Christmas Trees for bedding?

[NoviceTreeGuy]

I was thinking, instead of planting switchgrass for deer bedding cover, has anyone had any experience planting conifers like a Christmas tree farm? How far apart do you space them? What conifer varieties would be best for this ?

I was just brainstorming the possibilities of creating deer bedding cover from an existing pasture wasteland and looking for alternatives to NWG.

Your opinions and help are greatly appreciated.

 

[yoderjac]

I was thinking, instead of planting switchgrass for deer bedding cover, has anyone had any experience planting conifers like a Christmas tree farm? How far apart do you space them? What conifer varieties would be best for this ?

I was just brainstorming the possibilities of creating deer bedding cover from an existing pasture wasteland and looking for alternatives to NWG.

Your opinions and help are greatly appreciated.

I'm part owner in a pine farm. We regularly plant, thin, and eventually clear-cut loblolly pines for sale. The first 5-10 years are great for both bedding cover and food. Eventually the canopy closes and the food value is gone. They provide thermal cover but not much else for deer. After the first thinning, sunlight hits the ground again. If you execute a controlled burn after thinning, they produce more deer food again until the canopy eventually closes. Eventually, you can clear-cut and start the process over.

We manage both for timber value and wildlife value. We divide our property into management zones with different objectives. By rotating between management zones, you can have a good mix of timber at different stages of succession. Combined this with some hardwood riparian buffers and some open fields and food plots and you have a great recipe for deer management!

 

[BenAllgood]

What area of MO are you in? Shortleaf pine could be good. Eastern Red Cedar should be free and come in on their own in a lot of MO. In a pasture like that, you can create great bedding just by letting it go for the most part. Kill plants and trees popping up that you don't want and let the other stuff come up. Killing any cool season grasses would help get it going. After that, it's just a matter of staying on top of it so it doesn't change into a forest.

 

[NoviceTreeGuy]

What area of MO are you in? Shortleaf pine could be good. Eastern Red Cedar should be free and come in on their own in a lot of MO. In a pasture like that, you can create great bedding just by letting it go for the most part. Kill plants and trees popping up that you don't want and let the other stuff come up. Killing any cool season grasses would help get it going. After that, it's just a matter of staying on top of it so it doesn't change into a forest.

Yes, From Missouri. Plan is to kill the cool season grasses this Fall. From there, I am considering putting a section in switchgrass and portion in conifers, but just wanted to hear opinions on this. Thanks to both of you for replying already!

 

[Mennoniteman]

Conifers are great deer bedding if they are not too tight together and/or are not tight to the ground like blue spruce. We have tight and thick virginia pines, but they are five to ten feet off the ground, and the deer will always be in there in rough weather, or when pressured.
I'd plant a thick circle tight to the ground (or several of them) with an open bedding area in the middle and two access/entry points. Planting rows well spaced works as well, until the trees get bigger and touch each other. Under normal circumstances deer will not go into totally tight thick cover tight to the ground where there are no trails.

 

[Native Hunter]

I was thinking, instead of planting switchgrass for deer bedding cover, has anyone had any experience planting conifers like a Christmas tree farm? How far apart do you space them? What conifer varieties would be best for this ?

I was just brainstorming the possibilities of creating deer bedding cover from an existing pasture wasteland and looking for alternatives to NWG.

Your opinions and help are greatly appreciated.

Eastern Red Cedar and Norway Spruce are what a lot of people go with - Norway Spruce is especially popular with habitat managers in the North, but they grow just fine in Zone 7a for me too. The trick is to space them out so that the bottoms of the trees are not shaded out when they get big. If the sunlight keeps reaching the bottom limbs, they will continue to be green and grow.

An ideal situation would be to have these conifers spaced out with forbs and maybe some NWSGs growing between them. You could go in once a year with a bushhog and knock back the woody volunteer trees, (poplar, sweetgum, extra cedar, etc) that comes up competing with the forbs and grasses. This should be done in mid to late spring so that the forb and grass cover will grow back by hunting time in the fall. Also, that gives time to let the area settle down with no human interference close to hunting season.

Another thing you could do would be to add a few big, robust shrubs like Arrowwood Viburnum, Hazelnut, Elderberry, etc. at a few places within the planting. This would add some diversity. That's something that I do myself.

PS - Not all conifers keep their bottom limbs as they age. If you go with a different conifer rather than the two I mentioned above, be sure to research that concern. White Pine is a good one to keep the bottom limbs, but they are dying out in a lot of places. I've had several to die in my planting. Best wishes.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Eastern Red Cedar and Norway Spruce are what a lot of people go with - Norway Spruce is especially popular with habitat managers in the North, but they grow just fine in Zone 7a for me too. The trick is to space them out so that the bottoms of the trees are not shaded out when they get big. If the sunlight keeps reaching the bottom limbs, they will continue to be green and grow.

An ideal situation would be to have these conifers spaced out with forbs and maybe some NWSGs growing between them. You could go in once a year with a bushhog and knock back the woody volunteer trees, (poplar, sweetgum, extra cedar, etc) that comes up competing with the forbs and grasses. This should be done in mid to late spring so that the forb and grass cover will grow back by hunting time in the fall. Also, that gives time to let the area settle down with no human interference close to hunting season.

PS - Not all conifers keep their bottom limbs as they age. If you go with a different conifer rather than the two I mentioned above, be sure to research that concern. White Pine is a good one to keep the bottom limbs, but they are dying out in a lot of places. I've had several to die in my planting. Best wishes.

Eastern white pines don't keep their bottom limbs in our area it they are tight together or in the woods, they get to be huge, 3' diameter, with the first limbs 60 feet up.

 

[Native Hunter]

Eastern white pines don't keep their bottom limbs in our area it they are tight together or in the woodsView attachment 30033, they get to be huge, 3' diameter, with the first limbs 60 feet up.

Yes, that is absolutely what will happen in a forest setting, but when spaced out and the brush mowed back once a year. they will keep their bottom limbs. I will send you an example pic in a few minutes.

 

[Native Hunter]

Eastern white pines don't keep their bottom limbs in our area it they are tight together or in the woods, they get to be huge, 3' diameter, with the first limbs 60 feet up.

View attachment 30033

Your picture illustrates what happens to white pines in a forest setting. My pics below shows one in a situation like I described and recommended above where sunlight is allowed to keep hitting the ground and brush at the bottom of the tree is mowed back once a year. This white pine is massive. It is at least 20 inches DBH and well over 100 feet tall. One side is partially shaded by a big oak, but the white pine still manages to keep thick lower limbs and make great cover around the whole tree.