Simple Shrub Cover

Jeremiah Brooks and Lydia Bronner live on a property south of Kansas City, Missouri, and recently spent an afternoon putting a mixture of shrubs on what used to be a pasture. Their property is situated a mile from a public hunting area that is intensively managed for quail and it’s in a priority geography for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW). The Working Lands for Wildlife partnership supports the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's premier approach for conserving America's working lands to benefit people, wildlife, and rural communities.

Their land is a mixture of wood lots, a pond and old grazing pastures which they are improving using the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). They hope to create additional habitat that quail from neighboring properties can expand to.

While other conservation practices such as prescribed fire can be intimidating and may require support and training, creating good shrub cover is relatively simple and affordable. With basic equipment, a little know how and some good shovel work, putting woody plants in the right places can help make sure quail have a safe haven.

“Through EQIP they will be planting monarch habitat that will also act as brooding habitat for quail and turkey, native grass for nesting cover for quail and turkey, as well as bedding cover for deer,” says Drew Summers, Quail Forever farm bill biologist. “They have planted native shrubs and completed edge feathering for woody cover for quail. This shrub habitat will also provide screening for deer."

To prepare the site for planting, they used a backpack sprayer and applied an herbicide to kill the cool season grass that dominated the pasture. This was followed up with a cover-crop seeding of rye grass to help keep down weed growth.

From there, the process was very simple. They marked off the plot using flags then hand planted a mixture of grey dogwood, sumac and false indigo bush. While it is expected that some of the shrubs in the planting won’t be successful, once the plot is established, it will fill in and self seed.

Once well established, this patch of woody cover will draw in insects which quail chicks and turkey poults rely on to survive the spring, additional forage in the fall and protection from both avian and mammalian predators. Positioning these plantings close to Monarch plantings or other grassland habitat is recipe for successful quail nesting and brood rearing.  

Rural landscapes have often been converted to large, tilled crop fields bordered by mowed fence rows or tree lines with no understory. The brushy mosaic of habitat that Jeremiah and Lydia are creating on their property not only benefits quail. It helps pollinators, turkeys, deer, small game and their soil.

United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA NRCS) and Quail Forever’s conservation staff are available to help landowners create successful conservation plans for their property. Whether it’s establishing shrub cover or incorporating grazing practices that help quail and protect pastures during drought, there is technical and financial assistance available to make those management goals a reality. Learn more by visiting an NRCS service center or contacting a local Quail Forever biologist.