BearCreek
Member
I am assuming USDA/FSA is dictating the available species for your buffer planting? I am not sure I would plant a single silver maple (not a fan), they grow fast but also usually dominate and overtake areas due to growth rate and seed production. If viable I like: Bur, Swamp, and Pin Oak as a hardwood base in bottom land; add some pecan, black walnut, shagbark hickory, red mulberry, persimmon, and a sycamore or two. I would assume ERC will encroach whether you plant them or not. I am in the camp that shrubs>trees for nearly all game and most wildlife we are trying to promote. Shrubs have really disappeared from habitats due to farming practices, lack of management, the spread of invasives, and high deer populations. Plum, Ninebark, Arrowood, Hazelnut, Buttonbush (bottom land), silky and ROD dogwood, serviceberry, roughleaf dogwood are all good choices.
One of the biggest mistakes I made on my farm with respect to native shrub plantings was believing I could "out plant" the deer. Even a few deer will wreck many shrubs and rabbits will do equal damage to certain species during the winter. Protect some of them if you can. Spraying my cool season grasses has been one of my most beneficial practices, however I would wait until fall, so much more effective than spring.
One of the biggest mistakes I made on my farm with respect to native shrub plantings was believing I could "out plant" the deer. Even a few deer will wreck many shrubs and rabbits will do equal damage to certain species during the winter. Protect some of them if you can. Spraying my cool season grasses has been one of my most beneficial practices, however I would wait until fall, so much more effective than spring.
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