Hey Guys, I went and checked my plot and its coming in somewhat ok. Its a small quarter acre plot in the woods by my cabin. I planted a mix that had Small Burnett, Everglaze ladino clover, 2 types of alfalfa (small percentage), and a little chicory. I planted with cover crop of Buck forage oats. I walked in there and the forage oats were bushing 2.5-3feet tall so I trimmed it down to the height of the plot mix that you can see growing so it doesnt smother out anything. The question I have for you all is that in some spots its nothing really grew. Not sure if its just because when I planted some of the seeds got raked away when i was covering the seed up with a rake or if its just lack of sunlight. You will noticed the farther left it does not get as much sunlight so i'm wondering come August 15th or so what can i Plant in those bare spots to fill it in that does not require much sunlight. I do have extra Buck Forage oats, so should I just rake some more of that stuff in the spots? Thanks guys
There are numerous reasons why an area might not have had seed germination. Past chemicals, shade, soil type, planting depth, etc etc. One can always spin seed out there aka your clovers to fill in. Wait now til after August 1st in the upper midwest. One can always frost seed clovers in thin areas as well. So many people call or email me saying how their clover stands fizzle out. I plan on having 20 plus year clover stands in the areas that mine are and it's easy to do. I always recommend frost seeding or over seeding into thin areas. Clipping pastures/clover plots to cut down on weed pressure and to encourage fresh growth etc etc. You want really great clover plots no matter where you buy seed? Make sure it's innoculated, make sure it's fresh seed, make sure that you don't plant it too deep. Want it to be really great? Have a growth promoter on it...then splash it 2x a season with the right plant foods. For fertilizer have one that has ammonium sulfate in it....
Hey guys, Well time sure flys by. This plot was started last year and I just went to my cabin to see how the plot is looking now that it is the 2nd year. there is definitely some weeds growing and I wish I would have pulled some of them out. I might in a month or two when I go up to check the trail cam. What do you all think? You can sure tell which side gets the sun as it grows better lol
I've been doing a lot of research on this myself. It's best to catch the weeds/grass early by mowing/cutting the tops and spraying with herbicide. It sounds like you have a nice mix of perennials, all of which can be top cut (mowed). When you cut the tops off and then spray it helps the herbicide get down to the weeds and grass but helps the undergrowth of your plot flourish. Cutting the tops of chicory will cause new growth off the existing shoots and they will really thicken up. The other thing you should do early in the season (late February/early March) is frost seed. As the snow and ice melts it will help those seeds get an early start and fill in the plot from the bottom. Once the new seed takes, a few applications of fertilizer in the spring and summer will go a long way. It looks like your plot is growing tall though, you shouldn't have any problem getting it looking great with a little maintenance.
Yea, this past spring i did frost seed clover in to help fill in the gaps. The biggest thing is lack of sun on the one side which i'm fine with I guess. Based on the picture do you think I should go up with a weed wacker and cut it down a bit in about a month? Say Mid-July?
If it's shin/knee high, I would say yes. Only take off enough to make it ankle high, you don't want to cut it too far down, and don't cut it down during a drought. Wait until you have expected rain coming. It will have plenty of time to grow back up by fall (fertilize if needed). Since it will be cut down, you may want to target the heavy grass/weedy areas with herbicide to make things easier next spring. The key is to get the grass and weeds killed out earlier in the season so you will likely need to spray with herbicide next spring to get on top of it earlier. Once you get on top of the weeds and grass early in the spring then a good application of fertilizer in April-May will really go a long way. Clover makes it's own nitrogen so get something with phosphorus and potassium (Nitrogen(N)-Phosphorus(P)-Potassium(K) : N#-P#-K#). Something like a 0-0-60 or 0-20-20 will go a long way.
Thanks man, I probably wont do the herbicide thing as this plot isn't a big deal to me. It was more of a fun thing to do and put a trail cam on which I get tons of pictures of deer on. Its literally 100 yards from our cabin. Maybe 50 yards off the road where you cant see it from the road. I'll prolly go up early July and trim it down a bit as it wasn't quite knee high when I was their a week ago. I think come August I'll spread some Oats in the bare spots. that grew great last year in their so atleast I'll have something in those spots that grow and the deer seemed to eat that up last year as well.
Yep, planting something under is a good idea, especially if it grew well there before. If it's just a small honey hole plot and the deer are coming, no need to spend too much time on it.
