what trees to plant for cover ?

[duckunder]

Here's my situation....

We are logging our woods off right now ( 60 acres ), and they are basically clear cutting the soft woods and select cutting the hardwoods (oaks). I would like to plant some sort of ceder or pine trees for cover for the deer this spring, but am wondering what to plant exactly...... I would like a tree that would provide cover, grow fairly quick, and yet the deer would NOT eat off as fast as they grow..... I was thinking someone once told me that some sort of red pine is a good tree to plant.... what do you guys suggest ? Ranwin, you must have an idea or two ???? Thanks.....

[duckunder]

someone told me tonight to plant white spruce, the deer don't like eating that brand....

[ZEEK]

Blue or Norway spruce. With good sunlight 5' in 5-6 years.

[pickleguy]

Alot of what to plant is based on soil type & the nutrition in the soil. I hunt on a 200 acre tree farm that has a wide variety of conifer's & they grow at totally different rates based on where they are on the farm. Some after 10 years are over 35' tall & others of the same variety in a different field are only 10'. Trees are no different than a food plot you have to do your homework before you spend the money on the trees.

[bowman12]

I don't know if it would work for you, but what we've done on a few spots is plant hybrid poplar and white or blue spruce, every other. The benefit is the hybrids grow very quickly and provide cover right away, while the spruce is growing. That's the theory, we've had a series of floods which have wiped out the spruce so the hybrid poplar is left, and luckily we threw them with it so we have some trees with the brush.
I really like cedar the best but deer eat them quickly, in our area anyways. We have several growing but we've had to put fence around them to keep them alive.
The one nice thing I've noticed with the hybrid poplar too, is they keep their leaves well into November. They're dead but they don't fall off until really late.
Good Luck!

[ranwin33]

Looking for something that will grow quickly, I think I'd go with cedar. 
 
Here in N. Missouri deer don't eat on them much, but they do rub them.  Plus they have the advantage of spreading on their own fairly quickly once you have some mature trees established.  This will help fill things in without any additional work on your part. 
 
Additionally, they aren't all that expensive so you should be able to plant several hundred seedlings in a 60 acre plot relatively cheaply and even with a minimal survival rate have a fairly decent stand in a few years.
 
I'm also trying some loblolly/pitch pines this year as I've heard they will grow quickly, but have no experience with them, other than what I've read.

[msbadger]

www.musserforrests.com  I've gotten a lot of trees from them and they have excellent descriptions of all there trees and where they'll grow.....just ordering the catalog as a reference material is a good idea....