creating hedge rows

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FARMTOFIELD

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I'm fixing to start working on two food plots on some new land I purchased. Both plots will be 300 yds�100 yds approx.

I'm gonna leave about 20 yds on each side of the plots for a barrier from the plot and the cutover.

I want to create a hedge between the food plot and the "barrier zone for small game and turkey because to me they are just as important to watch even while hunting as the deer. What kind of trees and bushes would make great cover and nesting but also benefit the deer? The barrier will probably be native most likely blackberry and such that will get cut back every two years or so.
 
Rockhound,
I had a similar situation and after talking to a forester and NRCS wildlife biologist was encouraged to let it go wild. As much as I wanted to plant small trees and shrubs I got the impression it would be better to let nature do the work. I think I will still plant some southern crabapple and dogwood trees and American Beautyberry. The American Beautyberry is the only shrub I've had success with on our dry uplands but I haven't seen much wildlife use of the berries.
 
I think wild is a good thing to do, but it still needs to be managed some how. I woouldn't let privet grow up in it, nor fescue, I hear bad things about both.
 
Or gums and river birch if it's a wet area...let it go wild and trees like this often win the battle.

This might mess up your plans to mow it every couple of years because it will put woody stuff on the ground at the beginning, but the practice known as "edge featherng" might help get those buffers established.

Another thing I've done with good success is disc to bring some of the native seedbank up and then lightly spread "sorry hay" on top. I got old round bales from a neighbor that had a lot of broomstraw, some ragweed, canarygrass, a little foxtail etc in it and rolled them out then scattered so it wasn't a mat. It's junk hay...just filler for feeding during the winter but for places like roadbeds/roadsides or those fallow spots you just want to go back to native grassy areas it's perfect. Might work great for your hedgerows.

2-3 ft tall, can mow or burn whenever it needs, great transition area for little critters, and good nesting. And the quail...my goodness the quail. They just love it.
 
Rockhound said:
If it goes wild IT Wil end up in Oak shrubs and blackberry
Click to expand...

The reason I say this is because if we let a field go this is what regenerates in it so I assu me this spot will to.

As far as the hedge itself I may go with 2 rows of some kind of cedar or spruce planted. And as for the buffer zone it will be sheared with a dozer first off so that should do away with a lot of the brushy stuff.

The buffer I would like to see is like stated above with the hay deal, but you can't find that around here.
 
This 80 acres I speak of was 30 year old growth of oak, hickory, and other timber and is now bare dirt.

The hill sides and hollows will most likely be pine and the ridge tops will be food plots
 
The problems that arise trying to manage the edge or hedgerow can be a tough one. While not the cure-all for this problem I have had pretty good luck with a bicolor lespedeza hedgerow. Part of the management plan for it is to mow down every three to four years while it is dormant like in Feb. or Mar. This limits the size of the woody sprouts that pop up and helps to keep the blackberries a little bit more manageable. I try to cut only portions of the entire hedge on an alternating schedule, 1/2 - 1/3 of the total cut each year. Like you said earlier that you were planning to cut it every couple years anyways. Common bicolor is attractive to deer but the variety Thunbergii is not.
 
diamond hunter said:
American plums and Chickasaw plums are thicket forming,grow fast,benefit wildlife,pretty...
Click to expand...

I planted 60 American plum seedlings three years ago. I lost 1/2 of the trees to deer browsing and Japanese beetles. The remaining trees are close to the house and I am able to spray them when the little devil beetles come out each summer.

Funny how you see these trees growing wild without any TLC, but not so easy when I tried to grow them for screen and wildlife value.
 
If you plant new shrubs try to choose native ones. 20 years ago I spread some non-native bi-color lespedeza seed for quail. It has gone wild and I'm trying to get it under control because I didn't see any wildlife benefit. I have been spraying once or twice a year for 8 years to eradicate it. Saturday I spent 4 hours spraying with roundup an area of bi-color after a logging operation 2 years ago - the seed was dormant in the seed bank waiting for an opportunity to germinate. Bi-Color works for Farm Manager but he probably has equipment to keep it under control.
 

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