Questions on browse shrub planting project

[tlh2865]

One of the projects I am currently kicking around is a large scale planting of shrubs for browse and somewhat less for cover value. My experience in these projects is just lacking. My property has very little area outside of planted pines which have become very browse poor with age. I have some open ground that could be planted, but mostly I am looking to plant through the undisturbed area left by the original loggers along two creeks. My two biggest questions are what shrubs do you guys recommend that can tolerate heavy browse pressure, and how much area do I need to plant so that it is sustainable and they don't just mow everything to the ground?

 

[Native Hunter]

I think the answers to your questions depends somewhat on your deer density. In highly populated areas I'm sure you have seen browse lines in the woods as high up as deer can reach, with practically no regeneration able to survive. In my area I have so much food relative to the number of deer I can get by with planting lots of different shrubs (but not fruit trees) and they have a good chance of surviving. I even see some wild strawberry bush occasionally on my farm, and in places with high deer density, it will usually disappear completely because of the high preference.

Some good browse shrubs that can take quite a bit of pressure once established are shown below. If you can cage them initially and let them get a good start, they should do pretty well.
Elderberry
Arrowwood Viburnum
Various Dogwoods
Hazelnut
American Cranberry Bush

Good luck.

 

[TreeFan]

In northern Michigan, I planted 5 ninebark. The deer love them for browse. 2 of them were unprotected for 4 years. They survived intense browsing and were only 5 inches high. I added protection 2 years ago and they have grown 4 feet. When they get above browse level, probably this fall, I will remove the protection. Collected seeds and grew 4 more last spring in root bags. One was large enough to plant out last fall. Durable and they grow fast. Enjoy and good luck...

 

[dogghr]

If you have more than 3 deer you best cage or tube new plantings unless you can do several hundred at a time. In your stream side planting, Silky dogwood will do great and I’ve had good luck with them, but deer do like them. I also have natural occurring stream side Black Willow which deer don’t browse so much but rub the heck out of them. Red dogwood should also do well. Stay married to a cage if you don’t want waste your time, money, and energy. Better to cage a few, than lose a bunch. Good luck.

 

[j-bird]

As for "what".....I would look into what is native to your area and best suited for your soil and conditions. As for "many much".....like Native stated that will depend on your deer numbers and the other available foods in the area. Unless you have a very low deer density I would suggest protecting at least some of what you plant. I planted a small shrub planting last spring.....I planted button bush, ninebark, persimmons, black haw, dogwood, spicebush, arrowwood, beautyberry, nannyberry and sumac (all from MDC). I am sure not all of these will survive or be great for their purpose, but I wanted some cover and food and diversity. I will be looking into other additions as well. I already have a decent amount of elderberry that Native mentioned.

 

[Mennoniteman]

One of the big questions is how much sunshine is getting to the ground in this area? That makes a difference in what you plant, and if they can outgrow the deer browsing pressure. Usually in a lot of areas east of the Mississippi if there's sunshine getting to the ground and the soil is scarified, native deer browsing shrubs will grow on their own, and all that a deer manager has to do is eliminate undesirable competition to help these bushes get established. However, if there's shade and mature trees around it's difficult to establish anything even with cages. Besides removing sunshine and nutrients, a lot of people don't realize how much moisture mature trees remove from the soil.

 

[farmhunter]

We have an upland wet section that isnt as thick as it used to be. We call it the sanctuary and some trees have canopied now (elm, Red Maple, Aspen) but its still got a lot off Shrubbery (Willow, Speckled Alder, Red Osier). The Red Osier is always browsed heavily.

 

[SteveK]

Hey fellas, I was at my farm this past weekend seeding some switchgrass. I have a few areas of an old field that has bare dirt and washing through the middle of my field. I planned to establish a thick stand of switch in about 3/4 the 1.5 acre field, but an unsure it will take with how wet the area is from the wet winter and run off. I am planning to buy some live stakes of red osier and silky dogwood as well as a few live wattles of the dogwood as well. I am hoping I can plant these at the top of the field and place the live dogwood wattles in the washed out ditch enough to slow the water and help reduce the erosion. Ernst seed where I get a lot of my seed and supplies recommends 2-3 feet triangle spacing. Now I am not sure on their application, but for mine I would like it to suck up/slow some water, create some edge in the field, and eventually for deer browsing on the edge of a bed. What are your experiences with the spacing? Do you think this is going to create a wall? I plan on planting about 200 2' live stakes of red osier and about 50 of the silky, while caging probably 1/4 of them? I have attached a rough drawing so you can see what I am thinking. The blue highlighted area is where I have runoff coming off the hill washing my field out. The black lines across are where I plan on planting the "live wattles", and the red dots are where I plan on planting the dogwoods. Keep in mind the soil is fairly clay based. Open sun/south facing. The pond is maybe 20x20 area basically created last year where all my water was pooling up. Just wanted to get some opinions.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Hey fellas, I was at my farm this past weekend seeding some switchgrass. I have a few areas of an old field that has bare dirt and washing through the middle of my field. I planned to establish a thick stand of switch in about 3/4 the 1.5 acre field, but an unsure it will take with how wet the area is from the wet winter and run off. I am planning to buy some live stakes of red osier and silky dogwood as well as a few live wattles of the dogwood as well. I am hoping I can plant these at the top of the field and place the live dogwood wattles in the washed out ditch enough to slow the water and help reduce the erosion. Ernst seed where I get a lot of my seed and supplies recommends 2-3 feet triangle spacing. Now I am not sure on their application, but for mine I would like it to suck up/slow some water, create some edge in the field, and eventually for deer browsing on the edge of a bed. What are your experiences with the spacing? Do you think this is going to create a wall? I plan on planting about 200 2' live stakes of red osier and about 50 of the silky, while caging probably 1/4 of them? I have attached a rough drawing so you can see what I am thinking. The blue highlighted area is where I have runoff coming off the hill washing my field out. The black lines across are where I plan on planting the "live wattles", and the red dots are where I plan on planting the dogwoods. Keep in mind the soil is fairly clay based. Open sun/south facing. The pond is maybe 20x20 area basically created last year where all my water was pooling up. Just wanted to get some opinions.

Planting the shrubs for sucking up water and erosion control is a good idea but if you don't take care of the water first it's going to be a wasted effort, your shrubs will probably get washed out too before they get established. Some washouts in big gullies can be difficult to stop if the water coming from above is too much volume and overwhelms any containment efforts, but most smaller washouts are easily stopped with some good management practices. Number one is going as far up toward the top of the washout as your property allows to start work. Number two is concentrating on slowing the water down at the top. I would try to fill in the washout with at least a bar of rock, if not more, of a consistent size that the water doesn't move them. I recently repaired the top of a gully with with several loader buckets full of rocks the size of two fists that I found on a fence row and they slow down and filter the water so that the ditch is actually collecting topsoil in and below this water breaker. Another method of slowing down water on flatter washouts is to stake straw bales across the waterway. A combination of the above and a temporary silt fence works well. A more expensive option is a tube fabric bag filled landscaping mulch staked across the drainage area. The other obvious thing is to never drive through that area, or do any tillage in that area. Only after taking care of the water washout problem would I start planting stuff, slowing down the water will usually result in stuff growing on its own. Rarely are washouts with exposed soil (away from a creek or river that's in the process of changing its course) seen in nature, they are usually man made by tillage, removal of trees and vegetation, or by improper development of infrastructure. Nature has a way of taking care of itself.

 

[dogghr]

Hey fellas, I was at my farm this past weekend seeding some switchgrass. I have a few areas of an old field that has bare dirt and washing through the middle of my field. I planned to establish a thick stand of switch in about 3/4 the 1.5 acre field, but an unsure it will take with how wet the area is from the wet winter and run off. I am planning to buy some live stakes of red osier and silky dogwood as well as a few live wattles of the dogwood as well. I am hoping I can plant these at the top of the field and place the live dogwood wattles in the washed out ditch enough to slow the water and help reduce the erosion. Ernst seed where I get a lot of my seed and supplies recommends 2-3 feet triangle spacing. Now I am not sure on their application, but for mine I would like it to suck up/slow some water, create some edge in the field, and eventually for deer browsing on the edge of a bed. What are your experiences with the spacing? Do you think this is going to create a wall? I plan on planting about 200 2' live stakes of red osier and about 50 of the silky, while caging probably 1/4 of them? I have attached a rough drawing so you can see what I am thinking. The blue highlighted area is where I have runoff coming off the hill washing my field out. The black lines across are where I plan on planting the "live wattles", and the red dots are where I plan on planting the dogwoods. Keep in mind the soil is fairly clay based. Open sun/south facing. The pond is maybe 20x20 area basically created last year where all my water was pooling up. Just wanted to get some opinions.

Do as suggested to slow water flow and increase percolation . Simply laying logs cross wise to flow will impede its flow, kinda like nature does anyway. Allow natural growth within 10 feet of each side of flow.
I've had great luck with silkys in my wet lands but being in your area, you best cage them as the deer do like them much. Good luck.

 

[SteveK]

Thanks for the input...Definitely need to slow that water first priority...We did some work with an excavator last year towards the top of where the water is coming from and made a gully for the water at the top of the field/base of the hill, so its definitely better than it was. Now maybe just a matter of directing some of it. Yea definitely looking to cage some of them and also staking some 12" stakes where they might be able to get ahold and not be browsed too hard.