Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery, LLC

06/16/2026

A video that I wanted to post, so we could look at it in a few years, or better yet, watch some trail cameras on it as I added Soft mast not falling during the hunting season into the diversity pockets of switchgrass. My pockets do have a lot of good stuff on the ground, but if I can add some more falling from above and make them excel, I will. I did not plant anything that would be dropping during October, November, or December, and focused on planting trees that would be dropping before or after those times. 150 yards from where I'm standing, I have a 50-tree orchard that only has fruit falling during October, November, and December, a time I may be there in a stand. I have learned that having food when no one else does definitely brings in a lot of deer, but I have also learned that preferred bedding has food to stand up and eat for lunch, since no one is heading to a destination plot and everyone wants to fill their gut deer bed where they can do so in my region.

Planting soft mast in switchgrass diversity pockets that is not dro...

06/15/2026

I had 34 tillable acres on this property, and I don't need them, as I would rather bed more deer and feed them at specific times (leafy browse all summer). When playing the numbers game, I have had much better success when keeping them hidden. You can see in the first two pics some Hazelnut and Gray Dogwood establishing well within established switchgrass. The switch is my protection, as these are preferred browse for the deer on my property.

Hannah is pictured as we added some Switchgrass to the disturbed soil in the rows we planted this spring that did not have any Switchgrass already growing. We planted Hazelnut, Gray Dogwood, Arrowwood Viburnum, Persimmons, wild plums, and wild crabapples. All plants that, if they get the chance to set roots down this year, will take some browsing, sucker back more, and come back stronger next year. We also mixed in some white spruce, Pitch x Loblolly, White pine, and Norway at specific locations for that thermal cover. 13 acres now look like a checkerboard with preferred browse and cover.

06/14/2026

Striped June falling in Kentucky! Good enough to put in a bucket and take into the house, or hang a camera and start seeing what's around. Definitely a dual-purpose apple that is clean and dependable. You will be dropping soft mast first in your area with this tree here in PA; it will drop the last week in June. https://bluehillwildlifenursery.com/product/striped-june-apple/

06/13/2026

A planting from DCNR on top of the mountain in Potter County, Pennsylvania, aka God's country, State Forest, and the poorest soil in our state. I said before that I was pleased, or hats off to the effort that Susquehannock State Forest puts into their plantings from Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery, and these pics show just that! Great Job! I appreciate the business and, most of all, your efforts so that this orchard will feed wildlife for generations.

06/12/2026

A few pictures of Turning Point that I needed to remove fruit from the central leader. I'm sure many have noticed that Turning Point is in a flowering group all of its own, as it is later than late, and even here in June, I could still go cut dormant scion wood from trees that have been in the ground for some years. Turning Point checks all the boxes for planting North of the 40, great drop time, fantastic production, and is in the upper echelon for disease resistance.
Late Season Apple - Turning Point™ Crab - Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery

06/10/2026

Brian has been crushing it in Northern Iowa with growing trees from here at Blue Hill Wildlife Nursery for the last 7 years in a no-spray situation. I can't even imagine what all will be walking into this orchard now and for another lifetime to come.

I love seeing those persimmons at that age and popping all that fruit in an area not thought of for them. It's Iowa, loaded with cedars, and Brian is loaded with persimmons and lots more fruit!

06/09/2026

I wanted to finish up with a tree we followed last fall. The tree is Grafted Primetime™ Crabapple! There was not an hour without a deer under this tree from mid-October into Early December. I took a few screenshots and tossed in a few pics (you can scroll back through the Blue Hill page to see the previous post on this tree).

25 years ago, I thought an apple tree was just an apple tree. I couldn't have been more wrong! Crabs are King! We really can feed when we want, and soft mast puts deer at a specific location at a specific time. Primetime feeds me perfectly all fall long in Central Pennsylvania, and we are only looking at one tree. What if there were 4 of them? Toss in a few more crab varieties, a few pears, and persimmons dropping at the same time, and you have a sustainable food/fruit source that is a great attraction!

www.bluehillwildlifenursery.com

06/02/2026

A customer planted this Sweet Advent Pear this spring. A few days later, this turtle parked himself beside it like he pre‑ordered the fruit. At this pace, he’ll be first in line… in about 3 years.

How are your newly planted trees doing? We'd love to see some pictures in the comments.

05/05/2026

As spring temperatures rise, we have reached our annual pause in tree shipping to guarantee optimal tree condition upon arrival. This period also allows us to focus on planting and cultivating new trees. We will resume sales in a few months for Spring 2027 shipments.

05/04/2026

ACT FAST! Some APPLE varieties are back in stock. Last orders will ship TOMORROW.

CrimsonRub™ Crabapple produces an impressive number of quarter-sized crab apples annually, attracting considerable attention from local wildlife. I know this tree personally, and every deer heading toward the food plot hits this tree first. You've got to remember acorns on an oak tree are quarter-...