NOT FOR SOIL BUILDING! Has anyone ever let it go through winter. If so, will it stand through the winter? Would it create bedding area for deer?

I don't know exactly when this was taken other than it was this past season. I'm thinking sometime around December. The stuff in the back left and right side of the pic is sunn hemp. It looked like that throughout the season. They definitely traveled through it, but I do not think they bedded in it.

Hey CNC...after posting this pic, I got to thinking. We used the sunn hemp as a buffer/barrier to close in this spot. Around the end of January we had to hog it to plant trees. The areas that were in sunn hemp and are now planted pines are now 100% dog fennel. Kinda interesting based on what is believed that sunn hemp can do from a soil standpoint.

I planted about a half acre of sun hemp this summer, got a great stand and the deer mowed it to the ground and thats where it stayed. Never had a chance. How do you get the deer to leave it alone long enough for it to get that tall?

Yea, guess the bedding is dependent on what else they have to bed in. Where I'm thinking is large hardwoods. Sure is pretty but not so good for deer. Would like to produce an area that I could cut every spring about a foot high. Let it grow all summer. Maybe put sunn hemp in it to help with cover. By cutting every spring it will always remain a thicket instead of trees taking over.

It’s something to do with the soil condition that has been created. A condition has been created that’s favorable for the dog fennel to thrive….When that condition has been created in excess then the response comes in excess. I think from mine and others experience that nitrogen is a part of it with dog fennel. I think its responding to an increase in soil nitrogen. I also think that the microbial community is likely playing a role somehow too. The reason I think that is because I’ve been using a good bit of N for years now to try and push out enough winter grain growth to keep up with my high deer density. It’s only been in the last couple years that dog fennel has suddenly boomed. There was another factor at play beside just the N….I think it may have been the amount of fungi present. In the beginning I was likely bacterially dominated and now I’ve swung to a higher make up of fungi…..I think maybe the dog fennel is responding to that as well. If this is true though then the reason you saw it with the sunn hemp I think is likely the N that its returning combined with the type of biomass being returned. Sunn hemp is going to have a really woody stem and likely promote more fungi. These are just educated guesses though so take it with a grain of salt.

I think some years are just better for dog fennel. This past year was a particularly good one for it. I hate that stuff and it seemed to be just about everywhere. I can find no redeeming quality for it

No doubt. I see WAY more fawns in dog fennel than anywhere else. BUT, that's a skewed view because 1). I'm bush hogging the dog fennel(not my fields) and 2). It's the premier cover in that area.

My plan is incorporating sunn hemp in my plots this year for soil building and weed control. But after reading on it sounds like it had potential for cover due to fast, high growth and drought tolerant if it will stand all winter. At least small dose mixed with the dog fennel. Switch grass I've very little growth success.

jwalker.......We had about 4 acres planted in that area. Our deer really didn't browse it too much. Maybe because it was the first time we had planted it...not sure? We did plant it at a pretty high rate and it was THICK, to the point we felt like we needed to hog lanes in it. It was cool to see the deer use the lanes we cut. Planted it on 6/15.

10-4...kinda what i was thinking with the N coming from cutting the hemp.