SOGGY Bottom Boyz.......

[mnmthunting]

Chris, I'm only curious about your noxious weed problem?
Can you identify them? Most noxious weeds are the bi annual type. germinate and sprout the first year and shoot to seed the next.
I know broodleafs like Lambs quarter, Red Root Pig Weed, Giant Rag Weed, Common Rag Weed, Barnyard grass, Giant Foxtail, Wild Millet, Blah, Blah

Are these warm weather annuals considered invasive?
Are these what your neighbor worries about?
He's got His own billions of these seeds already, like all of us.

I know You have to control weeds, I'm just a curious guy.:cheers:

 

[1pheas4]

Interesting comment "you may get lucky by not mowing but it is a very slim chance." I will disagree with you till death and I would challenge you on that the weedy stuff will give you better habitat than the mowed weeds/grass. The grass will choke out the weeds, just give it time. If you don't mess with mowing those first few years the habitat will be much better than when you have mowed areas with grass just starting. Also the tall weeds will catch more snow for spring moisture but will make those high energy seeds from the weeds available for the birds and that is what I thought he was trying to help. The dynamics of getting grass to grow can be manipulated to help the birds, your hunting and other animals if you open your eyes. If your trying to create a golf course look your missing oh so very much. Hopefully, he included some forbs. I wonder just how much habitat work you have done 1pheas4?

I'm wondering; How does the ground temp get to where it needs to be to germinate those warm-seasons with a canopy that's 6ft tall?

Anyway, I'll have to get the word out to all those habitat directors and managers out there about your "no-mow" discovery. Does this mean those who use grazing as a method to establish warm-seasons are wasting their time and $ too?

To think, the millions of $ and time that could have been saved all these years if they only knew

Let me make a call to my obviously very inexperienced habitat director who recently took $800 out of our PF chapter's kitty for mowing back cool seasons in order to give those warm-seasons a chance.

P.S.--Please keep your low-level-insult regarding my habitat experience to yourself. You don't know what I've done as far as habitat work goes. Thanks Bob:cheers:

 

[Bob]

1pheas4, I guess we all have our concepts. I don't know how many pheasants are on my farms but there are more than a few. I sent you a short video of a flush on one of my farms. Hope you enjoy it as what I did worked for me. Though I'm not as sophisticated as you in your approach which I agree but I saved some money and evidently made some of my land better for the pheasants. Since your a GURU if you want to share the video I sent to your e-mail on this site go ahead as I don't know how to post it. With that said do you have a video you could show me of your results?

 

[UGUIDE]

Chris, I'm only curious about your noxious weed problem?
Can you identify them? Most noxious weeds are the bi annual type. germinate and sprout the first year and shoot to seed the next.
I know broodleafs like Lambs quarter, Red Root Pig Weed, Giant Rag Weed, Common Rag Weed, Barnyard grass, Giant Foxtail, Wild Millet, Blah, Blah

Are these warm weather annuals considered invasive?
Are these what your neighbor worries about?
He's got His own billions of these seeds already, like all of us.

I know You have to control weeds, I'm just a curious guy.:cheers:

Basically Musk and Canada Thistle are the big ones.

 

[1pheas4]

1pheas4, I guess we all have our concepts. I don't know how many pheasants are on my farms but there are more than a few. I sent you a short video of a flush on one of my farms. Hope you enjoy it as what I did worked for me. Though I'm not as sophisticated as you in your approach which I agree but I saved some money and evidently made some of my land better for the pheasants. Since your a GURU if you want to share the video I sent to your e-mail on this site go ahead as I don't know how to post it. With that said do you have a video you could show me of your results?

Never said I was a GURU Bob. Just defending what I know to be true with Chris's habitat situation.

I have an area done in 2009 where I have not mowed. Warm-season seed is in the ground. To this day its still 100% cool seasons. Not a blade of warm-seasons emerging. I don't want cool seasons in that area I want warm-seasons.

Should I just keep waiting and hope for the best? Or maybe it's time to get some prescribe/timely mowing in there next summer?

What do you think? Keep waiting?

Anyway, I look forward to your video of wild birds on your warm-season habitat. I have plenty of photos on this forum of wild birds flushing in these areas you can look at too:cheers:

 

[Bob]

I'll leave it at this as I haven't mowed any of my grass plantings, I saved some money and did other habitat work with what I saved.

Please don't take it I was trying to insult you as that was not my message if it sounded that way I apologize.

Best to you and Uguide on your habitat work.

I just checked my e-mail. If you have another e-mail address that can handle a download of a video please let me know as the phesantfreaks@gmail.com didn't go thru as I had "mailer domain failure" for whatever reason.

 

[1pheas4]

I'll leave it at this as I haven't mowed any of my grass plantings, I saved some money and did other habitat work with what I saved.

Please don't take it I was trying to insult you as that was not my message if it sounded that way I apologize.

Best to you and Uguide on your habitat work.

I just checked my e-mail. If you have another e-mail address that can handle a download of a video please let me know as the phesantfreaks@gmail.com didn't go thru as I had "mailer domain failure" for whatever reason.

DITTO:cheers:

Yeah, I've tried sending video though my email before but it was too large to send through Have you tried to send it through UPH PM? Not sure if that will allow a large attachment either though. You don't happen to have it posted online i.e. youtube or another video site?

 

[mnmthunting]

Never said I was a GURU Bob. Just defending what I know to be true with Chris's habitat situation.

I have an area done in 2009 where I have not mowed. Warm-season seed is in the ground. To this day its still 100% cool seasons. Not a blade of warm-seasons emerging. I don't want cool seasons in that area I want warm-seasons.

Should I just keep waiting and hope for the best? Or maybe it's time to get some prescribe/timely mowing in there next summer?

What do you think? Keep waiting?

Anyway, I look forward to your video of wild birds on your warm-season habitat. I have plenty of photos on this forum of wild birds flushing in these areas you can look at too:cheers:

Nick, I planted a 6 acre piece into Switch and Side Oats in Spring of 05.
with oats. I let the oats go, that seemed to slow a lot of the weeds down. Oats grow well in the cool weather and got a big start before the warm weather weeds germinated. The next year I got a lot of weeds and native June grass. I sprayed the weeds, the June grass seemed to take over.
That first full year I could tell there was Warm season grasses in the mix but no seed heads. The following year the Switch made some seed heads. The third year I mowed the June Grass early and by the first of Aug had the nicest patch of Side Oats and Switch grass anywhere.

This year I have 12 acres planted to Oats, Orchard Grass and Switch Grass plus 5 pounds per acre of Vernal Alfalfa. Orchard Grass gets a fast start and does well in this area for 2-3 years then dies out. By then the switch should take over.
This will be left for the critters.:cheers:

 

[reddog]

I have an area done in 2009 where I have not mowed. Warm-season seed is in the ground. To this day its still 100% cool seasons. Not a blade of warm-seasons emerging. I don't want cool seasons in that area I want warm-seasons.

Should I just keep waiting and hope for the best? Or maybe it's time to get some prescribe/timely mowing in there next summer?

QUOTE]

1Pheas4.

Im by no means an expert, but Ive been struggling with cool season brome in a restoration that I did 7 years ago.

Its a wooded meadow on the west side of my acreage. This is what it looked like when I bought the acreage. I disc'd it up the first year and planted RR soybeans in it so I could kill as much as the brome as possible, then did a fall frost planting of Big Blue, Indian, and a little Switch.. First year was done with maintainance mowing, second year was done with spot mowing, and the third year I left it grow, but built a 45x66 shed next to it, and a part of it got torn up by the construction equipment needed to build the shed.

This is what it looked like when I bought it.
Loking North:

Looking South:

When it got tore up from construction, weeds took over and I have been mowing that portion of it for a few years now.. I have been experimenting with a roundup dose in early spring to set back the cool seasons, and have been happy with that approach, as it does work quite well, if you hit it before the warm seasons emerge.

After several years of mowing the tore up area, I decided to try a different approach this year.. A more aggresive attack on the cool seasons.... and the weeds. I mowed it all off short, let it dry, and then did a controlled burn on the meadow in early April. Then, I let the cool seasons emerge, and hit them with a dose of roundup. Then, I took my disc and I disced up the whole area and then applied a pre emergent called Prowl to stop any weed seeds from growing in the disturbed/ disc'd area. My theory in doing this was that cool season grasses are typically sod forming grasses and have shallow root system, while BBS, IG, and SG are clump forming and have a deep root system. Discing tore up the shallow cool season root system, and chopped off the residue and leveled off the clumps.. I did this more as an experiment to see if it would work, and if it did, so be it, if it didnt, I was going to start from scratch again on the meadow with a total reseed.. I gotta tell you, it worked like a dream.. This is the nicest stand of BBS Ive had in 7 years. Even the area behind the shed that was tore up, filled in nicely..

Here is what it looks like yesterday:
North:

South

My advisor on my restoration was truly amazed at the difference between last year and this year.

7 years into the project, I wish I knew then, what I know now..

There is no "instant gratification" in any type of prairie restoration.


http://imageevent.com/okoboji_images/newfarm?n=0&z=2&c=4&x=0&m=24&w=0&p=0