Building a privacy berm?

Roofer1

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
234
Location
WI
neighbor is selling his field next to my hunting property and I'm considering it. looking for anyone that would have some knowledge on building privacy berms along a county road. would a good place to start be the county? DOT? is there any "gotcha's" that I should look out for before making the investment in the land? generally, looking for some basic knowledge on the process of seeing if it's even possible. if it matters this would be in western WI.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2014
Messages
557
If you have an open field, what about planting a screen instead? lots of food plot companies market egyptian wheat or the like, for quick results and back it up with white spruce and cedars. deer appreciate the cover as a bonus. where in western WI?

we access some of our stands by walking past switchgrass, get in the stand and have deer bedded that we have just walked by, like within 10-15 yds.
 
Joined
Nov 16, 2017
Messages
8,743
Location
Central Oregon
Moving dirt can be pretty expensive.

In Oregon we have some kind of stipulation on how much dirt can be hauled onto or off a personal property a year without getting more involved with paperwork.

My Dad built I giant berm next to the highway, but that was the 90s, used his own equipment, didn’t haul in much dirt, and didn’t give a F.

I’d get the ground bought then look at options.
 
OP
R

Roofer1

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
234
Location
WI
Not sure I've got he patience for trees :), but that was my "option 2". It's in buffalo county so the angle of the drop off from the road, across the field, and too the wood line (where my property starts now) I'm not sure that some of the grasses would work? I've used 6 rows of corn alot in the past on other properties but wanted to get away from doing things on a yearly basis.
 
Joined
Dec 30, 2014
Messages
9,680
I planted rows of spruce trees, starting some hybrid willows too. That is going to take forever to be an effective screen so in the mean time I’m also planting annual sorghum. A more permanent and effective perennial solution would be miscanthus. Miscanthus would be more labor intensive to establish but you won’t have to work on it every year.

This is northwoods whitetail HD plot screen and some Egyptian wheat mixed. The Hd plot screen is a sorghum variety that stands up to wind and snow much better than Egyptian wheat.
A328009A-EBD0-44D5-929B-367B488580BE.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Carrot Farmer

WKR
Classified Approved
Joined
Apr 19, 2020
Messages
945
Location
Central Oregon
#1 check with County Planning to make damn sure you’re not working within the easement.

#2 contact local Soil&Water Conservation District. There may be grant $ to plant filter/erosion/wind breaks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
R

Roofer1

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 13, 2019
Messages
234
Location
WI
Thanks for the input so far. Really wanted to stay away from the annual planting stuff but thinking either way I'll have to use it for at least a year until I do my research on the berm.
 

Burnsie

WKR
Joined
Feb 3, 2017
Messages
306
Location
Illinois
Miscanthus is tall and hearty. It was a big thing around here for awhile. Several farmers/investors were touting it for Bio fuels. Grind it up and pelletize it for heating. Never got off the ground.
 

holder171

FNG
Joined
Sep 27, 2021
Messages
35
Miscanthus is tall and hearty. It was a big thing around here for awhile. Several farmers/investors were touting it for Bio fuels. Grind it up and pelletize it for heating. Never got off the ground.

Still doing the miscanthus here in Iowa city to burn at the power plant. Want to claim it’s efficient even though the have to ship it all to a mill in Wisconsin then ship it all back lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Glendon Mullins

Hillbilly Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
2,403
Location
Highland County Virginia
I planted rows of spruce trees, starting some hybrid willows too. That is going to take forever to be an effective screen so in the mean time I’m also planting annual sorghum. A more permanent and effective grass solution would be miscanthus. Miscanthus would be more labor intensive to establish but you won’t have to work on it every year.

This is northwoods whitetail HD plot screen and some Egyptian wheat mixed. The Hd plot screen is a sorghum variety that stands up to wind and snow much better than Egyptian wheat.
View attachment 778616
is that lady topless????!!!!
 
Joined
Sep 28, 2018
Messages
2,197
Location
VA
arborvitae green giant. Grows about 2'-4' depending on all the ideal growing conditions

 

go_deep

WKR
Joined
Jan 7, 2021
Messages
1,982
My dad wanted a privacy row of trees, he lives just north of you about 100 miles. Found a used tree spade, moved wild pine trees from his property into the strip, bought a few more trees from a neighbor a couple miles up the road. All the trees were 10'-15' tall, one summer, large privacy wall of trees, then he sold the tree spade after he washed it a and painted it for more than what he paid for it, he did have the tractor already.
If you have the trees or could get them cheap, might be able to move some big ones to speed up the process.
 

Rich M

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
5,576
Location
Orlando
I'm in the same boat - we're under contract to buy land in the southeast and everyone can see across the whole thing. Just want some privacy and to keep folks from road hunting it or shooting deer at night.

Researching screens and plan to talk to local nurseries to see what they say. Would like to plant 2 rows of trees/bushes and use that for the screen. I'm okay planting sorghum for 4-5 years but after that would like the trees/bushes to have grown enough to taken over screening the pastures.

Consider your time-frame and run with that. 5 years is nothing if you own the land. Takes 5-10 years for most fruit trees to start producing.

Earthen berm is awesome. You can control height. Need to consider erosion issues and that it will change any natural rainwater sheet flow patterns (might mess up a pond or swampy area). Some govts get picky about that kind of stuff.
 

grfox92

WKR
Joined
Mar 14, 2017
Messages
2,751
Location
NW WY
Kanye West had a dirt privacy berm built along the road outside his ranch in WY. It's still there even though he's gone and it looks un natural, kind of an eyesore.

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk
 

Shepherd

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 13, 2017
Messages
137
Location
Wisconsin
Egyptian wheat is an annual so you'd have to plant it every year, which you don't want to do. I planted a screen this year, with a combination of Egyptian Wheat, which grows really tall (15 feet) in one season then dies. I also planted switchgrass adjacent to it. Switchgrass is a perennial but takes 2 - 3 seasons to get around 10-12 feet tall and you need to mow it once or twice in the first few years. But after 3 years it should be a really good screen that will come up year after year. Not sure if this would be OK for you but its an option. I'm in Western Wisconsin as well - near La Crosse.
 
Top