Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat W.H.I.P. development

We are entering another facet and phase of our project, and I want to share the steps as we proceed. Now that the pond has been constructed and coming along nicely, there are open areas within the pondsite that now need to be developed with vegetation. This plan marries up well with a couple of other open areas on the property with similar needs.
This entire 44 ac project is based on creating a nature preserve (of sorts), so the projected development decisions are all rooted therein. We are largely timber; about 7 ac of it removed to create the pondsite and another 3 ac of existing meadow. The plan for the immediate future is to preserve the balance of the timber. Subtract the 5 ac pond and this leaves about 5 ac of open area in 3 different zones that are basically devoid of vegetation. It is this 5 ac that will be developed using the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program, or WHIP.
At this point, it might be best for me to cut/paste some previous posts about this plan...
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Dec 2005, Bski post:
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Ed Eitel response:
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Norm Kopecky adds:
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Bski responds:
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Feb 2006, Bski updates:
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Ed Eitel responds:
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Norm Kopecky adds:
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Bski adds:
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There are other support posts within the thread that I extracted the above quotes from; go here for those details.
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Well, we have excercised patience and the time has come. It's spring 2007 and we have taken the required steps to intitiate the desired vegetation development. I will use the next posts within this thread to describe the steps that secured the WHIP funding and subsequent posts as we execute the plan. This is a TINY project comparatively; it will be easy to document. My goal is to share the progress, good and bad, and help others with similar goals.

Good stuff Brettski. Scrubland and shallow water are some of the best wildlife habitat, even if they are some of the least valuable land for the owner.

One thing I didn't see mentioned was about the *quality* of individual trees in the forest. Mature and semi-mature forest can be excellent wildlife habitat depending on what types of trees and shrubs are there. Too many forest stands are "sterile" due to having too few wildlife friendly trees. Mast producing trees and trees that are food sources are highly valuable for wildlife. We are talking Oaks, beech, walnut, dogwoods (berries), hickory, etc. and especially native fruits such as Pawpaw, persimmon, blackberry, black cherry, etc. Alot of small trees and shrubs like Devil's Walking Stick, hazelnut, hawthorne, etc have high wildlife value for their fruit or berries ... but they have to have some sunlight to thrive and will die or not fruit under the canopy of mature forest. Pines are considered by some to be a component of sterile woods, but they do have value as windbreak/shelter in increment weather and animals do eat the pine nuts. By having a wide variety of species & sizes interspersed with some scrub/shrubs you can provide food for most or all year on a rotating basis.

You might consider "releasing" some of the high value trees you find (such as oaks) by removing competing trees directly around them.

Den trees (trees with holes or cavities in them), snags (trees or stumps with broken branches still connected), fallen logs, and rock piles are also very valuable for wildlife. This is probably another discussion ... but I'm a proponent of native only. If I find any invasive or non-native species their dead. Awesome and very interesting project you have there at Liberty.

Eric

Hey, Eric...as always, thanks for the input and support.
I'm gonna use the quik-referral option on this one by directing you here .
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The canopy is so dang dense that very little grows below. The only vegetation within the timber is briar and stickers. This is why the state biologist was pushing "daylighting" in areas to allow introduction of shrubs and grasses. It's on my list, but pretty far down right now. We have a pretty full plate right now with the projects at hand.

wow, that link took me to a bird sanctuary. I never remember hearing birds before, but maybe because my sound is usually turned off.

Brettski:

Are you thinking of girdling to open canopy areas with less cutting and tree-drop danger? The resulting dead hulks would probably be good habitat for woodpeckers, owls, etc.

Theo,
I had not considered girdling, although it would be an option. Working with timber is an entirely new facet of my exposure; I won't make any major moves until I am totally comfortable with not only the decisions, but the ramifications. We got very lucky in securing this little patch at a price that we could afford. It might be my only shot at the duck in my lifetime at a project like this; I can't screw up. Being knee deep in the other projects will make the trees wait awhile; this is OK. When the time does come, I'll invite you to bring over your girdle and we'll see how it looks on a big ol' sycamore. :p
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WRT providing habitat for woodpeckers and owls, we have that covered already. There is a patch of about 4 acres that is predominantly Black Locust. It was planted as 1000 seedlings in 1939 by the previous owner's father as erosion control. It has been allowed to grow in naturally, and appears to have never been managed. There is PLENTY of live and dead trees in this area, and tons of excavated trunk holes. It is WP heaven. We have ample supply of Hairy, Red-bellied, and Downy woodpeckers darting thru the woods and dancing up and down the tree trunks. The whoop of the Pileated WP's echoes all day long....
What I have NOT yet seen (or heard) is an owl, but we have not been there much at dusk, and never during the night.

I want to spend a post describing the steps I had to take to get involved with the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). This link will take you to the specific details. I just want to summarize what I went thru to get to the point of program approval; where I am right now.
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I don't know how this will translate to other areas of the U.S. I have read many posts on this forum from the PB brethren about lousy encounters with the NRCS. I have also read about some good stories. Mine is one of the good ones.
I called our NRCS agent, a nice young guy named Bill. He came out to the property and walked it with me right after we cleared the timber for the pondsite. I gave him a key to the gate and told him to use it anytime he needed or wanted. (in fact, he came back a few days later by himself and took the GPS readings for our new 2000 ft driveway and the pondsite clearing and transferred them to an aerial strip map and forwarded the copy to me as a PDF and JPEG). Anyway, during our first meeting, we walked the property and I shared my visions of a nature preserve with him. It became very apparaent that my thought process coincided with the NRCS thought process as he started throwing out different ideas to promote my vision. My posts above detail the peaks and valleys of my progress. As much as I wanted to get it started right away, Bill carefully and diplomatically pulled back my reigns to wait until the pond was done. Now, looking back, his posture was a no-brainer...glad I listened to him.
The funding for WHIP gets distributed to the states sometime in January or February. The idea is to have most of your applications in place BEFORE or right at when this occurs. That's not to say that you can't walk in later in the spring. It all depends on how much money has been appropriated and how much is left when you decide to apply.
Last fall, Bill sent us over to the FSA office to register the property. We had to send copies of the property title and pinpoint the location within the county and section so the FSA office could find it easily on their maps. We signed a couple of papers and that was that. It all worked over the phone and through the mail. Cake!
Shortly thereafter, Bill sends us some more documents that are from the NRCS office. We are now getting into some of the contractual formalities, but it is what it is. You read thru 10 or 15 sheets of obligations and commitment verbiage, realize that you're just one more WHIP player that can either take it or leave it, then you sign in 3 different places and mail them back. We'll take it!
Then, late fall, Bill came out. The pond has now been complete for a couple of months and NOW I am ready to get WHIP serious. Bill, D-ski, and I walk the property one more time, except this time he has a clipboard and is taking a bunch of notes as walk from zone to zone within the project. We are reiterating alot of what we have already talked about for vegetation improvements, but now it is with a tone of commitment. It was fun. I would share something like "I want to be able to look out over this 5 ac pond and see it totally surrounded by natural grasses and wildflowers that disappear into the timber that frames it". he would approve, then note that we may want to forego use of the taller grasses in this area as they will diminish the appearance of the forbes (wildflowers). We would give and take this "I have a dream" and "here's how we can make it better" exchange. Like I said, it was kinda fun.
Then, we didn't hear much of anything into January. I called him, just to stay on top of it. He is waiting for the funding and guidelines for the current year to arrive before he starts sewing up the WHIP contracts for final approval. Finally, in late February, he emails me a proposal that outlines the total amounts of each type of improvement, spoken in WHIP-ese, and the areas on our parcel where they will be executed. At the end of this 3 page document, the total acreages of each type of devopment is tallied with the nominal costs that the USDA figures it would cost. Then, 75% of these total costs is calculated as the government's proposal to pay me when I complete their installation. I look it over and call Bill to tweak a few items and add an area that he overlooked. He re-calculates and emails me the final contract for review and signing. It looks good. A 5 year commitment by us to execute and maintain the proposed improvements, and in return the govt pays for 75%. Now, PLEASE UNDERSTAND: The cost figures are the bare minimum nominal costs, likely based on averages. We ain't talking thousands and thousands of dollars, here. If the project was big enough, I s'pose it would be thousands. For our little project, they are offering $1700. To get a better understanding, go to that WHIP link above and drill down to the costs per acre for the different vegetative development types. You'll see what I mean. The way I see it, I was gonna do this stuff anyway...another $1700 can't hurt.
I do have a substantial advantage, and this is how life goes when the sun is shining. One of our neighbors is a farmer and is the nicest guy you would want to have for a neighbor. He is also the caretaker for a very large private hunting preserve. He does all their planting and often has the seed drill in his barn from "Pheasants Forever". He has all the equipment, likes our project, and likes D-ski and B-ski. CLICK!
OK, back to the WHIP contract stuff. About the 2nd week of March I get another email from Bill, the NRCS agent. We're in! He has sent a message to Bob, the state wildlife biologist, to review the plan and submit suggestions for the types of specific plants. Bill says that he can or won't remain involved...it's up to us. A couple of weeks later, Bill emails me another aerial map with the pondsite and driveway, but now it has all the areas of improvement hi-lited and described. Oh yeah, I talked him into GPS locating the walking trails we have thru the woods. They're on the map, too. I told ya; our NRCS guy is a keeper!
We are right now waiting on the state bio's recommendations. I will post the aerial maps soon. In the meantime, I hope Ed Eitel or some of you other pro's will add some commentary to fill in my blanks or adjust my explanations to clarify.
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Final summary: If you are willing to accept the terms of a 5 year commitment to not dig it back up , you should DEFINITELY consider the WHIP program for wildlife habitat improvement.

Gee………. B-ski, I don’t know if I could add much more.

I might add some of the pros and cons of working with the government.

Pros
• Possible funding assistance to 75% of project average cost (sometimes lower)
• You might get some good ideas and advice
• Your project may be completed quicker, rather than trying to do it all yourself over an extended time

Cons
• Dealing with a government bureaucracy
• You are now in the government system and NOT anonymous
• You will pay some taxes on the funds received. (It is taxable income)

I have on occasion heard of cost / share dollars being referred to as welfare.
Couldn’t be further from the truth! Conservation type dollars are many times used to spur or jump start the economy. Federal, State, County and local economies reap the rewards of conservation dollars through increased revenues from taxes, employment, fuel, equipment, etc. etc. Usually a win-win situation. I do know that some economists have calculated the benefit to cost ratio of Conservation Programs as high as 4:1!

I have personally participated in the WHIP Program (one time).
We built one of our ponds, fencing and tree plantings using WHIP to the tune of about $11,000. When you pay the dirt Contractor for his labor, fuel and machinery, local farm ranch store for fencing materials, Conservation District for trees and planting labor you can see that sometimes suppressed local farm/ranch economies can benefit. One dollar may turn over several times.

You might also note the third letter in the WHIP acronym. “I” stands for incentive…….The Program is supposed to spur your interest in natural resources conservation, now and into the future with or without government incentives.

Yes it is a laborious, drawn out procedure to acquire or attempt to acquire government cost share assistance dollars. You will have to weigh that decision on your own.

Good luck!
Ed

Finally...I was able to get my NRCS agent to send me a JPEG copy of my site map (he sent me a PDF that had alot of identifying info on it and I couldn't clean it up). Here ya go.



He took a whole bunch of GPS waypoints and transferred it to the aerial maps that he had already developed. This is cool stuff; very motivational.
The plan is technically spread out to allow 2 years for application. This is because we are going to plant trees and shrubs in areas that will also be planted with warm and cool season native grasses and forbs (flowers). He could not get the guv to go for the whole shot at one time (technicality), so he split it up and got the green light. In essence, we will plant all the grasses and forbs spring of '07 (right away). Then, spring '08 we will plug in the trees and shrubs we want in the areas we want that were planted with grasses/forbs the prior year. He said that if we knocked out the trees and shrubs this fall, he could get it paid out. As anxious as I am to get stuff going, I will continue to exercise patience and exhaustion in making these development decisions. I can see the trees and shrubs holding until spring '08...we'll see how it and I play out.
The entire pond perimeter is showing warm season grasses and forbs. Actually, the NE section (wetland) and the east end (noted as cleared because it the building site) are a map error and will not be planted. The rest of it, tho, is right on the money.
Field 1 will be filled with warm season grasses and forbs; then a windbreak across the open north end of this meadow area. The windbreak will consist of 3 rows of Norway Spruce and one (maybe 2) rows of shrubs.
Field 2 (this is the 600 ft long meadow that the driveway begins on, eventually disappearing into a wall of tall timber) This area will be filled with warm season grasses and forbs. The driveway will be flanked by a continuous row of shrubs at each side. The balance of the grass/forb meadow will be planted and filled with random placement of Norway Spruce.
The Pond the entire orange hashmarks will be the same warm season grasses and forbs blend used in Field 1 and 2 above. There are three areas (blue/orange hashmarks) that will receive cool season grasses this year and will be overplanted with shrubs next year. These 3 areas are: NW zone = a damp area that is the confluence of 6 small draws into one large draw that we cleared for exactly this reason...grasses and shrubs. SW zone = a drier area that is the bottom 1/3 of the backside of the dam. It sees all the runoff from the top of the 350' wide dam. S zone = a clearing we created that is the emergency spillway area. It is a drier area, also, but fairly flat and holds shallow puddles of water longer than other areas. Anyway, all these zones get the cools and shrubs.
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OK, what's the seed blend?
The state biologist came up with recommendations. To me, they seemed fine. Heck, I have no idea what most of this stuff is anyway. He actually printed up a 4 page instruction packet that includes the vegetation descriptions, their advantages and application, and lbs per acre. He also points out that these are the min recommendations. They are also the maximum allowable for 75% reimbursement. I am invited to add to them as much as I desire within practicality, at my own expense. We are also given tons of latitude on species and mixes, so long as we use a min of certain amounts of veg. types (ie; a blend of at least 3 warm season grasses). The state provides a very long list of players and their pros/cons.
My NRCS guy gets this letter and we go over it a little. He tweaks some of the warm grasses to keep them shorter so my forbs don't get overun. He knows that I am going for the maximum wildflower effect. Then, I get this list of seed vendors in the region. One of them is pretty convenient for location and it winds up that the grass/forb expert is an NRCS alumni that my local NRCS guy knows, respects, and tells me "whatever he says, goes".
Here is where we wound up.
The cool season grasses (the 3 smaller zones at areas around the pond) will be Orchardgrass, Timothy, Red Clover, and Yellow Sweet Clover.
The warm season grasses (the pond perimeter and 2 fields) will be Little Blue Stem, Virginia Wild Rye, and Switchgrass.
The forbs (all the same areas as the warms noted above) will be: Partridge Pea, Purple Coneflower, Black-eyed Susan, Grey Headed Coneflower, Illinois Bundleflower, Upright Coneflower, Plains Coreopsis, Mexican Red Hat, Blanket Flower, Butterfly Weed, New England Aster, Purple Prairie Clover, Shasta Daisy, Indian Blanket, Cosmos Sensation mix, Cosmos Dazzler (crimson), Ox Eye Sunflower.
The seed guy is really into it. He gets me going; good for sales, I'm sure. But, he also warns me to be vewy, vewy patient. He says that most of it is perennial and some of those may take 1 - 2 years before we actually see blooms. There a couple of annuals that will have to hold us through until then. The State bio plans for 3/4 lb per acre; we can receive 75% compensation at this level. My farmer pal, who is prep'ing the areas and planting them with the drill, says that he up's it to 1 lb per acre. I tell the seed guy that wildflowers are the goal; I want major league wildflowers. I want a wide palette of water that runs to a border of wildflower color that runs into the thick green timber that surrounds it all. He up's the forbs to 2.5 lbs per acre. My NRCS guy says that it is indeed alot of flower seed, but he knows what I want and wholly approves.
The seed bill Well, it fit in about 1/4 of my total trunk space of a mid-size sedan. It cost $950 Crikeys!

I thought it might be time for a performance update.
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All the seed was planted with the drill shortly after I delivered it to our farmer pal, Vernon, on the third week of May. He sprayed all the areas of planting with Round-up about a week earlier. This is all very new to me, so for those of similar background, here's a pic of what the soil looks like after planting with a drill.


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For all the rain we had last fall, winter, and early spring, it seems the balance of this year will be just the opposite. We have received very little rain since planting. Not only has the pond level receded, but D-ski and I were getting nervous about losing our seed investment. Vernon assured us to be patient; that it is not lost.
Well, it's the beginning of August; about 10 weeks later. We have gotten some intermittent rains, though nothing to rave about. We did start to see some flower plants (no blooms) about 6 - 7 weeks in. Vernon was concerned about the grasses coming in. The 2 larger planting zones (field #1 & #2) were being over-run with foxtail. They have both been mowed twice, this last time to catch them before they went to seed. It bugged us to mow down our first emerging flower blooms, but they seemed to rebound well.
Today, the precip continues to be slight. The areas that receive all-day sun are no doubt the best producers. Norm Kopecky warned of the partial shade areas. He is correct. Very little growth.
We are having some fun, tho, trying to identify these different plants as they emerge. It seems that every weekend, when we return, a new unusual plant stem is pushing upward as we try to decide if it's just another weed, or what. The following pics are selective. They are taken in the better (sunny) zones. We are seeing blooms of well less than half of the flower species that we planted. We continue to identify new plants, so the anticipation of new blooms is kinda cool.
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Field #2, the long narrow driveway entrance. Tree Swallows made this one their home.

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At the dam. Although sparse, it is better than the pic exhibits.

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the perimeter road as it winds off to the left and across the dam

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Oh yeah, and the butterfly action is way up.

Love those colors !! It reminds one that there is an artist at work . Dirt , seed , sun , water and wow a pallet of colors to behold.

Beautiful!

Beautiful. If you need water, dont forget you have a nearly full pond. Get a pump, water hose and sprinkler and water around that dam. About not seeing nearly all the varieties, as they said, perennials will not bloom this year.

Beautiful! I'm going to be doing the same thing here shortly.

good show and update brettski, i enjoyed that.
now yer sure all them flowers is legal.....none of those funny poppies in there?

Dave...
To be sure, I UPS'd all the seeds to Sunil for examination for legal purity. He has assured me that these will be the best flower tops the current market offers.

One more update on the W.H.I.P. project...
I will be referring to the aerial map above.
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Field #2 came in pretty good with forbes (flowers)by the end of August, but the grasses were very slow to nothing. About September, the foxtail grasses (not a planted grass) came in with a vengeance and choked just about everything out. The taller flowers continued, although minimized.
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Field #1 was a total bust. Nothing but foxtail from day one. I'll bet that no more than 3 or 4 dozen forbe plants actually made it thru and bloomed.
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The pond perimeter (orange hashmarks) came in pretty good with forbes and some minimal warm grasses, but only if it was an area that got maximum sun thru the day. All the perimeter on the south side of the pond is mostly shaded alot of the day. Some forbes bloomed and some warm grasses also bloomed.
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The area behind the dam (noted as the .7 ac zone) came in the best. It was well populated with forbes and the warm grasses showed a decent start near the end of summer/early fall.
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The 3 areas with both orange and blue hashmarks were all areas planted with cool grasses, yellow clover, and red clover. The area behind the dam (part of the .7 ac zone) came in well. The other 2 zones are struggling, but growing.
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Our NRCS agent contacted us about 2 months ago to initiate the final paperwork to trigger the government disbursement. I told him that I feared that he would also be disappointed with the growth performance and limit the payout. He said that my complaints about the growth are normal; he hears it all the time for first-timers like me. He said that it is normal for foxtail to over-run everything, adding that foxtail is also a good habitat anyway. He said that the 2nd year will be better and the third year will be very different. He said that alot of the grass seeds will not germinate for 2 or sometimes 3 years.
He collected copies of my receipts for seed, equipment rental (the NRCS seed drill; $40 for my project), and the labor costs I paid to have our farmer pal prepare and seed. He also forwarded a couple of documents to update and verify our checking account. About 6 weeks later, a deposit was made into our account for the contract $660.
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To backtrack a little, the NRCS deal is to cover 75% of the total costs to make this type of a WHIP project happen. This is based on the entry level and minimum amount of seed and preparation. That calc's to 100% = $880. I knew that I was gonna go WAY past that because I increased the forbes considerably and also sprayed all zones with Round-up. Anyway, shooting from the hip cuz I'm not gonna tally all the details, I think we spent around $1500 of our cash to get it done the way WE wanted. The gov kicked back $660, so we actually spent $840. (it should also be noted that Ed Eitel says that this $660 is taxable, so I will lose a little more at tax time).
EDIT; Our WHIP project is being developed in 2 phases; 2007 and 2008. The 2008 phase will include trees and shrubs. That second WHIP co-pay will be about $1000 when the work is completed.-
Do we regret it? NAH! I can't levy any judgement for at least one more growing season. I will say, tho, that having the dam and field #2 (our driveway entrance) come in so good sure helps me to see that there is hope.
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(the .7 ac behind the dam; the cool grasses and clover are starting further down the slope at the edge of the woods)

B'ski that one pic is worth the effort. Beautiful. I learned with our place that small steps over time pay big dividends.

Time to start gettin' ready for Phase II
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Last year was the grasses (warm and cool) and wildflowers (perennial and annual). This spring '08 is the trees and bushes. Another look at the plan map:

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Field 2 will receive bushes along each side of the driveway (shown on map as lane) and the balance of the area will be randomly planted with Norway Spruce. This same zone was planted with warm grasses and wildflowers last spring.
The 3 smaller areas around the pond on the western half (cross-hatched with blue/orange, comprised of a total .7 ac) will receive bushes. These exact same zones were planted with cool season grasses and clover last spring.
The last zone is Field 1 where a shelterbelt (windbreak) of Norway Spruce and bushes will be planted across a 250ft opening to the field. The NRCS is looking for 3 rows of trees min with 1 row of bushes min.
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For most of you that have done this stuff, this small amount of acreage to be planted is miniscule. I agree. I don't believe that I am going to even bother to contact somebody to ask them to quote the job. I'll probably get hung up on. Besides, it just dawned on me that the clock is ticking for placing firm orders for stock this spring and I don't want to goof around and blow it. So...I'm thinking it's looking like a Bski-Dski leather glove job. Assuming that this is how it's gonna play out, what kind of tree/bush planting tips can you old pro's share with a city boy and his shovel? (or planting spud?)
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The second part of this search for answers is the types of bushes to select. We want to benefit wildlife, with a focus on birds. Field 1 and 2 will receive good amounts of sun thru the day. The 3 smaller zones around the pond are a bit more sheltered by trees, so the sun amount will be more limited (but surely not all-day shade). I am wide open on the bushes. They will be allowed to grow wild, with very little maintenance.

How big are the Norway Spruce seedlings you are thinking of planting? Little ones about 2 feet tall just take a single shovel notch in the ground, drop all the roots in, and close with a foot print. Carrying all the seedlings around will take longer than planting them.

Having put in 6-7 varieties of evergreens, I have found Norways to be fairly safe from deer predation (compared to White Pine, which is like candy for whitetails). However, deer will nibble on spruce in the lean months of the year (right about now). So if you can put some wire (or other) deer shields around small Norway saplings, at least before next Winter, it will improve their chances.

Once a spruce hits 6 feet tall or so, I consider them deer-proof except for possible use as rubs in the Fall. Since you have a lot of woods, the deer may have no special reason to bother the spruce this way.

P.S. Have you considered any small crab apple type trees? I think they are nice for wildlife. I don't know any species info - we just have them as volunteers.

I like that idea Theo. We use crabapple , Chickasaw plums and honeysuckle and blackberry on wire fences (like long low trellis). We also use small flowering trees like dogwood and redbud for color. Another good large bush is rhododendron (here azalea). I know they will grow in Minn (link) http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG2386.html here is Ill http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/shrubselector/detail_plant.cfm?PlantID=422

I must be some kinda dope. I don't know what I was thinkin'. I've been down this road more than once, yet I let it slip right by me. I didn't pre-order any of the planting stock that I need for this spring's WHIP plase II. I should have placed those orders last October...but I didn't. Yeah, I've been bustin' my butt straight thru the winter with other projects at the pond (my little shed/shelter), but that's no excuse.
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So, I got busy yesterday and made phone calls.
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Here is my estimate for the scope of work. We need to plant 400 Norway Spruce seedlings and 1200 shrubs of various types. This will occur, divided amongst the 5 planting zones on the map above. Whew...that's alot of planting. Since I am absentee and we don't yet have a place to stay overnight (maybe soon with the shed/shelter?), I owe it to my hard workin' wife to see what it might cost to pay someone to do for us. I reviewed the NRCS-supplied list of state foresters, narrowed the list to services that are closest, and called the one guy with the best match of credentials to our needs. He says he specializes in smaller projects like ours. He says he does them by hand; manually. After reviewing our maps and scope of work, he shot from the hip; $2500 - $3000 to do the work and return for maintenance round up applications. WHOA! I told him the flat-out truth...it's not in the budget. He spent alot of time discussing the project and offered some alternatives for knocking down the price, but I just can't see it happening. So...I called my neighbor farmer pal that has been my strongest support and ally. He is the guy that did all our grass/forbes planting last spring. He was shocked by the price, also. He manages a very large private hunting preserve in the area. He said that he just had a guy out recently to plant a bunch of seedling trees, and he used a mechanical planter. He couldn't remember the exact volume in a day, but it was alot. He is going to reach out to see if the planter is available. I think it has something to do with Pheasants Forever; not sure.
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What he did mention, and that is my curiosity, is that he wasn't sure if the planter would also plant shrub seedlings. He thought it would, but was only familiar with the tree planting ability. Heck...it's gotta plant shrubs, too....right? If not, and we have to plant 1200 seedling shrubs with a dibble bar, I'm gonna have to hide all the frying pans in the house or start wearing a helmet.
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(EDIT) Jeesh....I just did it again! I forgot to 'splain the seedling ordering issue. None of the state nurseries in our region are sitting on strong inventory of what we need. I might have to piece-meal from a couple different sources, and even then, might not get the shrub selection we want. Fortunately, the Norway Spruce inventory is still available. I have a call into our NRCS guy to have him explain the details of the timing on the WHIP thing. I need to know if I can bail out for this year and try again next year. I'm pretty sure that my committment, which is tied to our beginning last year, has got to be executed this year. Assuming this to be the case, I have a number of contingencies to line up...and quick! Jeesh....I really hope that we can get that mechanical planter this spring! I think I'm going to go ahead and order all the seedlings we need on Monday (it's Saturday am right now). This way, I can lock them in while we negotiate lining up the planting. If it completely falls apart, I should be able to call these state nurseries back and cancel the order, providing I do it early and timely.

Well, I may have pulled this one outta the fire, but that doesn't cover up my lazy dopiness.
I have managed to conjure up the required seedlings to meet our original WHIP commitment. They are being gathered from 3 different state nurseries. Then, the big decision on who is going to plant them. As much as I want to believe that D-ski and I can handle it, I gotta be a bit more realistic. We have a whole bunch of projects on the radar right now and planting 1200 seedlings just doesn't fit. So....I got on-line and started perusing the potential foresters. I narrowed it down to about 6 that were reasonably close in proximity to the project. Then, the list self-pruned as 4 foresters saw no potential for such a tiny job. I got 2 bids; both were within $100 of each other, so that kinda made me feel a little better (not sure why...just did). I weighed out some of the tangible pros and cons of each guy, picked one out, and hired him.
The seedlings are due in this week, so the planting should be pretty darned quick. This wet midwest weather ain't helpin' none.
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The decisions for seedling planting are as follows:

• Line each side of the 600 feet of entrance driveway (open, across a meadow) with American Plum and Hazelnut shrubs. Fill in the balance of the open meadow with Norway Spruce.
• Plant a 250 ft long shelterbelt across the other 1.75 ac meadow. The shelterbelt will be 3 rows of Norway Spruce and 1 - 2 rows of Chokeberry. The balance of this meadow will remain in native grasses and wildflowers.
• The area below the back side of the pond dam + 2 pockets around the pond perimeter will be planted with a random mix of Redozier Dogwood, Silky Dogwood, Nannyberry, Ninebark, and Spicebush.

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Then, let the deer buffet begin! (God, I hope I'm wrong)

When you get widely varying quotes, I think you worry about either paying way too much or getting a substandard job.


The spicebush should be fine. We have tons of them and tons of deer and the latter never bother the former.

I think the Norway Spruce should come through it pretty good as well.

P.S. This is a good time of the year when deer have many other alternatives to eating seedlings. You may not lose many until the tail end of next Winter.

That area behind the dam is going to be outstanding !! I hope you are going to have some open areas for the flowers.