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Trees for riverbottom ground

kelcher

Well-Known Member
What have you guys planed for trees on riverbottom ground that have worked out for you? Ground I am looking at floods ocassionally and the ground is fairly shaded by existing trees. A number of the trees on this ground have been damaged due to storms and I was thinking about planting some good trees to replace them.
 
Silver maple. I have the same land and nothing else really grows. You can get swamp oaks but they don't like a lot of water.
 
Besides what is listed, few others could be willow, poplar, overcup oak, baldcypress. Probably dependent on how much shade there really is for them to succeed. A lot of trees can take advantage of an opening and partial shade, few can handle flooding.
 
Shrubs:
Silky dogwood, buttonbush, elderberry, possibly chokeberry.

Trees:
Mulberry, Pin oak, shingle oak, swamp white oak, shumard oak (maybe depending on how far north you are).

What is growing on the bottom ground already? I'd try those above and they can take a higher moisture content, but not much will grow in shade very well...cept some of those shrubs I listed.

If silver maples are what you have, they may have shaded out everything else and not be an indicator as to what will really grow there. My creek bottom floods quite a bit, but the water goes up and comes down fast. Its nodaway silt and fairly well drained. Walnut, ash, swamp white oak, honey locust, shingle oak, shumard oak, cherrybark oak, elderberry, chokecherry, chokecherry, elderberry, hazelnut, mulberry and a host of others are thriving there even tho is floods occasionally.

Its really going to depend on how quickly the water goes up and comes down for those species I listed.
 
I know the private land conservationists in Missouri do not advocate planting maples for wildlife habitat, not much grows under them and they can take over an area pretty quick, I had a creek bottom that was full of them, killed as many as I could with ringing and tordon and others by hinging and tordon, once light was able to get to the creek bottom ground the undergrowth took off and made it really good for wildlife
 
There is a tree offered by Kelly Tree Farm in Iowa

Swamp Bur Oak hybrid, description fits riverbottom soil.

There are a nice tree
 
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