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Post by benmnwi on Nov 26, 2019 12:54:14 GMT -6
I know the red splendor crabapples are great options for both grouse and pheasants since they hold their fruit until a bird comes along and eats them. I've planted lots of these for the birds, but I've never used them in a windbreak or visual screen. I wish I did add more and I'll likely add a bunch in future years. I think they would be a good winter food source for the birds that hide from the snow under the conifers.
I think by the time I'm 80 I'll have a pretty good understanding of what to plant where via trial and error.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 26, 2019 16:05:18 GMT -6
I know the red splendor crabapples are great options for both grouse and pheasants since they hold their fruit until a bird comes along and eats them. I've planted lots of these for the birds, but I've never used them in a windbreak or visual screen. I wish I did add more and I'll likely add a bunch in future years. I think they would be a good winter food source for the birds that hide from the snow under the conifers. I think by the time I'm 80 I'll have a pretty good understanding of what to plant where via trial and error. If you can remember!
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Post by honker on Nov 28, 2019 14:18:11 GMT -6
Sweet setup. This picture is a perfect example of the proverb "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago" I need to bite the bullet and get that going at my place. Just start planting some trees. Then plant more in the following years. I haven't not planted at least a few trees in the spring since sometime in the 90s. I have planted 800+ evergreens, crabapple, and other fruiting shrubs on my place since 2015. I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon as my place is still lacking of thermal cover to compete with the neighbors once the leaves drop. Long term investment that I hope to see payoff in the future. The bareroot Spruce are putting on good growth in years 3-4. I planted size 6 plugs the past two years and haven’t seen much out of them yet. Does it take a few years for plugs to start growing above ground assuming the first year or two they are establishing roots?
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Post by wklman on Nov 28, 2019 14:24:24 GMT -6
Just start planting some trees. Then plant more in the following years. I haven't not planted at least a few trees in the spring since sometime in the 90s. I have planted 800+ evergreens, crabapple, and other fruiting shrubs on my place since 2015. I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon as my place is still lacking of thermal cover to compete with the neighbors once the leaves drop. Long term investment that I hope to see payoff in the future. The bareroot Spruce are putting on good growth in years 3-4. I planted size 6 plugs the past two years and haven’t seen much out of them yet. Does it take a few years for plugs to start growing above ground assuming the first year or two they are establishing roots? I'm not impressed with plugs either. Seems like they don't take very quick at all and need more babying to get going.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 28, 2019 14:39:02 GMT -6
I think plugs will be about same height as Bare root in years 7-10. May take a bit longer to pop!
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Post by smsmith on Nov 28, 2019 17:44:43 GMT -6
Plugs grow just fine here. If you're looking for 3'+ trees in 2 years, they probably aren't what you want to plant.
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Post by honker on Nov 28, 2019 18:15:57 GMT -6
Plugs grow just fine here. If you're looking for 3'+ trees in 2 years, they probably aren't what you want to plant. I’ll probably keep doing a mix of both. I did plugs where I wanted quantity with time to wait and bare roots where I wanted to make sure I got something started now.
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Post by smsmith on Nov 29, 2019 8:28:23 GMT -6
Plugs grow just fine here. If you're looking for 3'+ trees in 2 years, they probably aren't what you want to plant. I’ll probably keep doing a mix of both. I did plugs where I wanted quantity with time to wait and bare roots where I wanted to make sure I got something started now. Plugs are so much easier and faster to plant than bareroot, that is the main reason most of what I've planted here (gotta be around 6-8 thousand) have been plugs. I did plant some bareroot trees last year and will again this year...but mainly because NCR isn't an hour drive away for me any longer.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 29, 2019 9:58:12 GMT -6
Plug survival is usually better. Be patient...7 years seems to be the magic year for when wildlife start using your plantings.
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Post by smsmith on Nov 29, 2019 10:31:07 GMT -6
Plug survival is usually better. Be patient...7 years seems to be the magic year for when wildlife start using your plantings. I've had no issues with plug survival. I'd guess 90%+ of what I've planted are still alive. Those that I've lost are almost all due to deer browsing. Some of the Norway Spruce plugs that I planted in '14 are now pushing 6-8'.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Dec 1, 2019 12:02:20 GMT -6
Stu-Where do you plant your Norway Spruce??
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Post by smsmith on Dec 1, 2019 12:09:41 GMT -6
Stu-Where do you plant your Norway Spruce?? Pretty much everywhere. I've got them in low ground and on upland soils.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Dec 1, 2019 12:24:33 GMT -6
Rows, blocks, random?
I think I’m going to plant 100 this year.
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Post by smsmith on Dec 1, 2019 12:28:39 GMT -6
The majority are random I guess. I have used them along my trails in an attempt to encourage focused deer travel in the future. I've done a few blocks for bedding as well. I also have them along much of my road frontage
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Post by nhmountains on Dec 1, 2019 18:06:57 GMT -6
Rows, blocks, random? I think I’m going to plant 100 this year. Art will agree. If you have a travel area you want them to follow in the future plant a row of them. It doesn’t need to be a tight planting either. He’s done it on his property.
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