I decided to wait till April, get the soil test sent in before I go on vacation when I get home time to rake again and seed. I am only waiting because I am planting alfalfa, I want a little green popping up on the pasture and driveway so the alfalfa gets a chance to get started I don't want to have to drag out the fence for the food plot yet.
I never raked a plot prior to seeding. I usually try to frost seed after the ice (if any) is gone. But sometimes it just does not work out for guys who live a long ways from their hunting area. Like I said, no big deal. Our ground here is clear, but I will still seed in a few weeks. The first spring rain will drive the clover seed into the ground. If its a current grass field, I will increase the amount of seed used a little. When the clover and grass start growing, I will spray Clethodim to kill the grasses. Mowing will also set the weeds/grasses back while the clover is growing. If the plot has so much debris that raking needs to be done in the spring, you should consider edge feathering (cutting the trees around the edges) to allow more sunlight in and keep the plot cleaner.
My one clover plot about a 1/4 acre soon as the snow left I ran my 4 wheeler and lawn thatcher around to clean off the leaves and expose some soil. Frost seeded and got a few inches of snow/ cooled back down. I also did on one plot what northwoods did. I never worked the ground and mowed it low going into the fall. Frost seeded then in spring and hit it with some grass killer(sethoxidim/ product called "grass beater" by Bonide. Fleet farm has it in a 8oz bottle. Same as whitetail institute s arrest but 10$/ cheaper and no big buck on the bottle.)
Front seeding typically is most successful mid feb through mid March but mother nature at times changes the best laid plans. One year i planned to help a client frost seed 50 acres of a mix and the weather went from perfect to unseasonably warm. There was no freezing and thawing action after we broadcasted. But what ended up happening is a couple good pounding rains and the results were outstanding. In reality what happened was deemed overseeding. Now for those who missed the ideal window, here is some things that help the cause. If you have good soil organic matter and a low amount of compaction, overseeding will work. If you want to spend $5 an acre, you can spray on top of the ground liquid carbon and it will naturally loosen the soil, which will help with overseeding. Another solution is to lay down dry carbon/humics and it will also loosen the ground and help the cause.
If you have trees around your plots, you will have trash in your plots and they will be shaded. If that's not a problem for you then leave the trees. I have cut trees around many plots to get more sunlight and less junk in the plots. Do what works best for you, I am just offering options.
In my area if you don't have trees and brush around the plot you will not see deer during daylight hours. You could have the finest food plot available but without security and screening you won't have the deer.
Exactly what I mean WLM. I am not talking about clear cutting the land. I simply mean some trees around the plot border can be dropped parallel to the plot, or away from the plot to create a screen, allow more sun in, and have less trash in the plot. This will add much security to the plot.
How long does it take for clover to pop? I frost seeded mine on 3/14; checked it one Saturday and didn't see any sign of it starting yet.
Warmer weather is needed. It will be slow this time of the year especially if it's a ladino clover you seeded. An annual like Berseem or crimson may come to life a little quicker.
I agree with Northwoods. Although we are not getting snow we need some consistent 50/60 degree days to get it popping. Once that happens in will come up and fill in quickly. Do not be discouraged. We just need some heat.
