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Habitat improvement

mitch_foster15

Junior Member
26
0
Geauga
I know deer season is a few days away, but I'm already looking forward to spring when I can start improving the habitat at my property. The 65 acres consists of 90% maple, cherry, birch, and hickory trees. Barely any oaks. I would like to plant a small stand of 20-30 nut trees, a dozen or so fruit trees(property does have some young apples i may just transplant), and probably 50 pine trees to increase the bedding area as well as offer some concealment in the food plots.

Bottom line if any of you have experience with chestnuts and oak plantings any advice would be greatly apprecciated! or if you have an online nursery youve dealt with in the past that supplied healthy trees. I have heard mixed reviews from arborday trees.

As well as the pines for concealment id also like to include planting switchgrass this spring around food plots and travel routes. From what i understand most switch grasses take two years or more to establish a stand. Any reccomendations on brand/type?

thank you guys in advance, this forum has done nothing but good things for me in my habitat management efforts over the summer even if i was just a guest. had to join after seeing all the positive members on here! good luck this weekend guys, if all goes well ill see one of the 4 shooters i have camera tabs on :smiley_bril:
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
Glad you joined. Glad you have found the site beneficial. I guess we do offer more than a virtual locker room to tease each other around here. lmao

On the young fruit trees- How young are they? How tall? What diameter is the trunk? Fruit trees can be finicky. Even with a tree spade it could be pretty stressful on them.

Switchgrass I am not sure about. If you want something to create a screen in a shorter time frame, look into egyptian wheat. You can plant in the spring and get great growth in a single season to provide some screening. Downside is you will need to replant every year. It might be a good option for you until you get the switchgrass established though if you go that route.

Pine trees- Your white pines will probably be one of the faster growing pines. If you go with them they aren't always as hearty. If you plant really small white pines (under 2' tall) such as the ones from the local Water and Conservation Office, you might get a 50% survival rate, but then again you might only see a 10% survival rate. I have had mixed results with these. The other downside is 4yrs later they are still pretty sparse. I do have a handful of them 3-4' tall which started as 12-18" saplings but most have not survived. I simply didn't have a way to water them. I have tried potting them and transplanting in the fall. I had terrible success here because it was so tough to keep enough moisture in them without a hoop house and watering setup. (The year I tried it was a hot/dry year.) Since the first year I have simply added a couple dozen a year and hoped half a dozen survived. I just keep replacing them since they are so cheap. Bottom line: You might be better off buying fewer trees, but buying larger trees.
 

mitch_foster15

Junior Member
26
0
Geauga
On the young fruit trees- How young are they? How tall? What diameter is the trunk? Fruit trees can be finicky. Even with a tree spade it could be pretty stressful on them.

the apple trees are canopy chasers. they have been so shaded out that they grew straight up. the small ones range from 1-3 diameter trunks, but 7-15 feet tall! shade is ruining them. im worried though because i have no idea how wide the root base is, and i dont want to put a bunch of work in just to have them die. Good idea with the egyptian wheat, unfortunate it doesnt come back every year. I might as well try it mixed with a switchgrass so it can take over in year two.

Where i plant on thinning the woods for the stand of nut trees i will be very close to the creek. if i have to make 50 trips with a five gallon buck to water fifty trees every weekend, ill do it. Do you think the older trees stand a much better chance then seedlings?(disregarding damage) only based on hardyness/tough
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
How many apple trees do you already have? I wouldn't try and move them. Is it an option to maybe drop a couple branches or trees to give them the light needed? The fallen trees during March would supply a food source and bedding area.
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Don't be afraid to go to a nursery supply farm and ask them if they have any trees that aren't sellable due to damage and they will probably sell the to you very cheap. Like 25 bucks a tree for a 6 foot balled and burlapped pine tree.
 

Ricer2231

Senior Member
General question....... Has anybody ever planted chestnut trees as a food source for the deer? I know they love the chestnuts but wasn't sure if it was a good idea.


 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
How many apple trees do you already have? I wouldn't try and move them. Is it an option to maybe drop a couple branches or trees to give them the light needed? The fallen trees during March would supply a food source and bedding area.

Great great suggestion.

Mitch- I am not a fruit tree expert. I wouldn't call my self a tree expert at all. I have simply seen a little more than the average person due to my occupation. "In general" a tree's root system is about the same going in the dirt as it is going upward. I am not sure about an apple tree root system. Most apple trees aren't horribly tall and have a mess of branches going outward and every which way. "IF" apple trees fit the generalization, I would think the majority of their roots aren't taproot style roots and probably go every which way. That said: This is a generalization. Not all trees fit this rule. Pine trees for example are not heartily rooted. They are some of the first to topple in spite of growing mostly upward.

If you attempt to replant them, it is standard recommendation to dig a hole 1.5-2x larger than the root ball to plant them. You want the area around the root ball to be worked up and allow the roots to be able to easily penetrate the surrounding soil to get established. Stake them well. Water them as often as you can. Hit them with some fertilizer when you transplant. Tree spikes are generally pretty good. If you have access to granular fertilizer it will work too. Look for something like 6-24-24 fert in granular form. The phosphorous and potash in the second two numbers of the fertilizer will be good for the root development. 6-24-24 is a good all around fertilizer. Lawns, shrubs, gardens, trees, etc., all benefit from this fertilizer combo.
 

Dustinb80

#FACKCANCER
Supporting Member
18,172
187
S.W. Ohio
LOL It was a Veterans hunt I went on about 3 years ago. Most of the people they picked had never hunted before. I didn't see the guy do it, he claimed to have done it. Obviously he had never been hunting before.
 

mitch_foster15

Junior Member
26
0
Geauga
How many apple trees do you already have? I wouldn't try and move them. Is it an option to maybe drop a couple branches or trees to give them the light needed? The fallen trees during March would supply a food source and bedding area.

The area I put one food plot in this fall is in the middle of a thick 3-4 acre bedding area. I chose this spot because it was a break from the thick stuff where trees were growing. We clearcut this .25 acre spot and the food plot failed. Only parts where it grew over a foot was where we had burn piles from the tree remnants! Instead of fighting the clay soil next spring with more money in lime/seed/fert., I thought I would move apple trees that are surrounding this plot into the center to get as much sun as possible but with the risk of killing them I may as well clear trees around them for more sun, and maybe plant a few nursery bought trees for the "food plot" area. Id like to try pears as well because I always seem to find trees dropping tons of apples and the deer never touch them.

Im really interested in getting some chestnuts in the ground, probably Chinese or chinkapin (excuse the spelling) for there mast production qualities. I will definitely look into buying gently worn trees, heck maybe ill wait till this winter and find Christmas trees with bulbs that they either cant sell or don't sell by the end of the season.


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