help with hillside erosion/rehab

F

FieldKing

New member
Enjoy reading some of your guys rehab projects, need some advice. Place is full of junk weeds and who knows what. I am looking to buy a small 11 acre property, previous owner ran horses on it. I have included a pic, if you look close you can see bare spots on the hillside, there are several areas like this as it is hilly ground. My question: what seeding/grasses will stabilize these areas and attract wildlife? I am willing to keep it mowed if necessary but do not want it low and tight like a lawn. Feel free to advise, should I burn and start over etc.

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FieldKing said:
forgot to mention, property is in Indiana if that helps with grass types etc?
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Hi,
It appears that you are lacking topsoil. If you have a fence you could use that to your advantage with some controlled grazing or you could do something to ad organic matter such as straw or hay spread over the bare spots. It appears you may have some weed issues that controlled grazing might help. This could get a little in depth. If you want to pursue this further you could send a PM.
 
If you want quail, a little orchard grass, timothy, or prairie grass interspersed with what you have. I see fairly open annual weeds, with some elderberry here and there. Looks like a start. a little burning every second or third year of about 1/3 of the patch, a little discing will help here or there. Broadcast some seed. Don't have to be over intense on this, other have had to get where this patch is now! Remember the biggest upswing of gamebird numbers were in the 1950's to 1970's under soil bank. They left the ground alone! Let nature do the job.
 
In the movie "Field of Dreams", when the voice said: if you build it, they will come, we knew that it meant a baseball field. That being said, knowing what wildlife you are trying to attract would be quite beneficial as the prescription would change depending on the answer. Also, additional information on what cover surrounds the site and what part of the year you would like them there might also narrow the design. Eleven acres can support a lot of wildlife, though it can also be relatively small for some species. Like old and new, I see elderberry, wild lettuce, daisy fleabane, and marestail. Of these, the elderberry is the most beneficial though together they have some value. To me, with limited information, the bare areas look to be spots that the horses stripped the topsoil off of with hoof action. It may take some more resilient species to establish here. Sorry if I may confuse you, but I think we're trying to make a complete picture out of one or two pieces of the puzzle. If you can help fill in the voids, folks can help give you the picture you want.
 
Horses/donkeys have beaten down the area, some flat areas are in worse shape than can be seen in pic, there are whitetail deer and wild turkey in the area, I would like to attract/nourish them. Bobwhite quail are a possibility but long shot. Doves are abundant in the area. There will be not be any livestock of any kind anymore on the property if I buy it. Property has small pockets of woods, with larger tracts within a mile mixed in corn and soybean farms. Thanks for any help guys.
 
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Very good! From the deer/turkey perspective, I think you could patch around some. On the perennial side, it would be nice to have some strips or blocks of native warm season grass bordering the woodlands. Turkey would use them to nest in and the deer would bed in them. A mixture from the NRCS in your county developed for wildlife would be best. I would expect it to be a mix of big bluestem, little bluestem, switchgrass, and Indiangrass as a framework. A good mix of locally adapted forbs in that grass mix will be important.

If you want to play with annual crops, I would suggest a mixture of small grains, legumes, and sorghum type crops. Wheat or triticale for forage would make the deer happy. I do like to mix in Austrian Winter Peas with my wheat, really sweet for deer and turkey. Summer sorghum crops like milo, German Millet, Egyptian Wheat, or Proso Millet would be readily used. For legumes, alfalfa, sweet clover, vetch, or cowpeas would give you a huge insect base for broods and provide browse for the adults as well.

Try to save plenty of your elderberry. On the timber, you probably could do some edge feathering and provide quality nest sites for the turkey. Leave plenty of good roost trees. This winter, look under the timber. If you find areas where there is no understory, you might want to open the canopy some to let light get to the forest floor. The good Lord will take over from there and fill in the voids.
 
The presence of broadleaves tells me your better soils are at the bottom of the hill where they usually end up. Sands at the top. What will grow in sand? Your local NRCS can help with that. I would look at seeding a sand friendly grass mix and get control of the erosion issue up to. Would also advocate laying down erosion blankets over top to help with seed bed moisture and getting a better stand. Or at least spreading straw over top. Depends how much maint. you want to do every year.
 
thanks for the replys, I have alot to learn, seems part of the fun. I put in an offer on the place today, fingers crossed.
 
I just saw a picture of something called Illinois bundle flower that looks like it would be good for wildlife. It mentioned that it does well on poor soils, so that might be good for your bare spots. Good luck.
 
Illinois Bundleflower is a good plant being a legume. It and Showy Partridge Pea would be good choices.
 
I looked Showy Partridge Peas up and found this.......

Livestock Caution: Although partridge pea foliage is nutritious, it can be poisonous and should be considered potentially dangerous to cattle.
 
umm bare spots

If you still have bare spots and the soil is just poor. In the Fall I picked up a bunch of leaves from the people in town looking to get rid of em. and roto tilled them into the ground, The leaves broke down by Spring and i had a little bit better soil the first year. I think if you keep building up compost into the soil things will just keep improving. Just a cheap idea.
 
Thanks for the tips. After a long ridiculous waiting period while the bank sorted out title issues from a former foreclosure I closed on the property Dec. 5, 2013. Indiana winter has been brutal, snow and cold plenty. I still have managed to knock down some of the jimson stalks with my fel on the compact tractor and snow has knocked some down. I will be doing some light disking and seeding come spring. I will update with pics and questions:)
 
haymaker said:
I just saw a picture of something called Illinois bundle flower that looks like it would be good for wildlife. It mentioned that it does well on poor soils, so that might be good for your bare spots. Good luck.
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Illinois bundleflower is put in all the crp mixes here. Its a forb that provides a food source for all birds not just upland. It wouldn't be a good choice to stop erosion. Some type of grass is needed if that is the goal. It is a very good food source for pheasants and quail. I have shot both that are completely full of the seed when cleaned. A lot of times when hunting big grass patches, when I get in a spot with Illinois Bundleflower is where I find the birds.
 
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