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Planting in poor draining soils

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Baranx4

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There's a 10 acre area on our farm that is marshy boarderline swamp in one spot. The ground is almost always wet with clumps of grass that are almost mounded, by that I mean about 6 inches above the wet areas. Trees grow throughout the wet areas but when they get big they have a tendency to topple when it's windy. I was interested in seeing what I could plant around the perimeter of the marsh for forage or cover. I have two tree stands that are on the boarder of it that I'd like to make more attractive. Almost all the big bucks we've gotten over the years spend most of their time in the swamp and even a fair amout of the does do also. When they come out of the marsh they really don't have any heavy runs to fields as the area outside the marsh is wooded.

So basically I'm interested in food source that's very tollerant of moisture or thrives in those conditions or thicker cover that is or both. I don't know of any switchgrass that would be tollerant. I'm able to get the tractor in and out of the wet areas as long as I don't go right into the wettest spots. It's an odd situation in how the deer run. Half the time they come through our neighbors property, who's back corner is also a marsh, to get to the fields to graze and the other time it's through the woods directly from the marsh. I'm trying to make my spot more attractive as it's difficult during archery to hunt the spot. Even when the winds on my side they go through another spot. Hunt that area the next day and they come through the neighbors or from another trail.

Bucks usually don't hit the fields till almost dusk where we're at so I'm trying to adjust their patterns and give more cover as well.

Thanks in advance.
 
Red osier dogwood and speckled alder(also known as tag alder) would be able to tolerate "wet feet" although the alders would be best on high spots adjacent to any standing water. Alders won't be browsed but do create awesome cover, deer love browsing the red osier. Both of these could probably be found growing locally and you could propagate both rather easily through cuttings....otherwise coldstream farms sells both I believe. There certainly are other options, check your state departments website for native species that live in lowland habitats to find what will do well in your part of the country. Best of luck
 
From this link: Shrubs for Wet Areas


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There are many shrubs to consider for wet areas. Redosier dogwood, with its bright red stems in winter, is an appealing shrub that also attracts birds. Other good shrubs include gray dogwood, arrow wood viburnum, American cranberry-bush viburnum, chokeberry, and silver creeping willow.

</div></div>

I would just add that ninebark and silky dogwood also do well in wet areas.

Deer will browse heavily on redoiser dogwood once you get it established so that would be my first option. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Are there any grains or food sources that are tollerant. </div></div>

I was afraid that was the intent of your question...

That's a really tough question because "how wet is wet"??

Grains aren't going to grow in standing water or frequently flooded or waterlogged.

If the soil is occasional very "moist"...perhaps, the only thing you can do is try a spot and see what happens.

If I were you I would try planting some oats or buckwheat in late May or early June to see what happens. That will give you some clues to how well rye might perform in the fall. /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
I was on Ernst Seeds site and saw they have a few different mixes for wetlands and riparian areas. I'm planning on calling on Monday.
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Baran</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was on Ernst Seeds site and saw they have a few different mixes for wetlands and riparian areas. I'm planning on calling on Monday. </div></div>

Let us know what you come up with and keep us posted on how it works out... /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
I spoke with Ernst seed earlier this week and most of their wetland and boggy mixes contain a large amount of wildflowers in them driving the price way up and are not close to being cost effective. Plus they aren't what I was looking for. I had requested a catalog when I was on their website last week and it came yesterday. In going through it there are a few items there that would seem to be appropriate. I haven't narrowed it down to exactly what I want, but with some of it being 8 or 9 dollars a pound is much better than the 63 that they were listing in their mix. Especially since it takes 15lbs to the acre. I'm also going to concentrate on boarder areas that are next to the marsh. It marsh. It makes sense to provide additional cover with them not always seeking the swamp.

One of our problems is that there really isn't any open areas next to our farm besides our neighbors on the dead end road. It's roughly a 1/2 mile long with each of us having some field area. After that we are boardered by roughly 17,000 acres of almost all wooded area from one estate. If you go straight out the back door from our house you go to the estate and it's the same with the front door. They only lumber it every few years with little to no fields so the deer have tons of cover. I't why I became an archery hunter since there's no pressure here until rifle season.

When I was little the estate used to do some farming at times and the deer population was incredible. It wasn't uncommon to see 30-70 deer in a field before they went back to straight lumbering. When I was 12 yrs old we had 5 of us hunt the farm on opening day of buck. All of us harvested a deer that day, I'm 39 now.
 
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