Re-Forestation and Hedgerow Restoration on aWorking Cattle Farm
By Seth Young
Trees serve many purposes on a cattle farm. For the livestock, they provide shade during the hot summer months, reducing heat stress, and they provide shelter from wind and rain during the cold winter months. For the greater ecology, trees provide food and shelter for hundreds of species of bird and mammal wildlife and act as a nutrient buffer to protect waterways from runoff. They have the ability to soak up nutrients from cattle manure and prevent it from flowing into neighboring waterways. Here on Hedgeapple Farm, located along the beautiful Monocacy River and within the Chesapeake watershed, minimizing runoff is extremely important to the regeneration and recovery of the Bay. The Monocacy River is also part of the Potomac River watershed, which provides over 5 million people with drinking water.
To help replace lost trees and establish new fencerows and shelter, Hedgeapple Farm worked with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to plant 800 trees in the fall of 2024 and another 1,600 trees in the spring of 2025. Those trees are carefully selected for the immediate environment in which they were planted (moist bottomland vs. well-drained uplands) and for the needs of a working cattle farm.
Where were the Trees planted?
Similar to other areas across the Mid-Atlantic, Hedgeapple Farm lost significant numbers of American Elm and Ash trees since the 1970s as a result of pests and disease, leaving large gaps in what were once thick stands of forest and long stretches of hedgerow. Many of the hedgerows were dominated by Ash and these suffered more than 90% loss over the past decade as the Ash Beetle killed off these trees.
Many other fields that had transitioned years ago from row crops to pasture had very limited shade for livestock and were targeted for the establishment of new hedgerows. Thick lines of trees were planted along many of the fences, and swampy, low-lying areas had numerous riparian species added. To promote other wildlife, fruit bearing trees such as Serviceberry, Pawpaw, and Persimmon were planted across the farm to provide food for turkeys, whitetail deer, foxes, and numerous other species that call Hedgeapple Farm home.
What type of trees were Planted?
The trees planted are all species native to central Maryland. Those areas located in floodplains along the Monocacy River were planted with riparian species, including Sycamores, Red and Silver Maples, Red and Swamp Oaks, River Birch, Black Gum Trees, and Red Cedars, all of which were planted in the fall of 2024. In the spring of 2025, we planted Alder, Willow Oaks, Winterberry, Service Berry, Red Osier Dogwood, Tulip Poplar, American Persimmon, Pawpaw, and Hawthorn in the remaining low-lying areas. The areas that tended to be the wettest received the Sycamores, River Birch, Alder, Black Gum, and Swamp Oak, which take up large amounts of water and aid in drying those areas. Wet ground in the floodplain is especially prone to compaction, so there are times when cattle cannot otherwise typically graze these pastures for weeks. The trees we planted will help to stabilize and dry out the soil, allowing us to graze more land throughout the year. This helps improve the health of the pastures with increased rotation keeping down weeds and undesirable species.
There were a few upland areas where a different set of trees were planted. The Maples, Red Oaks, and Cedars will languish and die in wet soil and standing water but will thrive in upland conditions, providing shade and shelter for decades into the future.
When were the Trees planted?
Planting the trees in the fall is ideal, as the cooler air and warm soil encourage the trees to put energy into growing the roots, allowing them to be better prepared for winter and ready to grow rapidly in the spring.
The spring planting places more stress on the trees because the young trees require greater supplies of water in the warmer temperatures, and there is not always enough rain during the spring months to sustain the new trees, which remain very vulnerable for the first several years in their new home. The warm weather is, however, great for getting plenty of volunteers to help with tree planting after the long winter.
The Planting
On a slightly chilly Autumn morning in early November, volunteers and staff from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation gathered at Hedgeapple Farm for the tree planting. A skid loader with an auger attachment had already done the hard part of digging the holes.
The staff from Hedgeapple Farm worked alongside the volunteers to place all of the trees along fences and spread across four different pastures. Using a hay wagon and three to four people we were able to get them all where they needed to go.
The planting in April was split into several different days due to the large number of trees. The first day was supported by Chesapeake Bay Foundation volunteers, and the second day was supported by volunteers from the Woodsboro Bank in Frederick.
The spring planting was much more spread out with trees going in a total of nine different pastures, so it was a bit of a production getting trees placed and all the supplies placed out.
The young trees need to be protected. To make sure that the trees grow straight and do not get knocked over by cattle or other wildlife, they are each tied to a stake. A particular threat to the trees is the whitetail deer. All the trees have a grow tube around them to protect them from the deer. The deer like to browse the leaves off the young trees. This is not a problem in an adult tree with thousands of leaves, but it can kill a young tree.
In the fall, bucks scrape their antlers on the tree trunks, which can badly damage or kill young trees. The tubes have the added benefit of acting like a greenhouse. They internal temperatures are warmer than the ambient air temperature, lengthening the growing season for the trees. The most important thing was to protect the trees from cattle. Most of the trees were planted in active cattle pastures.
To better protect the trees from cattle, we used a tool from our rotational grazing--polywire. Polywire is a cable made of interwoven plastic and metal strands that can be wound on a reel and used as a portable electric fence. We did not want to lose a large portion of the pastures for ten years until the trees were big enough to survive the cattle, so we could not fence the area off entirely. Instead, we wrapped the polywire around each of the tree tubes and then connected the wire to the electric fence. Whenever a cow tries to rub on the tree, she gets shocked and learns to respect the tubed trees. This allows us to minimize the amount of pasture lost for the duration of the project and it also significantly cut down on maintenance. If we were not grazing around the trees, we would have to mow and weed wack around the trees every couple of weeks during the growing season. With the number of trees planted on the farm this past spring and fall, it would require several days each cycle. Our solution is a win for everyone involved. The trees are allowed to grow, the cattle get to graze, and farm staff get to focus on other projects.
Grazing around the trees also helps to mitigate another threat. The young trees are vulnerable to mice and voles that chew on the tender roots. With the cattle keeping the grass short, the rodents have much less cover, allowing hawks, snakes, foxes, and coyotes to pick them off. While many traditionally view coyotes and foxes as pests, and indeed, coyotes can occasionally take down a calf, these predators are another important piece in the ecology of Hedgeapple Farm. Everything has a role in the ecosystem, and it is better to work with that purpose than against it.
An old proverb says, “Society grows great, when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.” These trees will grow and long outlast any who helped to plant or maintain them. When we are all but forgotten, these trees will tower towards the sky as living monuments to how much we loved and kept this land. We are deeply thankful for the help of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Maryland Forest Service, the Woodsboro Bank, and all the volunteers who helped to make this project possible. Hedgeapple Farm, the cattle, the wildlife, and the Monocacy River will all benefit from the trees planted.