Shaded Woods - Bedding Plant

[mallardsx2]

Is there any form of plant that I could plant in my woods to make the woods thicker? Most of my woods is heavily shaded by poplar and oaks. I would like to get some undergrowth and I dont want to plant pines or cedars as the deer just tear the heck out of them before they can mature.

Thought about bamboo but I would like something I could just broadcast and it dies off every year.

I already did a pile of hinge cutting and it isn't holding the deer like I had figured it would. I had hoped to find something like switch-grass that would grow in shaded woods. Or something along those lines.

I could do another round of hinge cutting to see if that helps but things are starting to look like crap now as it is and the deer are avoiding these hinge cut areas like the plague for some reason ( I even cut small trails through it all)..

Suggestions?

 

[sportsman94]

Can you just cut trees to let sunlight hit the ground and then burn every few years to “set it back”?

 

[Gut_Pile]

Hack n squirt and fire

 

[Canuck5]

Plant honeysuckle and green brier under the hinge cut tree's and let it grow?

The timber company on one of our properties came in and burned this, after they thinned on 4-10-21.


And this is what the burned area looked like on 5-23-21



I don't have a "today" picture, but it is very thick now.

 

[Canuck5]

And there is new food growing there now, as well. Rag weed ..... Mother Nature did all the planting.

 

[Nicodemus]

Planting nonnative bamboo will be a mistake that your grandchildren will regret. If you want cane, plant rivercane.

 

[Long Cut]

Heavily agree with the hinge cut/hack & squirt then burning the area. I hinge cut last February a very small section of mature pines and hardwoods that was roughly 120 yards wide by 200 yards long. I jumped several bedded deer out of there this morning leaving the woods. Haven’t even put a match to it yet.

Your best bet IMO is to hack n squirt / hinge cut and burn to encourage native growth. If you want to get fancy, you could broadcast some broomsedge, switchgrass, little bluestem, bluestem and or sideoats gramma to encourage thicker growth a little faster. Little lime and 19-19-19 never hurt anything, either.

A lot of excellent resources online, especially on YouTube. Check out in no particular order...

Dr. Grant Woods Growing Deer TV
Greg Sturgis Whitetail Habitat Solutions
MSU Deer Lab Tv

The wealth of information on the above YouTube channels should get you started off right! I hope this helps

 

[mallardsx2]

Ya the real issue I have is that I have a ton of HUGE popular trees that shade everything out really bad in my woods. Unfortunately, burning is NOT an option for sure. I hate to just cut the poplars for sport because they are actually pretty nice trees and would be good for lumber but I cant even find anyone willing to cut them.

I may try and plant some of that river cane and see how that grows. I assume that it needs a lot of water and wont likely grow on a side hill very well.

Last year I hinge cut about 400 trees on my land plug I have a ton of privet bush on my property as well. Just cant seem to hold many deer here. Maybe I need to get more aggressive in my cutting or do a hack and squirt as suggested by others.

 

[Long Cut]

Ya the real issue I have is that I have a ton of HUGE popular trees that shade everything out really bad in my woods. Unfortunately, burning is NOT an option for sure. I hate to just cut the poplars for sport because they are actually pretty nice trees and would be good for lumber but I cant even find anyone willing to cut them.

I may try and plant some of that river cane and see how that grows. I assume that it needs a lot of water and wont likely grow on a side hill very well.

Last year I hinge cut about 400 trees on my land plug I have a ton of privet bush on my property as well. Just cant seem to hold many deer here. Maybe I need to get more aggressive in my cutting or do a hack and squirt as suggested by others.

Out of curiosity, why is burning not an option?

 

[fireman32]

I’m in a similar situation. I’ve began cutting every sweet gum and maple I can down, along with some hack and squirt. I’ve been clearing large areas around any white or swamp chestnut oaks.
Look up Dr. Grant Woods on YouTube, his show is “Growing Deer TV. He shares a wealth of information on land management for wildlife. He advises strongly against hinge cutting as well.
He mostly promotes thinning trees to let sunlight hit the ground and prescribed fire.

 

[gawildlife]

Sounds like what you're wanting isn't a normal part of a climax hardwood forest.
Sounds more like you're wanting early successional growth.
The only things that I know do well under the canopy you describe is beech, dogwood, sourwood, service berry.
Possibly some of the vaccinum heaths (blue and huckleberry berries), azaleas, laurels and rhododendrons. Maybe some of the hollies and viburnums.

 

[mallardsx2]

Ya I guess I cant have it both ways. I either need to have hardwoods or brush. Cant have both. I was just looking for a quick plant to grow in the shaded woods that would grow thick and stay thick for the majority of deer season.

I need to get some of these larger shade trees cut and start fresh from what I am hearing.

I'm just not comfortable burning in my area. Too many bordering landowners to deal with. Plus with the hinge cutting I have already done I'm a little bit scared that the fire might get too big to control.

 

[sportsman94]

Ya I guess I cant have it both ways. I either need to have hardwoods or brush. Cant have both. I was just looking for a quick plant to grow in the shaded woods that would grow thick and stay thick for the majority of deer season.

I need to get some of these larger shade trees cut and start fresh from what I am hearing.

I'm just not comfortable burning in my area. Too many bordering landowners to deal with. Plus with the hinge cutting I have already done I'm a little bit scared that the fire might get too big to control.

You could look into having the forestry commission come burn for you. They don’t release you from all liability, but they are experienced and have the necessary equipment. You could still have it both ways. Just leave specific trees. Grant woods or another biologist (maybe Craig Harper) mentioned that thinning oaks can actually make more mast since the leftover oaks will have less competition and be able to utilize more resources

 

[pjciii]

I Agree with Nic. That bamboo Is just a vertical Kuzu. It invasive. Get some of the larger varieties of fern.

 

[mallardsx2]

I'm glad guys are steering me away from the bamboo for the most part. I was a little concerned about that idea myself.

I like the idea of having assistance if I attempt burning.

 

[livinoutdoors]

If you want something that dies every year plant some rye grain. It will grow in some pretty deep shade.

 

[Stroker]

Sounds like what you're wanting isn't a normal part of a climax hardwood forest.
Sounds more like you're wanting early successional growth.
The only things that I know do well under the canopy you describe is beech, dogwood, sourwood, service berry.
Possibly some of the vaccinum heaths (blue and huckleberry berries), azaleas, laurels and rhododendrons. Maybe some of the hollies and viburnums.

We have about two acres of big azaleas, the deer love them. I can walk out just about any night this time of year and have 3-7 deer in my yard. They are very easy propagate.