[pt1e]

I am curious if ANYONE would plant this or let it grow for deer cover. It is thick and nasty and we all know the deer go to it to hide...YOu could be two feet away and they wont get out of that stuff and its hard to push. Has anyone seen fit to let this grow wild? or plant it? I know one spot after a spot was logged where the jaggers are 6ft+ tall...no one goes in there..you cant even bust through any of it., but the deer are there.

 

[missedshot]

Oh it's great cover alright-BUT BIRDS WILL SPREAD THE SEEDS AND THE AREA WILL BE TOTALLY UNHUNTABLE.I know because that happened on the land we hunt. We have to cut trails every fall so we can hunt it. The deer are there but seeing them or moving them is another question.

 

[Pinebear]

Don't wanna do that. I lived in Vermont for a while where it was planted to act as fence by farmers in the 40-50s, now those fields they wanted to fence naturally are totally overgrown with it. Near impossible to get rid of and is listed as an invasive species.

 

[RegularJoe]

I don't believe it is legal to plant or cultivate multiflora rose in PA because of the invasive nature of it. That being said, I have owned my property for 14 years and have a couple open areas that are never mowed and only have a few bushes here and there of it, unless I don't have what I think I have, it hasn't overgrown my fields or made any area really unhuntable.

 

[pt1e]

Think you could almost get the same effect with a crabapple thicket? those are not the nicest either to push and the benefit of the apples if you could keep the deer off the trees until they mature...

 

[Sqrlhntr]

I don't believe it is legal to plant it. I was also told there was some talk a few years back that they could make you remove it from your property. I know in the 50s the state used to plant it for soil erosion. Didn't take long for them to stop that.

 

[deerchaser]

I have heard greenbriar gives the same effect except it is native to the area and deer will browse on it mostly in the winter. I have wanted to plant this but unable to locate where I can buy it. don't mean to hj the thread. if someone knows please pm me

 

[Farflung]

Regular Joe- My cousin's farm had multiflora rose planted in the late 1950's. It spread really slow ..... for the first 30 years. It then really took off and has now totally occupied around 20 acres and is scattered around in some other places (and is getting into the neighbors)

Why this lag? Seed buildup in the soil? Did the increase in deer numbers we had at that time depressing competing vegtetation?

You might want to rethink as to wheter to control it now.

 

[RegularJoe]

Sound advice on rethinking it, but it is likely too late from what I have heard. The seeds have some of the longest shelf life/survivability rates of any rose or plant for that matter. I read somewhere it was something like 10 years they can be dormant before germination. I am not over run with it, and it is still good small game cover. If it did take over I have a D6 Caterpillar and I could curb it again. I just don't see how it could spread as fast as people fear or have said, maybe I have the defective stuff growing here.

 

[Guest]

There were patches of it in the pasture of the farm near camp. One year, I saw them out there sprying it and then the following year they took a dozer in there and uprooted the plants. Made nice brush piles out of it and they still hunt those brush piles for bunnies.

 

[Pa-Guy]

Just wondering if some folks may be confusing multi-flori rose with autumn olive?
Autumn olive is still an invasive species, but not like multi-flori rose.
I've planted a lot of it. I control it. The deer will browse it and hide in it, the bears think the red berries in the fall are candy, the turkeys like it, the rabbits like it.... the list goes on.

 

[bake545]

I control it.

Do you control it on your neighbors property? Because I guarantee it's spread there.

Frankly, it's irresponsible to plant either AO or multi-floral rose. I've got both and would rather not have either. The negatives outweigh the positives.

 

[PAGSPHUNTING]

Ive killed more game in ao plots than all other food plots combined.