[fordman99]

I have an area,I'm guessing an acre +-,that stays rather wet for the most part.Imagine if you will,a U shaped corn field (25-30 acres),with a hardwood bottom jutting into
the middle of the U with the wet area at the end.I've just been mowing this area for the past few years and was just wondering if someone could suggest anything I could plant
here that would tolerate the moisture and be beneficial for wildlife.

some of what is growing here now

Thanks for any tips!!!!

 

[Guest]

On the better drained parts of it, maybe some apple trees? Make a little orchard type thing.

I'd stop mowing it as well. It would eventually grow up into a nice brushy thicket providing a transition zone from woods to field.

Not really sure a food plot is going to work in there. You may be constantly battling water at the wrong times when you want to plant, etc.

 

[Smtn10pt]

You could try planting a fall plot of oats or something else relatively cheap in there. If that spot dries out by mid summer you might get away with it. You can probably forget about a spring planting or any kind of annual.

 

[eyefromthesky]

Actually the way it is right now is beneficial to many types of wildlife.

 

[rrroae]

Arrowwood

 

[Lynnappelman]

Actually the way it is right now is beneficial to many types of wildlife.

You took the words right out of my mouth. Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.

 

[fordman99]

Thanks for the responses folks,much appreciated!!!
Dutch,I really like the apple tree suggestion.There are a few pear trees on the property now but they are gone as soon as they hit the ground.
Thanks again!!

 

[Guest]

Old fields and grown up areas have value, just like the others have said. To many times we think it either has to be a field or woods, nothing in between.

Plant some standard sized apple trees and some semi-dwarf trees, maybe some crabapples as well, and you will enhance a great area for wildlife.

 

[Featherduster]

Palnt some apple trees like Dutch said, maybe frost seed some Switchgrass in there this winter, cut out the multiflora and Autumn Olive that is popping up. Def an area tho that is best to not mow. Lots of great stuff in there now for all critters.

 

[FrankDegamma]

What about getting DU/FWS to doa partners for wildlife project and build a wetland?

 

[turkey4life]

maybe a mini food plot or two in the drier areas, and the apple trees and crab apples like stated above. then add a mineral site or two and you have a deer paradise.

 

[hunt/fish365]

An area I sometimes hunt has a spot very much like the one you show. During the early archery season a lot of animals are found there. If there is a wet summer I find very little there. Depending on the crop rotations deer tend to bed in it if it's not too wet.

All in all it's a nice transition zone. Early morning and late afternoon deer tend to use it before entering the fields. If you look I'm sure there will be tracks in the mud come later summer.

 

[JTGuy]

Go in with one of those over-the-shoulder bag spreaders and spread some 19-19-19 or similiar fertilizer now and as much pellet lime as you can afford or your back can hold out. I call it a hidden food plot. I do it to my buddies on our land all the time. Know one can tell and the deer will really use the limed/fertilized native vegitation.

 

[HomeintheWoods]

The reason that U shaped uncultivated area exists is because the farmers realized so time ago that it was good for getting equipment stuck. Leave it alone from a cultivation standpoint. If there are paces to plant mast producing trees and shrubs, great. Viburnums, dogwoods, elderberry, cranberry, etc all have a place in an area like that. Planting them and controlling the invasives will accelerate the succession process. I would keep trees from invading since most of the trees would be maple or aspen. Keep it as a low growing brushy naturalized transition area.