What to Plant in Low PH and Wet Soil
Wisconsin
My 90 acres is loaded with cover. The land has white cedars, tamaracks, spruce, and balsam fir. I need to do some cutting and am wondering what could be planted knowing my options are limited. I am aware of Birdsfoot Trefoil and Highbush Cranberry. I'm wondering what others have done with low ph and wet soils. Thanks in advance.
Many nice options at MDC. Missouri state nursery. Great stock, great prices, they ship ups to your door. Online catalog, read the description. Wet soil= buttonbush, spicebush, speckled alder,some berries,dogwoods, sumac.white spruce dont like wet feet.swamp oak. Some willow will work also.
Alsike clover will also thrive for food
Thanks November. You are a wealth of knowledge in this area. I see you posting on QDMA. I see Bullwinkle there too. It's a shame he left here. That is a great place to go for information. I joined QDMA after I completed my land purchase.
Similar discussion going on in the Pine in the Deer Woods thread.
You might shoot an email to your county DNR forester or your county soil and water person. They should have a good idea of what your soil types are and what particular wildlife species will thrive.
Don't introduce Birdsfoot Trefoil. It's an invasive plant.
I will second the advice on birds foot trefoil... it's what alot of counties use along roadsides .. you can't get rid of it.. it keeps coming back even after round up.. and tilling and planting other crops ..
I would do a fall plot planted in late Aug. With winter wheat or rye and a clover mix... clover grows well pretty much everyplace unless it's Sandy and get really dry..
I have a wood stove at home so I go through ashes like crazy and I was told that it was best to spread on plot to raisephone levels? So if you know anyone or have a stove try that
The land I'm looking to plant in is cedar swamp which is wet but not under water. I doubt wheat, rye, and 95% of clovers would succeed there.
Nutritionist from the Big Game Forums recommended Birdsfoot Trefoil too because it grows in very low ph and wet soil where most won't grow. I know the deer like it when there are not a lot of other food sources around outside of normal browse. I'm hemming and hawing that one. I have a forester writing a plan for me and will be curious to see what he recommends.
I have low ground as well and the last 2 years have been horrible for flooding and standing water until mid-july. If you cut trees and start working the ground, you will actually make it wetter than it was originally due to compacting the top layer of soil.
I would stick with what November is suggesting in the forms of bushes, etc... that will excel in those conditions. Hazelnut grows on my 80 acres and you may want to consider getting them started in areas.
Good luck!
I had some low land that was always wet... but a few years back we had some really dry summers.. I killed it off and disced it first .. then plowed that chopped up swamp grass under... I then spent time with the blade ditching it so I ended up with a nice raised planting bed .. it still holds enough moisture to grow nice clover or brassicas.. prolly still to moist for corn or beans.. but at least it's used.. and the surrounding area is all planted tamarack..white spruce... the deer absolutely love to rub the tamarack .. and the allow plenty of sun through for nice bedding grasses.. this project is about 16 years old and I really would be better off fencing the plot to keep it from being ate off as fast as it grows.... It's only a acre and 1/2 and it don't take many deer to mow that off...if there would be any decent deer to hunt... I'd fence it .. but it's really not worth it until there are some age class bucks allowed to survive... but it is a idea for wet ground that has worked pretty good for me.. That swampy loam is black as coal... must have some good stuff in it.
Problem with converting lowland is that you could get Canary grass and that crap is awfully hard to get rid of. I like birdsfoot trefoil,beautiful yellow flowers,can be mowed and lives 20 years or more. I don't see deer eating it except in Winter time.
Rape/canola tolerates the lowest of pH'S. If you can't grow rape, you can't even grow weeds.
Berseem clover is an annual, high nitrogen fixating clover that tolerates lower pH's and wet soils.
Alsike clover is your perennial clover of choice for wet soils and low pH's.
Birdsfoot trefoil built the farm, or in my case, the company i work for. The boss was the worlds largest grower of trefoil and it;s a great heavy ground and will tolerate lower pH's.
Ladino clover does ok but there is a limit to how low of pH that it will tolerate.
Deer also love arrowhead. Its also called duck?
