Sorry I haven't been posting much lately, but I've been doing a lot of turkey hunting this year. I'm not getting any younger, and I figure I had better do it while I can.
I just thought I would relate some things about an ongoing project I have on my own property. I'm in the process of trying to eliminate tall fescue and create a better habitat for birds, including quail and doves, utilizing native grasses and the natural seedbank. The first part of this project is no easy matter. In fact, I may not be able to eliminate the fescue since the neighbors property has it, and it's a very stubborn adversary at best.
Anyway, since I decided to do this beginning last winter, I realized I needed to wait till late fall when the fescue is entering senescence to spray with herbicide (roundup). I could have sprayed the herbicide last winter, but it would have come back. Consequently, I decided to mow the field low and then cut it up with a disk (disc)to regenerate the seedbank.
I realize the fescue was regenerated as well, but I now have crimson and white clover and other natural grasses sprouting throughout the field along with the fescue. When I do spray with herbicide in late October, I will have had the benefit of putting some nitrogen back into the soil via the clover, and providing forage for wildlife as well.
At the same time I reclaimed some old fencerows and piled the brush out in the field for burning later. These brushpiles have provided nesting areas for numerous birds this spring that would not have been here otherwise.
I have been careful to monitor nesting areas in the field so as not to mow over them. Keeping the fescue from going to seed is a goal, while at the same time allowing the clover and other beneficial grasses to reseed. Since the fescue seeds are produced on a long stem, this can be done by adjusting the mower height. It's not a perfect plan, but it's working fairly well so far.
After I spray and cut the field up next fall and winter, I will reseed some areas in food plots and some in natural vegetation. But in the meantime, I am trying to get the best use out of the area as I can.
If any of you have any suggestions on how it might be done better, please feel free to comment. This blog was designed to share ideas, but so far, they have mostly been mine. I would welcome some feedback.
