What Grows Well in Coal Mine Ground?

[gobblergetter]

I hunt reclaimed coal mine ground with briars, sage, honeysuckle, and cat tails that have naturally come up. We've planted close to 5000 trees probably 15 years ago and some of our oaks are just now reaching 4 inches in diameter and 12 ft at best. My question is our trees have a lot of branches on them all the way to the ground. Would you "prune" the branches below waist level to help the tree grow? Or... would that hurt the tree? B/C of the rocky soil, they are growing slower IMO. I'm just trying to figure out what will help them grow better. They provide good cover now for deer but make it difficult to hunt b/c they are so thick (low to the ground) and there are few trees around these thickets to stand hunt.

Also, what types of food plots would grow well in this soil type? I've tried millet and corn and they haven't done well. Sunflowers did really good but that's about it. Its hard to till the soil b/c there are rocks (big rocks) under the surface. I'm kinda stuck on what to do.:rolleyes: Our deer travel to the bean/corn fields to eat but I'm trying to provide something for them on "our" property so they'll stay in there.

[barney]

If you would actually take the time to do that much pruning, it would be easier to just fertilize them, a pound or two of amonium nitrate per/tree, spread under the drip line, would do wonders for them.

[gobblergetter]

drip line? where they rain/dew drips off the leaves to the ground? i'm new to this. How much does ammonium nitrate cost? You get it at the co-op?

[skin_dog1]

drip line is the outer edge of the limbs. that is usually hoe far you'r roots go and where the obtain their moisture and food. I fert my trees with 10-10-10 which is recomended by alot of online resources. I think the rate is 1lb per 10 inches of trunk diameter at chest height, but do a search and you'll get the exact rate.

[Al]

Gobblergetter this is a very intresting thread from Tenn deer about planting Buckwheet in poor and rocky soils especially read BSKs posts.

Do you have any thick cover on your place?
http://www.tndeer.com/tndeertalk/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=652934&page=2&fpart=1

[swamper]

Strip mine ground requires a whole different set of criteria when it comes to habitat!! Most mine land in KY was reclaimed with fescue, sericea lespedeza, multiflora rose, autmn olive, etc...because those invasive species are one of the few things that will grow on it and do well.

Trees have been planted & studied, then planted & studied again....95% of the time with the same results...they don't do squat. Especially our native hardwoods (Oak, hickory, etc...) due mostly to the compaction of the soil during reclaimation. Some success has been seen by first ripping the ground, with a heavy-duty subsoiler, but that requires big equipment (& big pockets). There are 25 year old oak trees in the Western KY coalfield region that are about 10' tall......they stunt due to the compaction and will almost NEVER produce a nut (even the moderately invasive gobbler/sawtooth oaks).

Also, I never prune branches from a tree I'm looking to get mast from.....the more branches, the more flowers, the more fruit/nuts. I like my "crop" trees to look like a big nice park tree!!

Don't fret, it's not all bad news....some shrubs do well on mine ground (wild plum, sumac, serviceberry to name a few), as well as native warm season grasses. If you need trees for future treestands, look at white or loblolly pine; they do well on mine ground, and grow fast. If your mine land is like ours (and it may not be...they vary widely in composition), the pH is not too bad, but you'll need to throw the fertilizer to anything you plant. It usually isn't a bad idea to build up the humus of a food plot by planting winter wheat in the fall and buckwheat in the spring. After a year of this, you can usually get a decent clover stand.

[gobblergetter]

Gobblergetter this is a very intresting thread from Tenn deer about planting Buckwheet in poor and rocky soils especially read BSKs posts.

Do you have any thick cover on your place?
http://www.tndeer.com/tndeertalk/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=652934&page=2&fpart=1

thanks to all for the suggestions. My property is some of the thickest, nastiest stuff I've hunted in parts. Briars are as tall as the trees I planted in some spots. The surrounding farm (i've mentioned in other threads) has began burning a lot of the thick stuff and planting feed strips of winter wheat, millet, and clover. The strips seem to be doing pretty dog'on well to be honest. I'm just not sure how much thick cover I'm willing to get rid of. I like our place to be a safe haven from all the pressure surrounding our place. We have nice locust patches and sparsley spaced cottonwoods (which almost all our stands are in) and our walnut, oak, etc provide small thickets for bedding areas also. We mow paths on our property that I thought of turning into feed strips but haven't really decided what would be best to do.

Can you sow buckwheat by spreader in late feb early march (like you do your yard) and let the seed sink into the ground when it thaws or do you actually have to plant that stuff?

Thanks again for your suggestions.

[longtimegone]

Try Birdsfoot trefoil.