Old fencerow habitat restoration w/ pics

[jaytee]

Here's one of my latest projects that I've been tackling for the last couple of years. Its an old overgrown up fencerow that at one time was a haven for quail and other small game but like nearly all fencerows that are left unattended, it had matured with a heavy crown and very little cover in the understory. I'm doing this in stages and will leave some of the trees but very very few. One in particular is on older wild cherry that I'd like to let get big enough to harvest the lumber from. I've tried to hinge cut all of the trees that I can so as to produce a living covey headquarters, so to speak.

 

[southernblues]

nice work - any plans to backfill the fencerow with shrubs? i've got plans to thin out some older/taller trees -- it's all about a plan, same way with my fescue issues...can't build it in one year!

like yours pics -- giving me ideas and direction as this is my first year to introduce habitat improvement efforts.

 

[jaytee]

Glad you like the pics. Its hard to tell from the pics but I've also tried to leave as many of the smaller trees, say anything 12 feet or so tall and up to the size of your wrist. This way as they grow and get larger, they'll be the next candidates to topple to keep this headquarters going for many years to come. May not be the "right" way to do it, but I can't think of any bad reason not to do it this way. Anybody else?

 

[safari]

Here's one of my latest projects that I've been tackling for the last couple of years. Its an old overgrown up fencerow that at one time was a haven for quail and other small game but like nearly all fencerows that are left unattended, it had matured with a heavy crown and very little cover in the understory. I'm doing this in stages and will leave some of the trees but very very few. One in particular is on older wild cherry that I'd like to let get big enough to harvest the lumber from. I've tried to hinge cut all of the trees that I can so as to produce a living covey headquarters, so to speak.

I would also "chop and drop" many of those cedar in the backgriund as well.

 

[quail hound]

Very cool as a quailhound I am very pleased by habitat projects geared towards any quail species. Just a question. I know your doing this for bob birds, but around here you can hardly find a wild black berry briar without a healthy covey living in it. Do bobs also like this type of cover? If so why aren't there more habitat projects including berry briars? They are very simple and cheap to start off of cuttings.

 

[jaytee]

I would also "chop and drop" many of those cedar in the backgriund as well.

Well I would but my neighbor might get a little peeesed off, seeing as how its his property And yes, bobwhites do like blackberry briars and I have a pretty good supply of them. Around here, if you break the soil with a disc or plow you can usually count on blackberry briars sprouting up.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Nice project. Where are you located?

 

[jaytee]

I'm located in Fair Grove, MO which is about 20 miles north of Springfield.

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Ah, God's Country.

 

[1GB]

Looking at the pictures of trees on the ground, it looks like you still have living CSG under them?

From what I have read in the Covey Headquarters newsletter, it's best to first spray RU to kill off the persistent CSG under where you'll be dropping the trees. Then chop and drop! I've done it both ways and have found that killing off the CSG will lead to a more open understory that allows game to move within the brushpile.

 

[jaytee]

I was going to spray first but for the most part what was growing under the trees was really thin and most but not all of it was different types of weeds. There is a little bit of fescue along the outer edges and I'll hit that this coming fall. I may even broadcast some type of a grain, say millet or foxtail, something to give 'em a little more options and cover. Or I may just let it grow up in weeds.