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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 1, 2023 15:27:35 GMT -6
I would have to say BLack Hills Spruce has been my best overall survivor in Minnesota. Growth rate about a foot a year . I have some that I will be putting a ladder stand in for 2023. Highly recommend… how about you guys ?
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Post by wklman on Mar 1, 2023 15:34:24 GMT -6
Norway spruce for me at the old piece in Bertha. That tree was resilient.
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Post by kooch on Mar 1, 2023 17:57:14 GMT -6
When you plant those in quantity do you do anything to protect them? Do you water them?
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 1, 2023 18:49:06 GMT -6
When you plant those in quantity do you do anything to protect them? Do you water them? No I do not water them. Lately I have put cage around new plantings …. If it’s a high deer area. *I’d water them if I had water close by .
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Post by biglakebass on Mar 1, 2023 19:07:39 GMT -6
We planted black hills spruce, but man have they been SLOOOWWWW growing.
No watering and no caging on them.
Our best luck with decent growth rates in our soil has been red pine. I put in 100 red cedar 7 years ago, and they are extremely hardy and not sure I lost any, but they are just finally starting to make some headway.
We have done other pines and spruces, which escape me as to everything we have planted, but all super slow to do much.
This summer if we get some rain, we should see some explosion in growth/cover.
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 1, 2023 19:18:16 GMT -6
I am happy with my black hills spruce.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 1, 2023 19:19:58 GMT -6
Scotch pine is about the toughest evergreen here, at least on light soil. However, the deer have just devoured them this winter. They also are rub magnets every fall.
White and black spruce get the least browsing, but nothing is safe in a winter like this.
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Post by biglakebass on Mar 1, 2023 19:51:18 GMT -6
The deer destroyed our scotch pine by rubbing them. We didnt plant many, but I doubt there are many left.
Why would they attack scotch pine so much?
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Post by smsmith on Mar 1, 2023 19:57:43 GMT -6
The deer destroyed our scotch pine by rubbing them. We didnt plant many, but I doubt there are many left. Why would they attack scotch pine so much? The only thing I can come up with is that they must smell really good to bucks. I recall reading something from Steve B. (think it was him anyway) about using large limbs from mature Scotch pines for "horizontal rubs"
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 2, 2023 6:01:59 GMT -6
The deer destroyed our scotch pine by rubbing them. We didnt plant many, but I doubt there are many left. Why would they attack scotch pine so much? The only thing I can come up with is that they must smell really good to bucks. I recall reading something from Steve B. (think it was him anyway) about using large limbs from mature Scotch pines for "horizontal rubs" Balsam and white pine get rubbed here. I think they like smells that are unique to the area, but natural.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 2, 2023 7:38:05 GMT -6
Pine grow like a rocket in Otter Tail . But they must be caged properly or they will be 3 inches otherwise . They don’t hit my BHS as bad .
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Post by smsmith on Mar 2, 2023 7:57:07 GMT -6
After watching evergreens a decade old have their lower limbs browsed free of needles this winter, I'm about done planting them. I've got shitloads of young, woody deciduous browse at deer browsing height but they apparently prefer eating the green needles. Maybe that's at least part of the reason there are very, very few evergreens growing around here naturally.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Mar 2, 2023 13:42:48 GMT -6
*In Otter Tail County-north of Parkers Prairie.
If I had to do it all over I’d plant 100 pine, 100 BHS, 100 cedar in a block and cage every Spruce and pine .
I planted 1500+ trees, and many are just browsed to nothing . Frustrating.
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Post by biglakebass on Mar 2, 2023 13:46:24 GMT -6
We havent had any significant issue with the red pines being beat up or eaten.
With that said, thats about 90% of what we have planted. I just havent seen widespread damage by any means.
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Post by kooch on Mar 2, 2023 14:41:50 GMT -6
*In Otter Tail County-north of Parkers Prairie. If I had to do it all over I’d plant 100 pine, 100 BHS, 100 cedar in a block and cage every Spruce and pine . I planted 1500+ trees, and many are just browsed to nothing . Frustrating. If you’re going to cage 100 trees in a planting like this it might be more cost effective to make it a big exclosure instead.
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