Ok so I mowed down my spring plot of clovers and various weeds lol. We had so much rain this yesr that it grew a good 48"-60". It was like mowing a corn field. Now since I was using a standard residential John deere ride on mower, it did a decent job at flattening it all but didnt quite mow it like grass. So what's my best bet now? Spray it with round up then flip soil??? Or flip soil then spray it after? Or spray both before and after?
Sorry a second question. Local co op has a atv disk and those 5 forks at the back I think it's called a harrow??? Last time I used it it dug down fairly decently. But some spots it couldn't flip over the grass. The way I used it it had 5 discs in front then the 5 harrow blades behind. If I left the discs off for the first pass would the harrows dig deeper? Is this exactly how it's supposed to work? Sorry I'm no farmer by any means.
Going to be hard to work it with an atv implement with the grass that long..I'd spray it when it turned brown i'd set it on fire if possible, then work it, wait for weeds to green up and spray it again. Good luck.
How long would it take you to drive your tractor up here from Wisconsin lol I am surrounded by farms but there all horse farms up here. So everyone has tractors but no one has a plow or harrow or whatever it's called.
I would suggest spraying with a very healthy dose of a Round Up type chemical, then wait ten days, and dig it up. Then wait 10-14 days and spray it again. Then you can seed as desired and lightly drag or cultipack. (Unless you are planting big seeds like corn, beans, etc. - in that case you need to drill in those seeds or disc them in after broadcasting) Most food plot seeds (clovers, brassicas, etc) are so small that if they are broadcast on pre-worked ground, and then cultipacked, that is plenty good seed-soil contact. Then just pray for rain.
If you have a heavy layer of thatch left over after your mowing, let grow a week or 2 until it greens up nicely. Then nuke it with round up. Then you can sow your seed directly into the thatch. (Same day if you like, ru won't hurt the seeds.) Maybe run over with your 4-wheeler or drag something behind it to filter the seed down to the ground. The thatch will hold moisture and you won't need to disc.
This is great advice!!! I've got a similar situation going as the OP. I bush hogged the 2 acre plot, but have a heavy layer of thatch left. Due to the dry conditions currently in Kansas I think burning off the thatch is out of the question. I may give this method a try. I plan on a clover/brassica plot for fall hunting
Either do what has been suggested or if you can get your hands on a tractor and box tiller - if folks have a tractor good chance they have a box tiller then just till it up after mowing. That thatch will blend in with the dirt after tilling and you will be ready to plant. You can spray after mowing but it might not do much good - you'd either have to rake all the thatch off prior to spraying or let grow for a couple weeks. Ideally you would spray first then mow then take your box tiller or harrow or whatever you are using to the ground prior to planting.
Spring planting of clovers should be mowed or brush hogged and then allowed to grow again. It usually takes a couple years to get he best looking clover plot after planting. Why would you disk under a clover plot planted this past spring? Seems like a waste of money to me. Mow the weeds down to about 4 inches and let it grow again. Many of the weeds are down growing by this time of year so the clover should come up better then the first time. good luck
Wow I didn't know it would work like that. Great saved me a ton of work. Ill wait until August then. Spray the heck out of it. Wait another two weeks then seed brassicas. If I drive over with a harrow it will rip up all the thatch. So it's better maybe just to throw the seed. Then take atv and just drive back and forth over it all to spread everything. This should work right?
Like a champ if you get some rain on top. Put down some Nitrogen right before a good rain too and you will be good to go.
