Shade tolerant trees

[mattpatt]

Were having a forestry mulcher come in and thin out a bunch of brush, green briar, locust and anything else that isn't beneficial. I know we're doing it at the wrong time for hunting purposes but now was the only time the guy could come and do the work. Anyway, I'm looking for suggestions on shade tolerant wildlife friendly trees, shrubs to plant. Any suggestions? I'm mainly interested in hard mast trees.

Matt

 

[dogdoc]

I have a lot of redbuds that grow in understory. Beautiful flowers that are great for pollinators. Seeds are eaten by many birds and the foliage is eaten by deer. I wouldn't say it is a preferred forage but I do see it eaten.

I know some dogwoods are shade tolerant. Mullberry is faily shade tolerant also and heavily browsed and a great wildlife tree. Persimmons will grow in the shade but are slow growing and less fruit production. I have small oak trees that grow in the understory but a tall and lanky and never produce nuts.

 

[mattpatt]

I wonder how DCOs would do?

 

[Native Hunter]

You might get some good answers if you gave your location.

Keep in mind that when the mulcher has finished, most of that stuff will come back with a vengeance very quickly in the next couple of years and choke out anything you plant unless you either kill spots with herbicides or break up the root system. Nothing you plant is likely to survive without doing more than mulching.

Best wishes.....................

 

[j-bird]

Matt - maybe I am not understanding, but the picture I have in my head is that you have a dense overhead canopy and your mulching the smaller stuff under it. If that is what the situation is I think you may be in for some disappointment. To be honest I fear your going to turn the area into a park like landscape and potentially even open the door for even worse plants than those you listed.....invasive ones. best case I fear your going to be looking at much more of the same as what you have now in just a few short years down the road - IF the canopy isn't addressed.

I hope your mulching creates some sunlight on the ground for you.....that's what you are after if you are wanting to plant virtually anything with wildlife value. Like Native said if you don't control the plants that are being mulched more than likely they will come back with a vengeance and choke out anything you plant as well.

Before you turn that mulcher loose you may want to ensure your going to get a decent amount of sunlight on the ground. Without that sunlight your hands are tied for the most part I'm afraid.

Good luck.

 

[550Gator]

Paw paw is shade tolerant. I know that is not a hard mast and not sure how beneficial it is to deer. I am planting a few at my place this fall.

 

[mattpatt]

Sorry I haven't been on here in a while. Mulcher has completed his work or rather hit the number of hours we were willing spend on this project. I wish I had taken some before and after pics but I think it looks good. What once was an overgrown impenetrable mess of green briar, locust, hackberry, elm and ash has now been opened up and will get lots of light now. The only thing I left were the oaks (a few water and blackjack) and persimmon. We plan to spray anything that tries to come back from stump sprout and I will graft the persimmon as I have time. New oaks and perhaps a few chestnuts will be planted in the open areas. I had him leave a buffer between the field and the newly released area which should give the deer a sense of security instead of feeling exposed. I'll take a bunch of pics as I have time.