Improving Wetland Habitat

F

Freeborn

Member
This time of year is a good time to walk those cattail slews and get a sense of how good your habitat is. I walked mine a few weeks ago and found many areas that have short sedge grass instead of cattail and was wondering if I can improve my pheasant wintering habitat by planting cattail or other wetland species. Is there anything I can plant (broadcast seed or other approach) that would improve my wetland habitat for winter cover? Can you buy cattail seed?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
You can buy almost anything on the internet - I'd assuming you can find cattail seed, but I'd have to imagine that if you drove around and asked a few people you'd find someone with cattails near the road who'd let you harvest some of the seed heads.

Everyone I've talked to in MI claims broadcasting is sufficient. I've tried it a few times in some vernal ponds on the edge of a woods, but I can't say it's worked for me - nothing came up. I do however believe it's more my locations than the method (not enough sunlight and thick layers of decaying leaves in ponds).
 
Cattails are a dominant species. You have cattails in the wetland now. If areas in your wetland don't have cattails it's likely conditions aren't right. Like to much water or to little water. Maybe the sod is heavy?
What is the rest of your cover/Winter habitat like?
Is there plenty of woody cover?
 
I have a 50 acre area that includes about 35 acres of woods (mostly oak and aspen but allot of dogwood elderberry and other shrubs) and then 15 acres of slew in different segments that varies from heavy cattail to sedges. I have very little open water and have mostly muck. The muck is completely saturated all year as the water level does not vary because there is a drainage channel that flows into a larger body of water. In the fall I always hear roosters cackling in the slew so I know they are there in the fall but I don’t seem to find them in mid to late winter. I’m not sure why this is but maybe it’s because there hasn’t been any NWSG established or a winter food-plot. I have an additional 55 acres that 35 acres was planted in NWSG last year and with the rest will be planted this year. This year will be my first year of planting a food-plot of 7 acres.

There is a much larger slew that is not on my property that is 1/8 of a mile from my place so maybe they are wintering there.

My interest in improving my cattail habitat is to improve their chances of surviving a real bad Minnesota Winter.
 
I had a wildlife expert tell me to just take the heads of cattails and just break them open by the wetland. Worked for me:) had about five 5 gallon pails full and spread them on the ground.
 
Thanks Captaincoot,

I was wondering if it could be that easy. When did you spread your seed, did you walk out into the swamp (through the soft muck) to spread your seeds?

I have plenty of seed heads and could get a ton of seeds. I was wondering if you could spread seed in late winter when the muck was still firm. That would let me navigate through the slew easily.

When did you spread your seed?

Thanks.
 
I spread mine in the fall. I would do it while its froze. He also said to put heads on post or trees up higher and just let the wind spread it out for you. I'm thinking save some heads and put them in the water would spread them nicely too. Good luck:)
 
mnmthunting said:
Cattails are a dominant species. You have cattails in the wetland now. If areas in your wetland don't have cattails it's likely conditions aren't right. Like to much water or to little water. Maybe the sod is heavy?
What is the rest of your cover/Winter habitat like?
Is there plenty of woody cover?
Click to expand...

Wise words. There are any number of species you could encourage to grow. What is the objective of the wetlands?
 
The objective is to provide winter cover and food if possible. I have about 15acres of cattail slew on my property and there is probably another 10 acres on my neighbors.

Much of heavy cattail is on my neighbors and I think that is becasue he has more water and I have more muck. I do have a good amount of cattails but but I would like to improve it as the slew is on the southeast side of a large ag field and the slew gets hit hard in the winter.

Much of my slew has allot of sedge with Canary Reed Grass along the edges. I thought about planting some cord grass along the edges and might try that.
 
Freeborn said:
The objective is to provide winter cover and food if possible. I have about 15acres of cattail slew on my property and there is probably another 10 acres on my neighbors.

Much of heavy cattail is on my neighbors and I think that is becasue he has more water and I have more muck. I do have a good amount of cattails but but I would like to improve it as the slew is on the southeast side of a large ag field and the slew gets hit hard in the winter.

Much of my slew has allot of sedge with Canary Reed Grass along the edges. I thought about planting some cord grass along the edges and might try that.
Click to expand...
You should spray out that canary grass and get some solid stands of barnyard grass (wild jap millet) and sedge going. The millet will rot down but provide a lot of food though. Sago Pondweed (submergent) will provide a lot of "fruit" the wind will blow up to the shore. If you ever see green wing teal walking a bare bank on a pond this is what they are after.
 
Thanks Morrismike,

That is good advice. I am not familar with the plants you recommend (I am new to wetland conservation). I currently have some areas with water but I have discussed with my local soil and water district about building a duck pond and that is a good possibility. Where is a good source of these plants and do you have any tips on how to get them established?

Thanks again.
 
Freeborn said:
Thanks Morrismike,

That is good advice. I am not familar with the plants you recommend (I am new to wetland conservation). I currently have some areas with water but I have discussed with my local soil and water district about building a duck pond and that is a good possibility. Where is a good source of these plants and do you have any tips on how to get them established?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

If you do a little searching on establishing "moist soil" habitat that would be a good start. If you've got standing water and puddle ducks (something other than mallards and woodies) during the winter there is a lot you can do. Where I used to live in TX our hunting club managed around 100 acres of this sort of habitat and we killed thousands of ducks each year. The problem is I know what moist soil stuff ducks like but not sure if Pheasants fancy the same things (I'm sure they'd like Jap Millet). I would stay away from phragmites also.

If you've got standing water at least during the fall/winter you can establish water naiad, sago pondweed, muskgrass, etc. (no eurasian milfoil though). The sago will produce berries (the minigrapes you see in craws) and the muskgrass will produce seed like (it is technically a macro algea) that is the pepper looking stuff in craws. There is smartweed (the giant Pennsylvania smartweed is very dense cover) for cover and seed and a variety of smaller smartweeds for seed. The sedges are great too. The main problem with moist soil is the seeds are great for ducks that sift tiny stuff out of the water and silt but not so much for birds that feed in a conventional manner.
 
You might consider getting some Swamp Rose established in those wet areas.
The swamp rose like to grow in rich wet soil around the outer edges of wetlands and the outer edges of cattails. They are a good source of winter food and cover for birds. Pheasants will feed heavily on them in the winter. When the swamp rose grow near good stands of cattails pheasants will sometimes hang tight in the area especially when there is a heavy snow cover.
They also have great flowers which are good for hummers and pollinating insects.

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Great looking plant and I think it would work well. Have you planted them before? I would think you could buy them bare root. I don't think I have seen them locally, do you have a source you like?

Thanks for the tip!
 
I've never planted them. They grow wild. Look around wetlands in your area and collect some seeds. I suspect that they'd start on their own pretty well if the soil and water conditions are right.
 
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