Landscaping for Wildlife, Overview Part III

Area "D" from the west end looking east.

Something does not add up.  These trees are about fifty years old.  The Silver Maple in the foreground is about 9" in diameter.  On a favorable site it would be 20"-to-25" in diameter.

A "wolf tree".  Wild Black Cherry.  Removing these is a no-brainer.

Still in area "D" but close to the water.  Much Black Walnut growing in that moist band of rich soil.  Most have very inferior form.  Do you see those spindly little trees underneath the Black Walnuts?

The pink surveyor's tape is a range marker placed by a bow hunter.

Hawthorn, probably Crataegus succulenta

This area was horse pasture until about 1975.  These hawthorn probably sprouted when the horse was still there.  Those one inch diameter hawthorn are probably over 45 years old, hanging on in the shade of the Black Walnut trees.

Apologies for the poor picture.  These Pawpaws seem quite happy growing beneath the Black Walnuts and might be an alternative to the hawthorn.

Evidence of intelligent life.

This picture tells a story if you know how to read it.  The trees on the extreme left (the big trees) are the same age as the smaller trees found in the rest of the frame.  The difference is that the trees on the left have half of their roots in un-eroded topsoil (Area "C").     The parallel ridges are really parallel gullies.  This is eroded land.  The trees are puny because they are trying to grow on sub-soil.

Knowing the backstory leads me to believe that most of Area "D" needs a  big shot of fertilizer.  I will recommend release cutting (probably those hinge cuts discussed earlier), phosphorous and potash, lime and seeding Ladino Clover and Birdsfoot Trefoil to fix nitrogen.

Area "A"
Area "A" is the developed corner of the property.  That includes an orchard that is teetering into senility.  I believe it can still be saved.

The tops of many of these apple trees winter killed.

This is also an opportunity.  The trees pushed suckers from beneath the winter killed branches.  They can be grafted over to other varieties....like Gold Rush, Keepsake, Kerr or Enterprise to name a few.

A little bit of Tender Loving Care will go a long way to producing a major deer magnet.  TLC includes herbicide to control the weeds, the equivalent of 150 pounds of N per acre, mowing to knock down the brush and some chainsaw work to remove the dead trees and limbs.