# Planting for cover



## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

What plant/shrub/tree would be best to plant for quick establishment of cover? I know some standing corn would be good but I'm looking for something more permanent. This would be for an upland Oak/White Pine forest.


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## marty (Jan 17, 2000)

Steve white/red pines are fast growing but lose their bottom branches as they mature. Spruce are better but here they seem to be very fincky to grow in my sandy loam soil. A trick I used is check out places being cleared. Sometimes they'll just give you trees to dig up rather than being destroyed. BTW now is a good time to move them.........marty


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## trout (Jan 17, 2000)

The spruce are a good idea, they can be planted evry 5-10 yrs so as the mature you can remove some if you wish.
If you have any open places you might want to plant some native grasses/wildflowers as well for bedding areas.


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## DEERSLAYER (Mar 29, 2000)

You could plant some Switch grass in any open area's you don't want to put a food plot in. It takes about 2 years to get established and grow's 4-6 feet high. It lasts 30+ years. There's a reason there are so many big bucks around CRP fields. Can get matted down a bit with lot's of heavy wet snow though.


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## wild bill (Apr 20, 2001)

is the area you are trying to thicken up allready forested or open. if its allready wooded a select cut of the mature trees would thicken things up in a couple years. if its open area theres a lot that you can plant. what type of soil is it. if its sandy then you might want to stay away from certain trees while others will grow good. i like red pines and olive for fast growers. i have had good luck with the red pines holding their lower limbs by topping the trees when they get around 8 foot.


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## Huntmaster143 (Aug 28, 2003)

I'm planting some switchgrass and big blue stem in the spring and was trying to figure out if the deer are going to use these areas more for bedding areas or are they just good travel areas?

I have a field that is currently in CRP and was planted 7 years ago, by the prior owner, with some sort of shorter grass and I was trying to come up with a future plan to add some diversity. I was thinking of planting either patches of pines or planting the native grasses. Does anybody have any experience of which would be more attractive to the deer? Or would it work to establish the native grasses first and then plant some pines for the long term?

I'm also looking to establish a couple of secure areas of thick cover in the field next to a reestablished wetland I put in this fall, for deer sanctuaries and winter protection for the pheasants. Are pines the best bet or is some type of combination of shrubs and pines better?

Thanks

HM


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## slowpoke (Jan 30, 2001)

Steve; Do a search for Autumn Olive on this site. I order some for next april.


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## DANN09 (May 3, 2000)

Steve I have some small pines on my place up in Frankfort that need thinning out. You could get about 15 or 20 in the 1' up to 3' size. You dig of course. There scotch and white I think.


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## bishs (Aug 30, 2000)

I would avoid planting pines. White and red pines loose their lower limbs with age. Go look at any older pine grove, and you will see the bottom is open. Oines are good deer cover the first 20 years.

Like the biolgist told me plant Norway or White spruce. I would recomend Norway, they are the fastest growing spruce. They will grow 2 foot a year. Besides white pines will be heavily browsed by deer, they will leave spruce alone unless they are near starving.

If you are mixing the two grasses, the switchgrass will take over the stand in time. My deer avoid traveling much in the switch grass, do to difficulty, its thick. They do bed in it. I would plant spruce or a fast growing shrub "autum olive" around the edges.


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## Huntmaster143 (Aug 28, 2003)

I though you could not plant autumn olive in Michigan?

I know I have many of the shrubs on my property already, but I just thought it was on the noxious weed list and you weren't supposed to plant it or something.

If you can plant it, I would agree that this would be one of the best plants out there for cover.

HM


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

> i have had good luck with the red pines holding their lower limbs by topping the trees when they get around 8 foot.


Red pines might be the ticket. They grow very well in the neighborhood. George, I might take you up on the offer.


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## Swamp Ghost (Feb 5, 2003)

If the area has a lot of field, prarie grassses surounded by conifers and shrubs will provide really quick security/bedding cover.

QDM guys in Eaton county love switchgrass and plant LOTS of it. The deer flock to it when pressured.

In the woods areas of clear cuts and hinge cuts are the way to go, even faster security/bedding cover.


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## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

You can indeed plant AO in MI. The NRCS is down on it, and it is no longer sold at Soil Conservation Districts, like it used to be.

I have had no problem with Autumn Olive spreading on my property. Of all the wildlife shrubs I've ever planted (including Gray Dogwood, Silky Dogwood, Tatarian Honeysuckle, Nannyberry, Highbush Cranberry, and some others), Autumn Olive had by far the highest transplant success rate.

It is true that the pines lose their lower limbs. However, I might well consider planting a row or two of white or red pines on the outside portion of what you're trying to screen; the loss of lower limbs probably won't occur for perhaps 10 of 15 years, and the pines will grow fast. I planted about a thousand white pine in '97, and they're now about 12-14 feet tall. I'm going to have to start thinning them soon.


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## Steve (Jan 15, 2000)

There are some open areas but I'm not sure they are big enough and open enough to plant switchgrass.


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## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

I've seen switchgrass planted in narrow strips, it's still good stuff.


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## Robert W. McCoy Jr (Jan 18, 2002)

You guys are really giving me the bug to do some major planting of switch grass.

I know the bunnies like it too.


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## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

If you do plant switchgrass, it's a good idea to plant some islands of trees and shrubs in the switchgrass field. This past spring and summer, I mowed and sprayed some areas of my switchgrass to prepare them for next spring. I plan to put some speckled alder, willow and multiflora rose in my switchgrass fields. The soil is pretty wet in the spring and there is lots of clay. In a few years, this field should hold more deer and deer should travel thru it more often during daylight hours.


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## bishs (Aug 30, 2000)

I am going to follow Mikes advice and put a few islands of trees in my switchgrass field. My switchgrass field is 5 foot tall this year. Its slow to establish but once there, its there forever. 

Make sure, you prepare the field. Spray several times witjhroundup to get the weed seeds out of the field.


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## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

Bishs, good advice about multiple sprayings in the switchgrass. I sprayed 3 times this year and I plan to spray once next spring before planting.


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## Ed Spin (Mar 20, 2003)

Steve. all the suggestions are good. I like variety in all my plantings. I mix red,white pine along with a spruce mix, which prefers the heavier soil and when the pines have lost their lower branchs the spruce make up for it. I have a red pine grove that is now 16 years old and still giving plenty of lower cover but when I get on my knees I can now see some distance where two years ago I couldn't. I find nothing wrong with autumn olive. I was told back some time ago when it was planted that it would grow very good and spread out. Guess what, it grew very good and spread out into cover just like I hoped it would. Autumn olive makes an excellant cover, provides berries for all to eat (even me) and the deer tend to leave it alone until their prime forage starts to become scarce and isn't that a good thing. Autumn olive will not spread into an established forest, it fills a void.

Keep the fun in hunting!


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Steve

Go to your conservation district and get a soils map plus the index to see what will grow well on your soils. This will narrow down your search.

Norway spruce planted on clay type soil will get 12' to 15' in 6 years.

BTW I have an index if you know what soil number/type you have. I'll try to remember to bring it from camp next time back.


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## The Nailer (Feb 7, 2000)

farmlegend-

Will AO grow in a wet area? How high does it get? Does it stay thick to where you cannot see thru it in the winter? 

I have an area between the road and higher ground where I'm building my new camp and need to plant something that will grow reasonably fast and thick so the house cannot be seen from the road. It is pretty wet about six months a year w/ some standing water in the spring. I am not overly concerned about it spreading because once you reach more level ground it is all sand and has a lot of foot and car traffic and/or is mowed regularly.


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## bishs (Aug 30, 2000)

AO, will probably not handle that much water. I would plant Speckled Alder. Commonly known as Tag ALder. It grows very very fast. It handles a variety of soil, but thrives and will grow very fast in wet areas. It grows into a shrub, or small tree. It may not be as thick as you want. If you plant a couple rows it should serve the purpose.

Cold Stream Farms sells it


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## The Nailer (Feb 7, 2000)

Thanks for the advice bishs


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## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

Nailer, another option is to plant shrub type willows along with the speckled alder. That's exactly what I'm doing next spring.


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## bishs (Aug 30, 2000)

I planted 2 to 3 foot tall Speckled ALders two summers ago. The trees that are in the moist areas are 8 foot tall. The drier areas, they are smaller. The 8 foot trees are about 4 foot wide. These may grow into small trees or shrubs. Similar to how Russian Olive grows. I am considering cutting back the top leader branches to try to encourage a more shrub appearance.


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## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

Nailer, I agree with Bishs about AO not being a good choice for wet areas. It grows well on drier sites. Mine is about 12 feet tall. You can see thru it in the winter unless you have many rows planted. The leaves produce a toxin which doesn't allow many weeds to grow beneath AO. If you have some open fields where nothing is planted, AO may find its way into these areas over the years. They produce lots of berries and the birds can drop seeds that may sprout in open areas. My mom has a thicket filled with AO that was created by the birds. It was previously an open field with somewhat sandy soil. I look for volunteer AO shrubs growing in my open areas every spring. I transplant the young shrubs to locations where I want more cover.


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## Grizzly Adams (Oct 6, 2003)

Where do you get AO, Red pine, Swichgrass, & Norways from?

What is the spraying of switchgrass for?


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## Bob S (Mar 8, 2000)

You can get many tree and plant varieties from your local Conservation District. Most have spring tree sales, some have both spring and fall sales.

http://www.nacdnet.org/resources/MI.htm

I have also heard good things about COLD STREAM FARM, though I have never ordered from them.


http://www.jackpine.com/~csf/index.html


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## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

Griz, I sprayed some areas of my switchgrass(after mowing) so those areas would be bare in the spring. I will plant some islands of trees and shrubs in the switchgrass fields next spring.


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