beautyberry or buttonbush

[diamond hunter]

Im thinking of planting 100 of these and building up my understory browse artificially.I think I will cage all of them with at least a 3' tall to protect the actual plant and let the deer eat what grows outside the cage. Anyone here done this and is it an absolute stupid idea?? If I cage,extra work I know but the 2X4 cage is easy to work with and I thought Id get a 6' tall roll and cut It in half.I got to thinking about what BSK said about browse forage and decided to attack that.Heck,If I did 100 per year of a different variety Id have a pretty cool property in a few years. Im also going to fertilize my edges more this year as well,areas I didnt hit last year. Thoughts??

 

[lpo1981]

Sounds like a good idea.. I wonder how shade tolerant these would be or is it something you should plant in open areas? Sorry I don't have much to add but if its benificial it will prob be added to my to do list.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

I would try strawberry bush.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Regarding the American Beautyberry, I am looking at The Wildlife Group's catalog and they say, "Grows well under pine forest. More dense and fruitful in full sun." Sounds like they will grow respectably with or without full sun.

I planted several of the Strawberry Bush's 2 years ago without cages. Sure enough, just like I had been warned, deer were quickly eating the entire plant. I put cages around them and solved that problem. The deer eat anything that pokes out...or that their thin noses can reach through and grab. The catalog states this about the Strawberry Bush and sunlight - "Does well in partial shade on edge of woodlines." That describes where I planted mine exactly. Along a tall fencerow.

I have no idea if deer would like the American Beautyberry this well but apparently between the two plants the Beautyberry would be the best choice if planting in mature woods with little sunlight - at least from a successful growth standpoint.

 

[Hunter 257W]

Yeah, you got me thinking about this same thing too now. BSK already had me convinced to fertilize and lime some edges/fencerows but I like your idea of planting a bush that will be good deer browse AND grow under mature trees. The Wildlife Group has Beautyberry bareroot plants $2 each. I'd probably go for more like 50 though. 100 is ambitous!

This would be great if it will work because then I can keep my big mature trees AND get the cover/browse of a less mature forest.

 

[diamond hunter]

You can purchase either of these plants for $75 on that east tennessee website on the Oaks thread. I was thinking of 200 and 200 cages...1 of each..

 

[Hunter 257W]

Thanks, that sure beats $2 each!

 

[diamond hunter]

It makes it $1.33 each,cheap enough for me,the cages are what could get your attention.I think Im going to seperate my cages with a cutoff wheel.

 

[diamond hunter]

I look at it this way way,if I do a good job and stake and cage properly,my investment will hold up for years and the deer will eat the growth always.

 

[treefarmer]

The Tennessee Department of Forestry has Tennessee grown seedlings available 100 for $75 or better in larger quantities. Free delivery to your county. Check out their catalog at http://www.tn.gov/agriculture/publicati ... atalog.pdf . Three years ago I planted a couple dozen beauty berry seedlings on our Tree Farm under pines as an experiment and they thrived. They are producing berries in good quantities. I didn't use a cage or any protection and didn't lose any to browsing. I suggest you try a variety of shrubs because not all shrubs will grow on your property - For example I've tried numerous times to get allegheny Chinkapin, Washington Hawthorn, and American/Chickasaw plum to grow and they slowly die on our farm. I haven't seen any deer use of the Beauty Berry plants yet.