Building a privacy berm?

[Roofer1]

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.

 

[timberland]

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.

 

[BRTreedogs]

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.

 

[Roofer1]

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.

 

[bozeman]

Egyptian wheat is your friend........

 

[wind gypsy]

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.

 

[Carrot Farmer]

#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


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[Roofer1]

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]

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]

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


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[Glendon Mullins]

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????!!!!

 

[doc holiday13]

arborvitae green giant. Grows about 2'-4' depending on all the ideal growing conditions

Green Giant Arborvitae

The Green Giant Arborvitae is a fast-growing evergreen that provides both windbreak and privacy. Choose from our affordable bare-root and potted options, all shipped directly to your front door.

shop.arborday.org

 

[go_deep]

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.

 

[Jimmy]

is that lady topless????!!!!

no wonder he wants a privacy berm

 

[Rich M]

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.