What to do With Open Areas?

[Victor Van Meter]

I know I may get many different responses, but I am looking for advice on what to do with these open areas. The property was logged 3 years ago and these areas aren’t “brushing” up like many of the others. I am looking to thicken them up for bedding areas, not for food plots. I am located in SE Ohio.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Telemark]

Pine trees!

 

[scott44]

Pockets of red cedars, spruce or pines or a combo.

 

[homerj]

Leave 'em be. Wildlife openings are great https://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/ch/ch_9_11.pdf

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

agree with homer. I would add clear them even more and burn off. Spring burns promote grasses fall burns promote forbs.

 

[j-bird]

remove the leaves, disturb the soil and maybe plant some shrubs....but other wise let mother nature do her thing... Take a hard look at the amount of sun these spots are getting as well. You may still be getting a fair amount of shade in some of these....no sunlight = no growth.

 

[yoderjac]

I know I may get many different responses, but I am looking for advice on what to do with these open areas. The property was logged 3 years ago and these areas aren’t “brushing” up like many of the others. I am looking to thicken them up for bedding areas, not for food plots. I am located in SE Ohio.
View attachment 22842View attachment 22843View attachment 22844View attachment 22845View attachment 22846


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'd consider a controlled burn.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Thanks for the comments. I have owned the property for less than a year and have come up empty on how to get a tractor to all of these spots but the one in the last pic. If I do clear, it will most likely be through grunt labor from my son and I. I do like the idea of just clearing and letting nature take over, that is the easiest on the wallet! I believe the weather is calling for partial sun tomorrow, so I will head over mid day and see what kind of light these areas are actually getting.
I like the idea of control burns, but they scare the crap out of me honestly! All I can think about is them getting away and burning up hundreds of acres that I don't own.

VV

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I agree with jbird. It looks like these areas are fairly small and have some tall trees around them so I'm guessing it's a sunlight issue. I'd probably leave them alone for a few years and see what grows naturally. if you don't like it, then kill it off and plant some shrubs or spruce trees.

If you want to make those areas thicker now you could hinge cut some of the neighboring tall trees and have them fall in the openings. That would give you some immediate cover and increase the sunlight at the same time.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Incorporate some lime into the soil to improve the ph, then you may end up with something a little more desirable.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I agree with J-bird to a point. I'd also remove some leaves so seeds and nuts can get onto mineral soil & not leaf duff. Better chance of germination for things to grow.

If it was my ground, I don't think I'd wait to see if things take off. If I wanted some bedding & cover, I'd plant some groups / clusters of 4 to 8 spruce with 15 ft. or so between them. I'd space the clusters out so there was 30 yds. or so between them. I'd try to encourage more of that blond grass in the background left of your last pic to grow between the spruce groupings. That would make a super bedding area. If you wait 5 years or so and things don't grow naturally as you'd like, you have to start over again having wasted 5 years.

I'd also knock down any maple or poplar trees by hinging, if possible and leave the oaks for acorns to supply food in this area in the fall & early winter. More reason for deer to hang in that area. Plus more sunlight will stimulate more rapid growth of anything you plant or natural regeneration.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Thanks again guys. I will take this all into consideration and give it a lookover again this weekend and come up with a game plan.

 

[Telemark]

Incorporate some lime into the soil to improve the ph, then you may end up with something a little more desirable.

That's probably a good idea. My woods soil was 5.5 pH when I tested it a few years ago.

 

[hesseu]

Cut more tree's down. Burn.

 

[CoshoctonOH]

The last picture screams old oil field to me, flat and blond grass growing. The oak in the center has already shot out trunk growth signifying the canopy was definitely opened pretty good, yet there is no floor growth. This leads me to believe there is a soil issue, wether it is old contamination, ph imbalance, lack of organic matter or a combination of all of these. I would take a shovel and dig down and see how much top soil you have, and I’d get a soil sample tested while I was at it. ODNR has a pretty good GIS resource that shows current and past oil wells.

 

[JackTerp]

LIke you, I am afraid to attempt burning. The problem is, a lot of leaf litter simply won't let seeds germinate. I came up with a bit of a compromise. I borrowed a friends backpack blower. It is gasoline powered so can run a long time. I used it to disturb the litter and to spread seeds over a large area. I blew the litter into rows with the idea of going back and just burning one row at a time but that turned out to be unnecessary. The seed came up rather nicely. I sowed a lot of millet and sunflowers to get a taller growth until nature could fill in the rest.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks for the comments. I have owned the property for less than a year and have come up empty on how to get a tractor to all of these spots but the one in the last pic. If I do clear, it will most likely be through grunt labor from my son and I. I do like the idea of just clearing and letting nature take over, that is the easiest on the wallet! I believe the weather is calling for partial sun tomorrow, so I will head over mid day and see what kind of light these areas are actually getting.
I like the idea of control burns, but they scare the crap out of me honestly! All I can think about is them getting away and burning up hundreds of acres that I don't own.

VV

You need to either get certified as a prescribed burner or hire one. Tiny burns like that you can do with a few guys, a drip torch, a leaf blower and an atv sprayer. Simply create a firebreak around the area using the leaf blower. Make sure there is nothing that will ignite. Eight to ten feet is enough. The key, and why you need the certification or to hire someone, is the right conditions. You need the right wind level, stability, and direction and the right humidity.

In my state you are not required to be or have someone certified to burn, but it reduces your liability. For larger burns you need a dozer on site for safety. I still have not taken the class yet. I keep having conflicts and it is only offered once a year in my area. I've participated in a number of burns. For small stuff, we burn ourselves. Until I get certified, I won't burn areas that are large enough we can't see the entire burn area.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[IkemanTx]

Those are begging for a prescribed burn!

I know you said the idea scares you, but your NRCS agent or county biologist can set you up with the right people to get it done. Also, assisting on other burns will give you an idea of how safe it can be.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[roymunson]

One of my buddies has an opening like that and 15 years ago he turned it into a tiny switch grass bedding area... I think there are better options than that, but it would be an option.

I also agree with letting it get thick. Create habitat and bedding.

 

[SD51555]

Nail an 8' plastic fence to those perimeters to keep deer out and stuff it full of red osier dogwood and black hills spruce. Spread a little bit of lime and gypsum in there at the same time and you're good to go.