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.
6 comments:
We have had almost 4 inches of rain in the last week, and the wildflowers and clover blooms are popping up all over this field. It's pretty amazing the transformation in just the last few days. And the birds are loving it...
Just found your blog and really enjoyed reading it. My background is in biology as well - I have a wildlife management degree. I don't own my own property to hunt, but I am blessed with a nice place that I lease from my wife's side of the family. Although I can't do major habitat improvement, I enjoy doing the little things to better the habitat, like creating more edge effect. I look forward to reading more.
Sorry I didn't get your comment posted sooner Rob. Also sorry I haven't been posting anything lately. It's all been a combination of things: surgery rehab, computer failure, and a general lack of new activity due to economy, weather, time of year. Maybe things will pick up in time. But I do appreciate the comment and any others. Please feel free to share info and experiences... or just ideas...
As a progress report on my seedbank regenerating project, I would like to report that my disking last winter is succeeding in keeping the fescue at bay and allowing the native forbs and grasses to flourish. There is still fescue in the field, but it is no where nearly as prominent as before.
However, the bermuda grass is coming back and filling many of the voids created by the disking as well.
Bermuda is not an ideal wildlife cover, but IMO it is better than the fescue. And the bermuda grass is a much better livestock feed than the fescue.
It will be interesting to see how the field evolves next spring and summer. Since bermuda grass is not susceptible to glyphosate and if I follow through w/ the fall spraying, the bermuda should gain ground. But will it crowd out the desirable forbs next year as well? The question now comes up... Would I be better advised to not spray this fall and disk again in late winter? Or should I both spray and disk as planned? If someone else has a similar experience, please let us hear about it...
With the extremely wet fall we have had this year, the fescue has come back strong choking out most of the native grasses again. The clovers were gone by late summer and are trying to peak through the fescue, but it's not working very well.
I plan to spray with glyphosate any day now... as soon as I can get some dry days in a row. The ground is too wet, even when we get sunshine, it's too wet to risk spraying. A pox on whoever planted this fescue in the beginning.
Well, I finally got my fescue sprayed yesterday. I was at least a week late, but we have had so much rain since late July and especially in October.
It hasn't rained since last week and the ground was still wet enough that I was spinning out in 4X4 with turf tires and only pulling a small ATV type sprayer behind my tractor. If I hadn't had a bucket on the front for weight, I would have been stuck several times.
The wet ground will no doubt hamper the herbicide, but I had to give it a try. It's supposed to rain again early next week. But the good news is that the fescue appears to be yellowing already. Get outta here, you European trespasser!!
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