It doesn't fall down in wet conditions like e-wheat and sorghum.

 

[Sconnie]

Plan for next year, 5 years and 20 years. 1 “row” of white pine with Norway spruce, one “row” MG and one “row” of EW/Sorghum. On the EW/sorghum get a soil sample and amend for full growth & structure.

Failure is not an option on screens. Go big or go home.


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[Dukslayr]

Plan for next year, 5 years and 20 years. 1 “row” of white pine with Norway spruce, one “row” MG and one “row” of EW/Sorghum. On the EW/sorghum get a soil sample and amend for full growth & structure.

Failure is not an option on screens. Go big or go home.


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I may have a devil of a time trying to get white pines to grow with the deer population. Am I crazy to consider something like eastern red cedar (of which we have a lot of around here). Your plan makes sense though in the long term.

Anyone have a suggestion on how wide of a EW screen i should plant? I’ve seen suggestions that you should broadcast at much higher rates than commonly used when drilled/planted in rows. Any suggestions on planting rate? Trying to get pounds per acre should be interesting since it’ll be in a long row and not so easy to calculate. Hopefully I can just set my broadcast spreader appropriately and get close. I’ll probably plant the EW with my Solo chest spreader.

Obviously soil amendments will help as I hear EW lives nitrogen. Will definitely pull soil samples since I’ll need them for all mynew plots as well. Thanks!

Thomas

 

[Sconnie]

Hi Thomas,

Eastern red cedar will work fine for a screen however you will have issues with apple trees if those are in your plan. Maybe Austrian Pines?

I have used EW/Sorghum in rows of 8-20’ for screening purposes. I try to seed light rather than heavy. Crowded plants don’t make height or stem density. 1st year or two you will fight weeds. They are a screens enemy! Fight the good fight.

I don’t have MG in my screens yet. I substituted shrubs; they don’t do the same job MG does.

-Brock


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[Dukslayr]

Hi Thomas,

Eastern red cedar will work fine for a screen however you will have issues with apple trees if those are in your plan. Maybe Austrian Pines?

I have used EW/Sorghum in rows of 8-20’ for screening purposes. I try to seed light rather than heavy. Crowded plants don’t make height or stem density. 1st year or two you will fight weeds. They are a screens enemy! Fight the good fight.

I don’t have MG in my screens yet. I substituted shrubs; they don’t do the same job MG does.

-Brock


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What’s your method of planting EW and what do you do for early weed control?

No plans for any apple trees at this point.

 

[scott44]

What’s your method of planting EW and what do you do for early weed control?

No plans for any apple trees at this point.

I planted mine about 6' wide, the width of my disc. I disced the strip a couple times and then broadcast the seed and cultipacked it, after this I sprayed the strip with gly and let it go. After the e-wheat is up 6-8" and before a good rain I broadcast urea on it. I haven't planted e-wheat for screening in a couple year but if I remember right it was 4-6#/acre and I mixed some sorghum in with it, and yes it does like nitrogen. Here's a couple pics of e-wheat screen first one is around one of my brassica plots and the other 2 are MG and e-wheat, I planted e-wheat the first couple years the MG was growing and none after that.

E-wheat first part of Dec. it falls down after some wet snow and good rains.

 

[Dukslayr]

I planted mine about 6' wide, the width of my disc. I disced the strip a couple times and then broadcast the seed and cultipacked it, after this I sprayed the strip with gly and let it go. After the e-wheat is up 6-8" and before a good rain I broadcast urea on it. I haven't planted e-wheat for screening in a couple year but if I remember right it was 4-6#/acre and I mixed some sorghum in with it, and yes it does like nitrogen. Here's a couple pics of e-wheat screen first one is around one of my brassica plots and the other 2 are MG and e-wheat, I planted e-wheat the first couple years the MG was growing and none after that.

E-wheat first part of Dec. it falls down after some wet snow and good rains.

Thank you for the reply. Man that E wheat breaks down way more than I thought. The NWSG screens I have now might be taller than that cone December.

 

[scott44]

Thank you for the reply. Man that E wheat breaks down way more than I thought. The NWSG screens I have now might be taller than that cone December.

My experience with e-wheat is it makes a good screen until Oct. here in MI and then it depends on the weather how long it lasts. Maybe a combo of MG, pines, spruce and shrubs for a permanent road screen.

 

[Dukslayr]

My experience with e-wheat is it makes a good screen until Oct. here in MI and then it depends on the weather how long it lasts. Maybe a combo of MG, pines, spruce and shrubs for a permanent road screen.

My bigger needs are really access screens in and out of several spots. I’ve got some new stands and blinds going up next year that will need a screen on one side to make shipping in and out a bit easier. We don’t get quite the weather you get up in MI but I would need something that could stand 6’ tall until thanksgiving at least. Guess the only way to know is to try it out though!

 

[Bill]

Just got back to the farm from picking my son up at the airport. Won't be around much the next few days.

I posted this in another thread a few weeks ago. This Miscanthus screen was planted in the spring of 2014 so it's now 5 seasons old. The year before I planted red cedar seedlings and left them to fend for themselves. The cedars are finally about 2-3 foot tall.

Miscanthus likes N.Missouri that I'm sure of.

 

[Dukslayr]

Just got back to the farm from picking my son up at the airport. Won't be around much the next few days.

I posted this in another thread a few weeks ago. This Miscanthus screen was planted in the spring of 2014 so it's now 5 seasons old. The year before I planted red cedar seedlings and left them to fend for themselves. The cedars are finally about 2-3 foot tall.

Miscanthus likes N.Missouri that I'm sure of.

View attachment 21576

Holy crap. That would be more than enough. I need to go read up on that post with additional details so I can answer some of my questions (longevity, care and maintenance, etc). If I can’t find it on the MG post I’ll ask additional details. That looks fantastic Bill.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is my screen to my main blind. It's an NWSG field with Big Blue, Switch, Indian and Little Blue. Not for everyone, but something to consider.

 

[Dukslayr]

I do like those NWSG fields. I actually plan to talk to the NRCS and see what u might be able to do with my current CRP contracts to incorporate some more NWSGs. I would love to give the pheasants some more cover and boost the population as well as provide some better deer bedding than the current CRP does (its 11-13 years into a 15 year contract). This is my first experience with navigating CRP contracts so I’m curious to see what they’ll let me do.

 

[WTNUT]

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]
I may have a devil of a time trying to get white pines to grow with the deer population. Am I crazy to consider something like eastern red cedar (of which we have a lot of around here). Your plan makes sense though in the long term.

Anyone have a suggestion on how wide of a EW screen i should plant? I’ve seen suggestions that you should broadcast at much higher rates than commonly used when drilled/planted in rows. Any suggestions on planting rate? Trying to get pounds per acre should be interesting since it’ll be in a long row and not so easy to calculate. Hopefully I can just set my broadcast spreader appropriately and get close. I’ll probably plant the EW with my Solo chest spreader.


As for permanent screen you are wise to be concerned about White Pine in high populations. I am being serious here, and giving my best recollection of what we planted. As near as I can recall, we planted over 25,000 white pines seedlings one year. We rented a planter and some were planted by hand. At the time a friend of mine had a mining reclamation crew that planted many items for reclamation. 18 months later we had zero white pines alive and doing well. So I defer to anyone and everyone to help you with permanent screens.

As for annual screens, It took me a long time but I am very happy with what we do now. First, I don’t like Egyptian wheat. It never seems to get a strong enough stalk to stand. Tried it several times, never again. The thing that I like best is Frigid Forage’s Plot Screen to Start.

I say start, because you can buy very similar seeds at Welters in Iowa. However, for your first year I would buy 50% of your seed at Welters. If you want I will look and tell you exactly what we plant. The other 50% use the Frigid Forest. Yes it is far more expensive, but until you get your recipe down it is worth it because once any of this stuff falls over from wind or snow you are done and you have wasted time and money. Here are my keys to success.

1. It takes a lot and I mean a lot of urea to make the stalks thick enough to stand. I use about the equivalent of 400 pounds per acre.
2. Plant your screen early. It takes a while to mature and you want it growing strong before the dry part of the summer. I shoot for having mine planted before June 1.
3. Do NOT plant the seed too heavy. I drill mine and use about 9 to 10 pounds per acre of a mix.
4. Make sure you kill your competition before you plant with Gly or some method such as tilling several times well in advance.
5. For me we use the small no-till drill and plant three 6 foot strips. That makes an 18 foot screen. We have beans right on the road and you can’t see crap in them when everyone wants to glass bean fields.


Finally, it isn’t fool proof and doesn’t work perfect every year, but I have been trying to perfect them for about 15 years and that is what I do. I have left out a lot of things that didn’t work.




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