Property Improvement

[Beast-Mode]

This is my home property. I am young and new to habitat improvement but have been reading up on it and would like to start improving my family's farm. Any and all suggestions welcome, also if you have a question let me know. I may not do all of them these are just potential ideas I came up with. Some of food plots may be a little small to mess with. I could not get a topo zoomed in enough to be useful. The creek is at the bottom of ravine. The ravine is steeper on the west side. Especially where I have the gray slashes.




Things Already in Place
1. Salt & Mineral Lick
2. Fruit Trees in Green Area #3 Planted Last Year


Pink Areas
1. Plant Norway Spruce to aid bedding and wind protection, prevent neighbors from bumping deer or shooting over property line.
2. Plant Norway Spruce to add privacy from highway for green area #1
3. Plant Norway Spruce for bedding (Area is no good now, very thick canopy or nothing at all, way to open)
Green Areas
1. Plant Some kind of trees (nut, oak, etc) Suggestions Please
2. Not sure here. Something that can survive in moist soil and can handle frost because that is a low at bottom of ravine. (Suggestions?)
3. Alfalfa while trees are growing. (Trees Planted Last Year)
4. Maybe corn/bean plot mix. Clover another option, other suggestions
Orange Slashes
1. Feathering/ Hinge Cutting to restrict vision (I would leave places open for them to travel just do not have exact locations marked)
Gray Slashes
1. Hinge cutting to promote bedding.
? by road
1. Not sure. What can we do to make it useful to deer or us? Bedding?

Any other Areas you see having potential to be improved upon?

[Stanley]

By my thinking you have a huge food plot next to the property corn/beans. I think cover would be your main priority. Getting some good under growth going. You can have all the feed you want if you have poor cover you will have less deer living there. Get some sunlight on the timber floor and your understory will grow on its own. Birds plant bushes, squirrels plant trees and you can add some nice berries things like this. I believe berries are a better improvement than fruit trees. But a few fruit trees wont hurt either.

[Beast-Mode]

Thanks Stanley, berries are something I had not considered. I will have too look into what varieties do well in which conditions, and which one deer get the most out of. I agree that bedding/ cover should be my #1 priority.

[Beast-Mode]

These are the trees and shrubs offered by my counties Soil and Water Conservation Department. Anyone have any good or bad experiences with them?

[Stanley]

Trees are a great improvement on any property. I would make sure you plant some different growth rate trees. Oaks grow so slow the deer can eat them off before they get any size to them. So some maples & poplars grow way faster and can give you some canopy in a few years as compared to oaks taking 25 years. Some fast growing along with some slow growing to help things for the long run as well as the short run.

[Beast-Mode]

Yes I have considered planting oak trees and others just not sure where to put them or if I need more trees. I do not have a ton of open space where they would get enough sunlight. I think one of the things I need to focus on is thinning out the canopy to allow for more new natural growth to take off, so as to try and get the ground level to have more cover especially in winter. When all leaves are gone it is too open. What kind of trees would you all suggest as being less desirable that I should remove to allow more new growth?

[DEERSLAYER]

...Some of food plots may be a little small to mess with...

Small food plots by bedding make for good staging area's. How small are you talking about?

...I could not get a topo zoomed in enough to be useful. The creek is at the bottom of ravine. The ravine is steeper on the west side...

A topo may still be useful. I would post one. What site are you using for a topo?

You can plant fruit and nut trees that stay small and will provide both food & cover.

[Beast-Mode]

Small food plots by bedding make for good staging area's. How small are you talking about?

I would be interested in maybe coming up with some mix with you. I am thinking of planting one that would connect green areas #3 and#4. Not really sure what I want to put in there yet.


A topo may still be useful. I would post one. What site are you using for a topo?

Using Acme Mapper 2.0





You can plant fruit and nut trees that stay small and will provide both food & cover.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Any recommendations?

[Beast-Mode]

By the way DEERSLAYER your advice about the fruit trees was greatly appreciated. They are still young but so far they look good.

[DEERSLAYER]

That topo makes a big difference on how the deer will use the property, but the property boundaries don't match up. Care to put one up using an aerial with a topo overlay and boundaries marked from somewhere like Caltopo? How big is that property? 160 acres? What type of soils are present? How big are the area's you want to plant?

I could make some mast producing plant recommendations, but I would have to know what hardiness zone your in because I don't know what state you are in. A some plants that come to mind off the top of my head are, Roselow Sargent crabapple, American plum (forms thickets & is a good browse plant), Bear oak, Allegany Chinquapin, Dwarf Chinquapin oak, Nannyberry and Red Osier dogwood. Maybe even some Medlar. You can also plant apple trees about 120'-150' apart and fill in between them with the shrubby mast producers. This will allow everything to get the sun it needs. This goes for pears too. Deer like to bed under the fruit trees when the trees get some size to them and are surrounded by all that great brushy, fruit and browse.

One problem I see with this though is a lack of sunlight. So unless you plan on doing some clearing or girdling you might not be able to do much of this type of habitat improvement.

[Beast-Mode]

Care to put one up using an aerial with a topo overlay and boundaries marked from somewhere like Caltopo?
.

Thanks for the advice I did not know about that site.

I could make some mast producing plant recommendations, but I would have to know what hardiness zone your in because I don't know what state you are in.

I am in Southern Minnesota, just barley in zone five, zone four probably be safer. What would you suggest between my young apple and pear trees? They are at least a few years away from producing fruit.

One problem I see with this though is a lack of sunlight. So unless you plan on doing some clearing or girdling you might not be able to do much of this type of habitat improvement.

Yes lack of sunlight may be an issue. I may be willing to do some clearing would it be better to do smaller sections at a time so I have different maturity levels present in the future?

[DEERSLAYER]

All the plants I mentioned fit in your zone. I added the zones to each of these plants below.
Roselow Sargent crabapple (4b), American plum (3), Bear oak (4), Allegany Chinquapin (4 possibly zone 3), Dwarf Chinquapin oak (3b), Nannyberry (2), Red Osier dogwood (2) and Medlar (5). These are assuming the parent source is of northern decent.

I would use American plum (great thicket forming browse plant), nannyberry, red osier dogwood (for high moisture soil spots) and a maybe a few Bear oak away from you fruit trees and maybe pass on the Medlar since your right on the edge of it's hardiness zone. I would be sure to plant some Allegheny chinkapin's where ever I could. I would put the Roselow Sargent crabapple around your fruit trees and Dwarf Chinquapin oak in between them. This would allow for good pollinization. The Bear and Chinkapin oaks also tend to be thicket forming. So dose Allegheny chinkapin which is a chestnut. Even though I mentioned the Bear oak I probably wouldn't plant any considering you have such a small area to plant.

What type of pears and apples do you have and what rootstocks are they on?

[Beast-Mode]

What type of pears and apples do you have and what rootstocks are they on?

Malus domestica ‘Honeycrisp™’: Honeycrisp™ on Semi-standard (Bud 118) root, Extra Large 5/8" up caliper grade

Pyrus communis ‘Flemish Beauty’: Flemish Beauty Pear on Semi-Standard (OHxF 97/87) root, Extra Large 5/8" up caliper grade

Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’: Kieffer Pear on Semi-Standard (OHxF 87) root, Extra-Large 5/8" up caliper grade

Malus domestica ‘Hardy Cumberland’: Hardy Cumberland Apple on Semi-Standard (M 111) root, 2 year-Extra Large grade

Malus domestica ‘Keepsake’: Keepsake Apple on Semi-Standard (M 111) root, 2 year Medium grade

Malus domestica ‘NovaSpy’: NovaSpy Apple on Semi-Standard (Bud 118) root, 2 year Large grad

Golden Resitza (Not sure on detailsI had orderedMarchurian Crab (M111) root but they were sold out so they replaced with that.

[DEERSLAYER]

I would plant some winter food plots to help take some pressure off you seedlings. The Norway's make a good wind break and visual screen if you run at least two staggered rows, but they are not usually the best option for bedding.

I would also check with your local soil conservation district office about a forester. Occasionally they have a program where a forester will come out for free to help land owners. Then you will have an expert there to help you determine what are junk trees to hinge or cut down and which soils are right for each species you want to plant. They can also recognize an invasive species that could explode and take over the area by opening the canopy. This doesn't usually happen, but it's always nice to know for sure. What kind off trees and shrubs do you think you already have present?

I would thicken up down to where the buck beds are and then at the bottom. I wouldn't want to thicken up an area that obstructs a bucks view of his surroundings. He wants to see down below and to the sides for safety. Everywhere else you can thicken it up to make it better.

[DEERSLAYER]

What type of pears and apples do you have and what rootstocks are they on?

Malus domestica ‘Honeycrisp™’: Honeycrisp™ on Semi-standard (Bud 118) root, Extra Large 5/8" up caliper grade

Pyrus communis ‘Flemish Beauty’: Flemish Beauty Pear on Semi-Standard (OHxF 97/87) root, Extra Large 5/8" up caliper grade

Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’: Kieffer Pear on Semi-Standard (OHxF 87) root, Extra-Large 5/8" up caliper grade

Malus domestica ‘Hardy Cumberland’: Hardy Cumberland Apple on Semi-Standard (M 111) root, 2 year-Extra Large grade

Malus domestica ‘Keepsake’: Keepsake Apple on Semi-Standard (M 111) root, 2 year Medium grade

Malus domestica ‘NovaSpy’: NovaSpy Apple on Semi-Standard (Bud 118) root, 2 year Large grad

Golden Resitza (Not sure on detailsI had orderedMarchurian Crab (M111) root but they were sold out so they replaced with that.

It looks like you have made some pretty good choices. I'm not sure on the Golden Resitza though. I will have to look into that one.