BigRack23

I'm looking to plant some good cover in an area that used to be a pasture. Most of the pasture is in fairly hilly, wooded terrain but the underbrush has been taken out...by cattle. I'm sure if I let it grow a couple of years the cover would come back by itself but maybeI can help it along by planting something. Got any ideas? [:-]

kevin1

Muscadine grapes if they'll grow in your zone , honeysuckle , various fruiting shrubs .

timbercruiser

Red cedars may work in your area.

Handles

I'd look at some berry bushes(black, rasp, ect). They don't have to be tall to give deer the feeling of cover. Also start planting some oak trees and a few varieties of apple or plum. All of these will provide food and cover, two things most animals want.

kevin1

We have red cedars everywhere around here , the deer will only eat them if there's nothing else available . They do like white cedars and hemlock though .

BigRack23

Thanks for the input. The area has quite a few apple trees but only a few had fruit on them this year. Is that typical? Anything I can do to help the apple trees? Would trimming help? What time of the year is best to trim?

I'll also look into planting some crab apple as well.

I would assume that cedar trees would take a while to grow? 7-10 yrs?

Handles

I would avoid red cedars. Great cover overall, but not really beneficial to keeping deer on your property (how many acres are we talking anyway).

I heard this on some gardening show so don't blame me if it sounds stupid, but "Trim trees in early summer to bear more fruit. The tree thinks it is being attacked and it will produce more fruit to propogate the species." This guy would also go around hitting trees with a wooden baseball bat to produce the same results. Maybe you should trim a few and hit a few with a bat and let us know if either works.

BigRack23

About 220 acres with two distinct, wooded valleys.

I think if I start hitting apple trees with a bat in the daylight someone might lock me up. I understand the theory though. The tree thinks it's being damaged so it tries to fight it. In this area of WI, we have several commercial apple orchards so I might contact them to see what they recommend.

I think one thing to help my situation would be to select cut some trees out. In some areas, the trees have created a high canopy and restricts the undergrowth from establishing. Plus the cattle, which aren't there any more, did a good job(bad for deer) of keeping the brush down.

kevin1

Check with a nursery to be sure , but I believe the correct time to prune apples is during the Fall once the cooler temps have set in . Pruning nearly any fruit bearing tree can improve it's yield if done correctly, with apples it's mainly removing water sprouts and dead or diseased limbs, this also allows light and air circulation to the inside of the canopy . Fertilizing those trees will probably do more than anything elseto increase fruiting .

Dan O.

I was going to suggest that you plant apple trees. Since you already have them pruning and fertilizing will help increase the crop. On my property the deer underutilize the apples because they're out in the open field. To make them more secure I've planted pine trees to create travelways from adjacent bush areas. The pines are growing pretty quick and I'm looking at deer height growth afterfive orso years.

Dan O.