I did this 2 years ago not knowing anything either. I feel like I accelerated the process by picking tree seeds of all the preferred species and I just scattered them throughout a 5 acre piece. After just 2 years the woody species, box elder, ash, etc… are all over my head and most are 10 feet tall. The deer are already using it. I had collected roughly 10 - 1 gallon zip lock bags of different tree seeds. And then just hand scattered them.

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

Phenomenal idea. It's amazing how fast they can take off. It's so rewarding once the deer start to use all our hard work

You should have more subscribers. Good information!!!

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

That means a lot, thank you!

That box alder is great food for the deer!

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

Definitely, they smash it on our farm

I am doing the same thing at my farm, got a couple small areas going back to nature!

@carltonbailey3498

10 ай бұрын

Johnson grass is my biggest problem, I also have river cane.

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

@carltonbailey3498 it's worth fighting the battle, glad to hear you're getting at it!

Awesome. I love it.

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

Gracias Kurt!

We have a 6 acre bermuda grass field we are converting, can't wait to get those results

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

Great to hear, good luck on the journey brother!

I am doing something similar with oaks trying to recreate an oak savannah. I planted 3-4 gallons of a mix of white oak acorns (Chinkapin, Burr, and Post) on 3/4 of an acre. I also have 15 or so gallons of a mix of red oaks (mostly Texas Red Oak) to go on 1.8 acres. Both patches are within a 26 acre prescribed fire I plan to burn in the next couple of months. The white oaks I will leave at forest densities, but the red oaks I plan to maintain at Savannah densities.

@PFHabitat

7 ай бұрын

I love to hear that! That's going to be a fun area to watch develop over the rest of your lifetime. Our country forester had a ton of extra acorns this past fall he offered to me for direct seeding but unfortunately I didn't have time to do the prep needed so I missed out. But I will be doing something similar to you in the future!

@Isaacmantx

7 ай бұрын

@@PFHabitat I am seeding using a tulip bulb auger and a drill. It will burn through some batteries… but it doesn’t require any extra prep. Just drill a 2-3 inch hole, drop and shove dirt back over. The hole isn’t much bigger than a bit oak acorn.

@PFHabitat

7 ай бұрын

You get a pretty good germination rate planting that way?

@Isaacmantx

7 ай бұрын

@@PFHabitat we will see. I figure, if I get about 1% of planted acorns to mature tree, I will have the density I want. It is free (collected them myself) and only costs a little sweat equity. If I have less than desired germination, I will supplement with more plantings every couple of years until I get my desired outcome.

@PFHabitat

7 ай бұрын

Sounds like a great plan! I've planted a lot of free trees I dug up myself. Lots of great habitat work that can get done at little to no cost

I have a 10acre parcel that is currently a brush field, some of if is over 8ft tall ..working on habitat design that promotes a loop of deer movement

@PFHabitat

9 ай бұрын

Sounds like some great habitat. Having a piece like that to set up for hunting is definitely a blessing. Good luck!

@ginogranata6548

9 ай бұрын

@PFHabitat thanks little different than hunting the old 280 acre farm , but the surrounding land by my 10 is good habitat and 100 yds to its south is a decent swamp. That funnels them around towards my property.

@PFHabitat

9 ай бұрын

@ginogranata6548 yah sometimes the size doesn't matter as long as it's the "right 10" in the "right situation". There's a 10 acre chunk I could pull off ours that has been phenomenal over the years

How old are the spruce trees and how big were they when you planted them

@PFHabitat

5 ай бұрын

They were planted in 2002 as saplings (6 to 12")

how do you spray when everything is that tall?

@PFHabitat

3 ай бұрын

Once it gets taller than 4 feet I stop spraying. That's is as high as I'm able to set my boom

Why protect the oaks? I’d run fire through it once they get past the deers browse line…to set it back.

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

Fire is a great tool. But I don't want to kill all the trees in this circumstance so I'm letting them grow. Fire would girdle and kill a majority of the trees this size (speaking from experience).

Do you prefer this habitat or switchgrass?

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

This hands down. This is year round food and cover. Whereas switchgrass is just cover and doesn't stand all year. Switch has its place and I want some on the farm to give the deer diverse bedding options. But if I had to choose this is my preferred without a doubt

Where do you buy your cleth?

@PFHabitat

Ай бұрын

Normally keystone online. It's cheap right now

Can't believe all that box alder wow. We call it Manitoba maple here in Canada. I would love to have this many alder growing on my property

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

It's definitely a great browse and wildlife tree. All the farmers around us see it as a weed but I love seeing it return to the landscape

Why do you use crop oil versus non-ionic surfactant?

@PFHabitat

10 ай бұрын

You can use either (per the label). The local coop sells herbamax crop oil at a good price so that's why I go that route

@craigweinmann320

10 ай бұрын

Thanks, good to know.