Wall of concealment vegetation...
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: c5ken
10-Apr-22
I need to walk about 200 yards to one of my tree-stands without being seen. I want to plant a wall of thick vegetation. What do you suggest??
From: AccMan
10-Apr-22
Egyptian wheat
From: c5ken
10-Apr-22
Thx, I'll order some
From: Aspen Ghost
10-Apr-22
Just use one of these.
From: WI Shedhead
11-Apr-22
Michigan company northwoods whitetail sells a plot screen that is a mix of millet milo and sorghum. Cheap easy to plant and mine grows 12-14 foot high and after a winter about 3 percent of it is still standing. Birds use the seed heads. Adds a organic matter component to after I chop it up and fill it in the ground in the spring. This product is A+++++
From: drycreek
11-Apr-22
Egyptian wheat does well in early season but wind will knock it down especially after it gets wet. I wonder about snow load in Michigan. I learned the hard way tha5 I couldn’t use anything with grain on it because the hogs would knock it down and destroy it. Miscantheus gigantis (sp) might be your best bet long term.
From: Ok...Russ
11-Apr-22
Not sure about Michigan but I planted a spring mix in Oklahoma that had Egyptian wheat and pearl millet. The millet was easily 10' tall. As stated, may not hold up to much snow but it composts into the soil and adds nutrients once dead.
From: WI Shedhead
11-Apr-22
I live in east central WI, the seed company is from Michigan, and yes the blend stands up very well to snow
From: c5ken
11-Apr-22
Hummmm Thanks for the info. I live in S/E Michigan & we do get some heavy snow. Maybe the mix is the way to go.
From: Huntiam
12-Apr-22
Sun hemp
From: Bowfinatic
12-Apr-22
Mycanthus grass
From: mattandersen
12-Apr-22
So I ordered and am getting ready to plant 5lbs of egyptian wheat to block the view of my neighbors ugly barn and so he can't look directly down on my property/yard. Sadly we don't get along...I know its an annual but figure it'll be a nice hopefully 10-12+ feet high screen for a while. My question is how to plant? I'm planning to disc up a long path maybe a foot wide or so down the length of the property but how many seeds should I place in the dirt? For instance should I just plant seeds one at a time for the entire length of the run and how much spacing between seeds or should I liberally lay them in there if that makes sense? I have probably more seed than I need. I'd like a tall screen and ideally maybe 2-3' wide. Any tips would be appreciated.
From: drycreek
12-Apr-22
You are gonna have to plant a lot wider than that if you want a screen. When I planted it I went 15’ wide and that would be a minimum IMO, but you might get by with 10’ wide.
From: t-roy
12-Apr-22
Matt…….I agree with drycreek’s assessment on width. I’d go 10’ minimum. As far as planting, I’d recommend just discing a 10’-15’ wide swath, then broadcast your seed, then very lightly discing the seed in, around an inch or so, deep. It sprouts pretty easily, if you have any moisture. Seeding rate for EW is approximately 25 lbs/acre, so for 5lbs, you could seed a 10’ wide x 870’ long stretch. There’s 43,560sq feet in an acre, so you can do the math for whatever size seeding you want to. It won’t hurt to seed EW a little bit on the heavy side, if you fertilize it. As a grass, It LOVES nitrogen. You could spread your fertilizer first, then disc the area after that, to incorporate it into the soil. then broadcast your seed. I’d recommend top dressing some more nitrogen 30-45 days later, as well, ideally right before a rain event. It’s a pretty fast growing grass, and usually outcompetes other grasses and broadleaf weeds.
From: AccMan
12-Apr-22
Dont overseed or the growth will be stunted. You can add peas to the mix and the peas will climb the egyptian wheat providing deer food. My EW drops enough seed that I get volunteer plants every year.
From: mattandersen
13-Apr-22
Damn I may have to rethink this....I wasn't planning on a 10-15' swath. Ok thanks for the info gentlemen!
From: Stressless
08-May-22
Northwoods Whitetails Screen from last year - you only need 10'-12' no discing required - I harrowed my in after terminating the vegetation.
My outstretched arm is 8' - so it grew 10'-11' 
From: Pat Lefemine
08-May-22
I planted E.Wheat last year. Good results. My strip was only about 12' wide. A couple things I learned - some of it from T-Roy who was my E.Wheat consultant in 2021 ;-)
As stated above, it's best not to go heavy on seed, stick to the required rate. Go heavy on fertilizer, I applied a pretty heavy application of 19-19-19 at planting. Don't plant too deep, I tilled, broadcast with a hand spreader, then ran my cultipacker over it.
I got a nice 12' wall of E-wheat. Worked perfect.
From: Mark Watkins
23-Dec-22
I’ve got a 5 acre rectangular field that I’d like to put a strip across and try here in 2023.
Some great EW planting info on here...thanks!@
T-Roy, keep your phone charged!
Mark
From: BigOk
23-Dec-22
I planted EW this year and learned if you are in a drought and it only grows 4 to 5 ft tall. That the root system will not grow enough to withstand 15 mph winds. It was on the ground by the second week of October. There is always next year.
From: Julius Koenig
23-Dec-22
I planted Egyptian wheat last year along the front edge (road). I tilled 15 ft wide, bought some seeds on eBay, broadcasted into the bed, never compacted it. It grew great. I had some stalks pushing 12-13’
From: Julius Koenig
23-Dec-22
I planted Egyptian wheat last year along the front edge (road). I tilled 15 ft wide, bought some seeds on eBay, broadcasted into the bed, never compacted it. It grew great. I had some stalks pushing 12-13’
From: t-roy
23-Dec-22
That reminds me…..Pat, your check for my consulting fee, bounced. Next time, it’s cash only….
Another little trick I’ve tried using with some good results, is if you know where you might want to set up a pop up blind, you can sow a circle (slightly larger than your blind) of EW into your corn, once it emerges. I like to pull out all of the young corn plants inside of that circle, so you don’t have to deal with those stalks when you’re ready to set the blind up. I’ll top dress a little extra N on the ring 30-40 days later. I’ve only done it a couple of times, but it worked great both times.
From: Ironbow
24-Dec-22
Troy that is a great idea!
From: Mark Watkins
24-Dec-22
Great idea T-Roy!
Any reason I couldn’t run the cultivator over a 15’ wide strip (after fertilizing), then pack it and drill the seed in? (If seed size is doable through the drill)
Or have you guys had better luck broadcasting the seed?
Mark
From: t-roy
25-Dec-22
I’d think you would probably have even better consistency with your drill, Mark.
From: Don K
25-Dec-22
Don K's Link
Check out Miscanthus
From: FORESTBOWS
25-Dec-22
I used a plot screen from killer food plots. What ever was in it worked well.
From: Catscratch
25-Dec-22
I've planted just aboit everything. Miscanthus has been the easiest and most trouble free.
From: t-roy
25-Dec-22
Once established, Miscanthus is pretty tough to beat, but it’s been feast or famine to establish, for me. I have a 300’ x 6’ wide strip of Miscanthus, that is magazine cover good, but have 2 other strips that are marginal, at best, and another that was an abject failure. Timing was critical in the success and failures in every case (for me at least) In the plot that was a failure, I had a perfect seed bed and was 10 minutes away from planting it, and it rained about a quarter inch, muddying things up. I went ahead and planted the rhizomes and covered them with muddy dirt, which ended up crusting over extremely hard, and the shoots struggled to emerge, then the weeds took over. Similar situation with the other two marginal stands. They may eventually fill in, but probably never anything close to the one stellar plot that I do have.
From: Catscratch
25-Dec-22
To what t-roy said... the MG that I planted was given to me and done in a rush. Zero soil prep. I simple dug holes in a fescue patch and buried some rhizomes. I completely neglected but it ended up doing well. I now wish I had done more and done a better job of preparing for it.
From: Mark Watkins
26-Dec-22
Hard to believe……T-Roy the food plot guru had plantings that were “marginal”……. No way!
In some twisted mindset I feel a bit of self worth (and guilt!). :)
Mark
From: t-roy
26-Dec-22
Don’t EVEN get me started on this year’s plots, Mark! :-(((((
From: Bigdog 21
26-Dec-22
Plant some pine trees double offset rows . Thay will be there forever. And deer and birds will use them in hard winter. Problem with grasses is mosquito's, tricks all bad for you and wildlife.
From: t-roy
26-Dec-22
The deer in my area will browse the pines down to nothing. Supposedly, they won’t bother spruce trees, but I know that is not true, either. They will browse on the cedars here, as well, especially in a hard winter.
From: Bigdog 21
27-Dec-22
Solar power elec. Fence to get them started.
From: Mark Watkins
28-Dec-22
I planted 300 pines (because I like them) in 2010 as part of a 7200 tree planting that year. THe deer ate them. Didn’t touch the spruce other than the bucks rubbing some with their antlers Also planted eastern red cedars and these are money as well!
Spruce and cedars hold their branches down to the ground which has been a jackpot for my grouse and pheasants.
I would not plant pines if you have a moderate to high deer density.
Mark
From: sticksender
28-Dec-22
While we're talking pines, I can't recommend Red Pines. While they're highly tolerant of drought, they're short-lived, in my area anyway.....20-30 years maybe. And there's a prolific species of small black caterpillar that loves to eat the new needles in summer. I've been replacing all mine with Norway Spruce. You've still gotta watch for bag worms on those, around here at least. I've had good luck with eastern red cedar as well. Of course the bucks like to shred them in Oct/Nov!
From: Stressless
29-Dec-22
Here's a good overview of 'grass'.
Some other screens.
Me personally, and only my $0.02. EW 13-'14'wide, plant a double staggered row of spruce or cedar back half of that distance from the EW, it'll take awhile but the pine will take over the 13'-14' EW edge and be permanent. Might take 3-4 years depending on the root stock of conifers you get. 5'-6' at planting. I.e., buy time with taller trees from the git-go.
From: Wildan2
02-Jan-23
CONCEAL by Whitetail Insititute,exactly what you are looking for.
From: KSBOW
03-Jan-23
How about recommendation that you don't have to replant every year, Cedars are not an issue for me I can get a truck load of them in several hours just time create a good barrier. Would like to plant something that will last multiple years as tree's grow?
