Since I'm enjoying my new found pic posting abilities I thought I would post some pics of my field windbreak. These pics show how significant the difference is between deer damage on different species and fenced vs unfenced trees. The pines and spruces were planted spring of '04 and the cedars were planted spring of '05. All are DNR nursery stock and were the larger of the two available sizes.
This is one of my best Norway spruce, which is about 48" tall. The fence has protected this one so far and it put on nearly 20" new growth last year. Most of the spruce are around 30"-40".
This is typical of the damage I see to Norways, which is mainly just from bucks.
This pic shows that they will browse Red Cedar, but the damage was minimal. Unfortunately they nipped the main leader.
This pic shows an unprotected white pine between two that are fenced. White pine might as well be deer candy and the difference is dramatic.
Here is another side by side example of white pines and this is consistant throughout my planting. It is rare to find an unprotected pine that isnt damaged. 90% of pine damage is from browsing as opposed to rubs.
Here is what is left of a Red Pine (I think) next to an unprotected Red Cedar. The deer's preference is obvious.
The fact that fencing would work is pretty obvious but the pics really show how much difference it makes. I originally thought if I planted enough trees the deer would get a few but the majority would survive. I was way wrong, the deer nailed 90% of the 1000 or so pines in the first year. This is not a high deer population area, but they do have 365 days a year to work on them so it only takes a few. There is corn and beans all around these trees also.
Here are some other observations:
White pine seems to be preffered over Red pine, but they will definately browse both.
Browse damage to Norway spruce has been limited but they do like to rub them to some extent. Short fencing (even 24") has solved that.
Thus far, fencing as short as 32" has totally eliminated browsing. I'm sure deer could get to them if they really tried but they dont seem to bother.
It is my opinion that if you have any deer and cant fence your trees you would be wasting your time to plant pines. Go with red cedars or some type of shrub that can handle the deer pressure or are not preffered browse.
This is one of my best Norway spruce, which is about 48" tall. The fence has protected this one so far and it put on nearly 20" new growth last year. Most of the spruce are around 30"-40".
This is typical of the damage I see to Norways, which is mainly just from bucks.
This pic shows that they will browse Red Cedar, but the damage was minimal. Unfortunately they nipped the main leader.
This pic shows an unprotected white pine between two that are fenced. White pine might as well be deer candy and the difference is dramatic.
Here is another side by side example of white pines and this is consistant throughout my planting. It is rare to find an unprotected pine that isnt damaged. 90% of pine damage is from browsing as opposed to rubs.
Here is what is left of a Red Pine (I think) next to an unprotected Red Cedar. The deer's preference is obvious.
The fact that fencing would work is pretty obvious but the pics really show how much difference it makes. I originally thought if I planted enough trees the deer would get a few but the majority would survive. I was way wrong, the deer nailed 90% of the 1000 or so pines in the first year. This is not a high deer population area, but they do have 365 days a year to work on them so it only takes a few. There is corn and beans all around these trees also.
Here are some other observations:
White pine seems to be preffered over Red pine, but they will definately browse both.
Browse damage to Norway spruce has been limited but they do like to rub them to some extent. Short fencing (even 24") has solved that.
Thus far, fencing as short as 32" has totally eliminated browsing. I'm sure deer could get to them if they really tried but they dont seem to bother.
It is my opinion that if you have any deer and cant fence your trees you would be wasting your time to plant pines. Go with red cedars or some type of shrub that can handle the deer pressure or are not preffered browse.
