DJ 17

Brian, He is a beautiful dog.

Agreed. This would be completely for a screen, nothing else.

Here is a pic from the Maple river farms website. It says single season growth, but I don't believe that is the first season of planted.

Thanks man. It is a fun process for sure. I did plant some arrowwood 2 years ago but the drought got it. I am going to try again this spring with a variety of plantings. Thinking like you said about staggering layers, such as miscanthus and spruce trees. I got an email form Don at Maple River Farms and we discussed the fact that Miscanthus expands horizontally 6-8" in all directions per year as well as growing vertically. Obviously have to keep that in mind. From what I can gather it has about a 15 year lifespan so that should hopefully be plenty of time for the spruce behind it to be tall enough to take over as a full time screen. What's the story on ninebark? That's something I haven't heard of before.

Yep, a bunch of trees I planted 2 years ago met the bush hog as well. No good.

Nick, What blanks are they?

That's been the original plan, just investigating to see if there is a better option that I was unaware of.

I have been hinge cutting in spots to build cover for a couple years. Where the screen is needed is along the road where there are no trees or other vegetation besides grass in the pasture.

I saw one similar to this. They rigged up a colander to 4 bungee cords and stretched them out. They put some corn and peanut butter inside it, then ran a piece of mono inside the house. When the squirrel was in the colander they cut the line.... and so long sucka.

Good info guys. We have about 20,000 conifers planted on our farm that my dad planted in the late 80's in different areas that are a mix of pine and I believe Norway spruce. There is one section of about 11 acres that is all pine and spruce, the deer love it for thermal cover. The spruce seems to be better cover as the trees age due to its thickness at ground level. The pines are opening up so I have started to hinge cut and clear spots selectively to let in the sunlight to hopefully thicken it up with berry bushes, etc...

Thanks Diver. I have looked into willow brush for sure, may go that route along with some conifers. Miscanthus is also something I have looked into: http://www.mapleriverfarms.com/ Check out this site.

I've become more and more interested in the habitat management aspect. I am looking for alternative options for quick growing perennials for screens and/or cover. I planted a mix of about 500 conifers, and various deciduous brush/tree species 2 years ago, but that was the spring of death and our farm got no rain for over 8 weeks, so despite me watering it was game over. I'm going to plant some more stuff this spring just looking to share some info with those of you that have done some of the same stuff. I will plant some spruce and or pine but would like to get some grasses, shrubs, etc in that grow a little faster to get things started. The Frigid Forage screen mix would be great except it is an annual. What ya got for me Gator? Thanks, Dennis

JOhn, How long of a fly leader are you running with that big paddle?

Why?

Why are you getting rid of it? What didn't you like? I may be interested in some of the different lengths if you want to separate at some point.