Cover plant for brushpiles

[Robertesq1]

I am in the hudson Valley in New York and will be clearing wooded areas with a dozer for food plots. The trees will be uprooted and removed and used to create brushpilexs for small game habitat , funnels and edge cover. Does anyone have any suggestions for vegetation to plant in and around these brushpiles to enhance cover value and carying capacity?

 

[Bottomland]

Honestly I think anything that pops up naturally will far out-compete something you plant. I don't know where you're located, but in the south, greenbrier, honeysuckle, dewberry/blackberry, poison ivy, creeper vines, etc etc will swallow that up quickly. You could try planting and managing honeysuckle but you're probably better off managing/fertilizing the native vegetation. Just don't let it get too woody and high up, make sure there's always lush growth at deer level

 

[dogdoc]

Some might frown at this but I plant honeysuckle in my Brushpiles. I have to keep them protected because the rabbits and deer plow them down as soon as planted.

 

[OkieKubota]

What state are you located in?

Birds plant our dozer piles by perching and pooping seeds into them...lots of briars/blackberry grow up as pile rots down...

 

[Longleaf]

I agree on letting the native vegetation do it's thing. I did see an interesting idea a few weeks ago on a buddy's farm. He took some scrap pieces of old culvert and set them in the edge of some of his brush piles. He pointed them out to me and mentioned that every one of them will end up with some sort of nest in it, whether it's rabbits, quail, turkey etc. I wouldn't go out of my way to cut up good pipe to stick in a brush pile, but I thought it was a pretty cool idea to do with scrap pieces that would otherwise go to the trash pile.

 

[Robertesq1]

What state are you located in?

Birds plant our dozer piles by perching and pooping seeds into them...lots of briars/blackberry grow up as pile rots down...

I am in New York

 

[Bottomland]

Some might frown at this but I plant honeysuckle in my Brushpiles. I have to keep them protected because the rabbits and deer plow them down as soon as planted.

I'm all for planting/caging honeysuckle, but I think in this instance it would eventually get taken over by more vigorous native browse like briar/rubrum. I plan on installing some caged honeysuckle myself, but I want mine to be along a field edge or somewhere similar where I can easily maintain and fertilize it.

 

[TheOldOak]

No need to plant anything. I had a brushpile from pond build, within 3 years briars have taken over and weeds are 8 feet tall. Would outcompete anything you plant. I tried planting an appleApple tree beside it, done okay but the briars are a constant battle, not worth it. On plus side, I've jumped fawns out of it constantly as very near my cabin. Just let nature do it's thing is my advice.

 

[Brushpile]

If you have open ground then you can plant preferred browse like dogwoods, which can be planted from cuttings. Other good choices are thicket forming shrubs like Wild Plum and Elderberry.

 

[Charlieyca]

I have some brush piles that have started to break down pretty good and are losing their cover. I am planting red osier dogwood on the sunny side and a mix of gray and silky dogwood on the other sides. Make it last a little longer as cover.

 

[j-bird]

Mother nature will plant for you, but if you have something else in mind plant it in there and let the brush pile serve as an exclusion cage. Naturally I tend to get blackberry, mulberry and green briar initially and then over time saplings will grow out of it.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Green briars' are worth planting if you have none on site, they are good cover and a deer survival food, in late winter the only green thing in the woods. Vine honeysuckle is a good deer planting that stays green longer than regular honeysuckle.

 

[Elkaddict]

Robert, nature has done a decent job on ours. Between adjacent food plots and natural growth, all is good. Our one surprise has been a bear denning under one of our brush piles..... Until I know it's not a sow with cubs, I've tried to stay clear of it.