side benefit of using hybrid willows and poplars in screen

willy

5 year old buck +
I have put in screens of miscanthus giganthus backed/fronted (depending on how one looks at it) with cedars and/hybrid willows, poplars, and cedars. The miscanthus will be on its third year this year and basically was a good screen already last year. Because of the tough winter conditions this year I decided to hinge the willows/poplars along one area of the screens to give some more browse. The deer were in the cutdowns immediately and have eaten the heck out of the branches.

I hinged them and was very surprised they didn't break off. Most should be very viable browse producers for a few more years.

This has given me an idea for this spring. I am going to go hog wild with cuttings anywhere I can plant them with enough space and then in three years be able to hinge them and continue the process each year to have continuous supply of good winter browse. I know that many of the cuttings will not make it for various reasons but if I plant enough of them I will still have a good crop each year for the deer.
 
They eat willows?
 
They eat willows?

Not sure about regular willows but they browse the heck out of my hybrid willow and poplar.

Willy,
don’t worry if the hinge cuts break. The hybrid willows will stump sprout like mad once the roots have taken. I’ve got a few that are at least 5 years old and no more than 4 to 5 foot tall. They have tons of sprouts and look more like bushes than trees. The deer did it not me. They hit the central leader the first year and have kept them bushes ever since.
 
Telemark, they are hybrid willow and poplar and I would rate them as a top browse on my place.

I hear you Bill. I have a "mother" willow that I cut down 4 years ago for cuttings and the deer have kept it mowed down since. I still get cuttings from it but the deer certainly keep it in check. The deer will be my biggest killer of the cuttings I plant this spring.
 
Nice. I'm sold. I'll add them to my plan.

Can I get a bit more info:

Can they reproduce?
What kind of dirt do they like?
Do they tolerate wet feet?
 
Can they reproduce?
What kind of dirt do they like?
Do they tolerate wet feet?

They are very easy to propagate from cuttings. So much so that I haven’t ever used a rooting hormone on them. Just poke them in the ground, take care of weed control and pray for moisture. If you buy a few cuttings and plant a couple someplace you can protect them you’ll have a lifetime supply of cuttings.

Dirt? I have heavy clay and they like it. Not sure about sand...

Wet feet? The wetter the better. I planted my first road screen during a wet spring. Literally planted them into 3 inches of standing water and they thrived.

John-W-WI, “who used to sell cuttings” and I have an ongoing debate about what grows better hybrid willow vs hybrid poplar. My experience is willow, His is poplar.
 
x2 to what Bill said.
 
One other thing that I like to do is plant thin whips about 2 foot long. I use a wood drill bit with a longe extension with a battery drill to open up the hole. If you get 18” in the ground moisture is easier to find. Just cut what’s above ground off so only 1 or 2 buds are left.
 
Both are pretty dang fast but I think the willow on my place are faster to a point - initially, they tend to pop up thicker in number and tend to make a better mid to low screen/cover faster then the popular. My popular and hybrid popular are heavily browsed, more so than the willows. The popular seem to take off later and after 5 or 6 years out pace the willows and pretty much shoot up into their tree form faster there after while I have yet to see the willows make much of a tree. I have older larger willow "trees" on the farm but in the same time I have grown very tall hybrid popular trees. So as a personal perspective up here... I would say they are comparable for growth in the early years, deer love the poplar, and the willow makes better cover. The willow always comes in thicker naturally than the poplar. They are both very very easy to grow from cuttings and are easy to establish. Later the under undergrowth thins out pretty fast with the poplar as the deer take everything from browse height on down. In young stands I think they are pretty equal for regeneration from cutting or mowing areas of young saplings - but treating them as a crop might have issues as the cut off stubs stab at tires and radiators not to mention I dont know how deer could walk through a field of those punji sticks.
 
Sounds great! I will order some. I have several places where they should thrive. Sounds like they behave similar to ROD.

With reproduction, i was wondering if they can reproduce and spread on their own, or are they sterile due to being hybrids?

Also, do they tolerate shade?
 
The native willows spread as well as my my native popular. I have a bunch of hybrid popular that have not done much of anything for spreading... what was planted is all that is there. In my windbreaks some are lombardy poplar which I dont think are recommended in wi anymore - one thought is to make sure, if you care, that the hybrids are not considered invasive. But if you do native cuttings they will eventually spread that I do know.
 
one thought is to make sure, if you care, that the hybrids are not considered invasive.

I do care. That's why i don't want them reproducing on their own.
 
I agree with cavey, I’ve never seen a hybrid poplar or willow anywhere on my place that I didn’t put there.
 
I agree with cavey, I’ve never seen a hybrid poplar or willow anywhere on my place that I didn’t put there.
I agree. Also, like Bill I'll take as long as possible cutting and shove it in as far as I can and then cut it off as he said. I think I've had darn near 100 percent success getting them to grow at least one season. Varmits and deer maul them sometime hard enough they don't make a second.
 
Do they have to be dormant when you plant them?
 
I have stuck willows and poplar cuttings in the ground later in the spring(May and June after cutting them off of a tree) and they have survived. They need wet feet immediately and for a while afterwards in my opinion. Where I have stuck them in this situation has wet soil generally. Like Bill, I have very heavy but fertile clay soil. the water holding qualities help greatly I believe.

Dormant is best though.
 
Where do you order your hybrids?
 
Do a search on austree hybrid willow cuttings for sale. Believe it or not I just found some on amazon for about $1 each
Just buy a few. Next spring you’ll have all you need of your own for free..
 
Mine came from John, owner of this site.
 
I take it John doesn’t sell them anymore? I was actually looking for some myself.
 
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