As some of you are aware, Iâ??m working to establish a bit of pheasant habitat on my brotherâ??s farm. He has allowed me 8 acres to work with. Iâ??m hoping in the future this will grow.
I was all set to go with a planting, now Iâ??m rethinking things.
I sprayed it with round up the second week of May. About two weeks after that, my brother disked and cultipacked it. My plan was to broadcast the seed the last week of May and then hit it again with the packer.
Hereâ??s the problem, we have been getting regular rains and my brother doesnâ??t even have all of his beans in yet. I donâ??t want to lean on him too hard, as heâ??s the farmer in the family, and it is his land. He will get to it when he can. That said, I feel like weâ??re running out of timeâ?¦
So hereâ??s what Iâ??m thinking. What if I hold off until Feb/March. I have found some impressive results on line from guys that frost seed that time of year. When I ran it by my dad, he kinda grinned. Said that back in the old days thatâ??s how they planted all their grass seeds and that was the way mother nature intended it.
My thought is to hit it again with RU around July/Aug (my brother wonâ??t be so busy this time of year either), let it sit all winter, and then broadcast the seed when the thaw/frost starts around early Mar. That should give me a real good weed kill and provide good germination. Right? Thoughts?
Second question. I purchased pure switch grass seed (the â??Wisconsin blendâ?� not Cave In Rock) from my PF chapter. The more I read, the more Iâ??m convinced that I donâ??t want pure seed. Rather a blend of other grasses and forbs. Some claim that pure SG gets too thick and the birds will only use it for heavy winter cover. If that is the case, is there some place that I can get another grass/forb mix (maybe big/little blue stem and some flowers) to add to my SG seed? I have about $100 into the seed, so I donâ??t want to lose it. That said, I want to do this right too.
Wait until Spring to broadcast this?
Plant the pure SG or find something to mix with it? If so, then what?
Caught a shot of this guy with my camera phone this mornign, so I think if I build it, they will come.
Thanks in advance all!
Mike
I was all set to go with a planting, now Iâ??m rethinking things.
I sprayed it with round up the second week of May. About two weeks after that, my brother disked and cultipacked it. My plan was to broadcast the seed the last week of May and then hit it again with the packer.
Hereâ??s the problem, we have been getting regular rains and my brother doesnâ??t even have all of his beans in yet. I donâ??t want to lean on him too hard, as heâ??s the farmer in the family, and it is his land. He will get to it when he can. That said, I feel like weâ??re running out of timeâ?¦
So hereâ??s what Iâ??m thinking. What if I hold off until Feb/March. I have found some impressive results on line from guys that frost seed that time of year. When I ran it by my dad, he kinda grinned. Said that back in the old days thatâ??s how they planted all their grass seeds and that was the way mother nature intended it.
My thought is to hit it again with RU around July/Aug (my brother wonâ??t be so busy this time of year either), let it sit all winter, and then broadcast the seed when the thaw/frost starts around early Mar. That should give me a real good weed kill and provide good germination. Right? Thoughts?
Second question. I purchased pure switch grass seed (the â??Wisconsin blendâ?� not Cave In Rock) from my PF chapter. The more I read, the more Iâ??m convinced that I donâ??t want pure seed. Rather a blend of other grasses and forbs. Some claim that pure SG gets too thick and the birds will only use it for heavy winter cover. If that is the case, is there some place that I can get another grass/forb mix (maybe big/little blue stem and some flowers) to add to my SG seed? I have about $100 into the seed, so I donâ??t want to lose it. That said, I want to do this right too.
Wait until Spring to broadcast this?
Plant the pure SG or find something to mix with it? If so, then what?
Caught a shot of this guy with my camera phone this mornign, so I think if I build it, they will come.
Thanks in advance all!
Mike
