Minnesota Wildlife Planting Photos by Plantra team
In 2008 Plantra had the good fortune to work with Babe Winkelman, TV host of “Good Fishing” and “Outdoor Secrets.” Several years ago Babe and his wife Kris purchased a farm in west central Minnesota, and immediately started working to enhance the wildlife habitat and aesthetics of the property.
In many respects Babe is a typical landowner (except that he’s a nationally known host and a highly awarded sportsman and educator!). His goal is to enhance his property for wildlife, and pass it on to his children in better condition than he found it. And like so many landowner habitat projects, it all started with aerial photographs & visions of hedgerows and food plots to support a diverse and healthy wildlife population… and came very close to ending like all too many landowner projects: thousands of seedlings lost to deer browse, drought and weed competition, lots of hard work with little or no results.
Babe’s property and projects are typical in 3 other respects:
Less-than-ideal growing conditions. In western Minnesota, where the forest meets the prairie, 12 inches of precipitation is considered a bonanza. And this area had suffered 3 straight years of below normal precipitation.
The very wildlife that Babe is trying to foster – most notably a healthy, balanced population of white tailed deer – is the biggest obstacle to successful tree planting.
Tree planting projects are just one component of an overall management plan that includes prairie restoration, grain food plots (corn, soybeans and millet), brassica and even a plot where Babe is hoping to establish every prairie wildflower native to Minnesota.
REJUVENATING A DEER-BROWSED HEDGEROW
Babe’s first order of business was to rescue a hedgerow planting of American plums and Nanking cherries that had been planted over the course of 5 years, with little to nothing to show for it due to repeated deer browse. Click here to see how Plantra Tree Tubes combined with Deer Guard Repellent helped rescue this project.
SOFT MAST FOOD PLOTS GET A FAST START
Next on tap for 2008 was planting 4 new soft mast food plots. Bare root crabapple seedlings planted by the local SWCD got relief from moisture stress & deer browse with an unbeatable combination of woven weed barrier fabric and 5ft Plantra Tree Tubes. Click here to see the results!
JULY 3, 2009 UPDATE
Plantra has once again teamed up with Babe Winkelman to jump start the tree planting projects on his western Minnesota ranch. On tap for 2009: Plantra tree tubes for a long stretch of deer-browsed hedgerow (where 3 to 6 year old trees were still knee high or below), and an oak regeneration project. We'll track the oak project in future gallery. Click here to see the trees tubed on May 20, and for updated photos of treees planted and tubed in 2008.
Click video to see some video footage of the project
Click video to see some video footage of the project
