Wetland Planting??

[Trapper330]

I am trying to fill my marsh- Canary grass- with trees and shrubs. A creek meanders through it and it gets flooded up to 6 times a year for up to a few days. I'm trying tamarack, black spruce, hybrid willow, ROD, Button bush, chokeberry bush and even Alders and this year testing Bald cypress. I'm in zone 4, central Wi. Any other suggestions? Looking to thicken it up for deer cover. I've used fabric mats in the past to combat the reed canary, but now am trying clethodim.

 

[Trapper330]

I am trying to fill my marsh- Canary grass- with trees and shrubs. A creek meanders through it and it gets flooded up to 6 times a year for up to a few days. I'm trying tamarack, black spruce, hybrid willow, ROD, Button bush, chokeberry bush and even Alders and this year testing Bald cypress. I'm in zone 4, central Wi. Any other suggestions? Looking to thicken it up for deer cover. I've used fabric mats in the past to combat the reed canary, but now am trying clethodim.

Dang...new to this. Probably should be in Habitat section!? Sorry.

 

[jsasker007]

Tamarack and willow should do well for you I would think. You can put some space between the willows because they will spread and spread quickly in my experience.

 

[bwoods11]

Red osier Dogwood ?

 

[H20fwler]

Willows, button bush, Highbush cranberry, indian currant, american plum, hazelnut, pinoak, white pine, crab apples...native grasses like big&little bluestem, bushy bluestem, Indian grass, switch grass.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Do you have any spots with trees now or all marsh grass and sedges? True marshy stuff is tough but best bet willows and tag alders can grow on clumpy high spots. Forget all the prairie grasses, ain't gonna happen. Woods for us along a big marshy area are silver maple and unfortunately a lot of dieing green ash. Tamarack probably will grow but since they drop needles not as great for winter cover. Dogwoods and hemlocks also can grow decent on the edges but at times flooded marshy spots are tough.

Also be aware grasses and sedges likely need different chemical cocktails to control. Spraying near water is also a consideration when selecting herbicides. Aka rodeo vs. roundup

 

[SD51555]

I wouldn't fight the canary grass with chemical. Very first thing I'd do is see if there are any dogwoods already in there. For your area, and those kinds of conditions, odds are good there's a decent amount of dogwood already present. It's likely the deer are just keeping it very subdued.

If you find dogwood already in there, start stacking brush over it and around it and make big barriers to keep deer out. The dogwood will grow just fine in canary grass if protected from browse and physical smothering from lodging canary grass each season. The brush will hold up the canary grass later into the fall to make it better cover too.

Birds will also land on your brush piles and bring all sorts of recto-stratified germination-ready seeds to your project area. I'd vote for solid dogwoods and white cedars. You could also sneak in there with a mini excavator and make some mounds and holes. Mounds could host high value non-wetland trees like apples, plums, or cherries.

A spot like that could take years to develop into what you want, but I think the wait is worth it. I'd want to keep the canary grass and get it into trees and shrubs that don't need to be reset to keep them in the desired state you want, vs something like tag alder which needs to be cut frequently and ruthlessly to keep it in a good cover-value state.

 

[keets]

ROD, black spruce and tamarack....yellow river nursery is out of black spruce, but has some tamarack left

 

[GoldenTriangleIL]

Clethodim is somewhat effective on reed canary grass but you have to hit it when it is short in length. This can be hard given its growth rate and conditions. My preference is to spray with glyphosate before native plants begin breaking dormancy. You likely wont ever get rid of it in your scenario but you can create pockets ofRCG (which as you know will lay completely flat in fall) that are surrounded by tall vegetation like goldren rod, giant ragweed, etc. Deer seem to like these spots. As SD5155, pointed out above canary grass can provide walls of cover if it grows up into something that will hold it up, like a fallen tree or shrubs. In west central Illinois, I use ROD, silky dogwood, buttonbush, and false indigo for the really wet spots. Pin oaks are nice as well.

 

[rocksnstumps]

I'd want to keep the canary grass and get it into trees and shrubs that don't need to be reset to keep them in the desired state you want, vs something like tag alder which needs to be cut frequently and ruthlessly to keep it in a good cover-value state.

Not saying alders are preferred but they will grow in very wet spots that dogwood won't. Willows and alders are what I see make it in the quagmire, mucky, loonshit marshy area I've duck hunted in the past. Otherwise a sea of grass and reeds with open water. Not talking swamp, that has patches of trees and some other shrubs and you have some chance of walking around without the ground sucking your boot off. Swamp and marsh are very different in what grows there. Perhaps the OP can clarify what he has.

If the OP has something more like shrub carr, that would be much better suited to dogwoods and such. In southern WI those areas are important to overwinter pheasants

 

[farmlegend]

Reed canary grass? Tough stuff. IME, on most sites that are dominated by RCG, nothing you can plant can compete with it. Its rhizomes and seeds go clear down to bedrock.

Here's what I've seen guys I know personally have success with - spray your RCG with clethodim/crop oil. Hit it when it begins to grow vigorously in the spring (in my area, that's right now), again a month later, and again in the fall. In all likelihood, forbs and shrubs will slowly invade. Repeat the following year. And as necessary thereafter.

There may be another way to skin this cat, but I haven't seen it.

 

[Trapper330]

Red osier Dogwood ?

Thats the ROD. Am doing cuttings and bare root.

 

[Trapper330]

Reed canary grass? Tough stuff. IME, on most sites that are dominated by RCG, nothing you can plant can compete with it. Its rhizomes and seeds go clear down to bedrock.

Here's what I've seen guys I know personally have success with - spray your RCG with clethodim/crop oil. Hit it when it begins to grow vigorously in the spring (in my area, that's right now), again a month later, and again in the fall. In all likelihood, forbs and shrubs will slowly invade. Repeat the following year. And as necessary thereafter.

There may be another way to skin this cat, but I haven't seen it.

Thanks!

 

[Trapper330]

Not saying alders are preferred but they will grow in very wet spots that dogwood won't. Willows and alders are what I see make it in the quagmire, mucky, loonshit marshy area I've duck hunted in the past. Otherwise a sea of grass and reeds with open water. Not talking swamp, that has patches of trees and some other shrubs and you have some chance of walking around without the ground sucking your boot off. Swamp and marsh are very different in what grows there. Perhaps the OP can clarify what he has.

If the OP has something more like shrub carr, that would be much better suited to dogwoods and such. In southern WI those areas are important to overwinter pheasants

Shrub carr?

 

[Trapper330]

ROD, black spruce and tamarack....yellow river nursery is out of black spruce, but has some tamarack left

He's THE best! Got into a DNR program and talked into some DNR stock....After I said it before, but will say it now...NEVER AGAIN!!! dang some of those were tiny!!! UGH!!