Switch Bedding Area near Food plot

[Bassattackr]

In our area with the loamy clay soil we have the big blue seems to be the most dominant right now and stands the best through hard winds rains and snow.

Interesting you say that, most people say that of the big 3, Big Blue lodges the worst in the winter compared to IG and SG..

 

[scott44]

Interesting you say that, most people say that of the big 3, Big Blue lodges the worst in the winter compared to IG and SG..

That has been my experience with IG and Big Blue, they fall easily with wet snow. We had a 6" of really wet snow that has stayed and all my NWGS are down. What I've seen in the past is the IG and Big Blue will stay down and the switch will stand back up.

A mix

 

[H20fwler]

Interesting you say that, most people say that of the big 3, Big Blue lodges the worst in the winter compared to IG and SG..

I've only had it decent for a couple years and it stands good for me, last spring it was still up OK. My friends that have CRP have the same. That said we do not get the winters that guys to the north do. We do get very strong fall/winter winds so far this year I think we have had snow three or four times with the worse being three inches none of it staying longer than a week, we have had a high amount of rain this fall.
Winter has really just started but my Big Blue is standing good, here is a pic from a week or so ago;

Anyway my point was it is good to diversify native grasses with a blend to try and stay away from having a monoculture, it's better all the way around for wildlife and the soil.

 

[westonwhitetail]

Thanks for the pictures, I’ll make sure to include some Indian grass, big blue and possible more for added diversity


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[mhartges]

Congrats on buying that farm. For the record you can kill grass with 24d! Not usually a plan tho. To kinda piggy back on the Switch thread, has anyone ever seen any luck or even tried scattering seed in unkilled sod just to gain a few random plants here and there? I know it's a failure to try and establish a stand of grasses that way, but just wondered about a few coming in the hard way. Or even big or little blue. I have an area that's more sensitive but would like to see a little grass diversity. Probably a bad idea?

Mortenson, I wouldn't expect much success growing switchgrass with a "Throw and Grow" method of seeding. Not sure if you have any existing switchgrass. If so, you could dig up some of that and replant it in the areas where you only desire a small amount of switch. Or, perhaps you know somebody that would let you dig up some switch to replant at your place.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Mortenson, I wouldn't expect much success growing switchgrass with a "Throw and Grow" method of seeding. Not sure if you have any existing switchgrass. If so, you could dig up some of that and replant it in the areas where you only desire a small amount of switch. Or, perhaps you know somebody that would let you dig up some switch to replant at your place.

I collected some local seed this past fall and will be growing a bunch of "plugs" this spring.

 

[Mortenson]

I have roughly 6 acres of pure switch. The deer don't bed in it as a rule, but they will occasionally. What it does for us is that it allows the deer to start moving our way more securely in the daylight. It used to be open pasture and they'd wait til pretty late before coming into our farm. Here's a pic from my hunt on Saturday eve. Bucks and does had no issues coming thru and around the edges of the switch to get into the plot during daylight. The reason I asked about the scatterseed method is because in our center we have a 15 acre walnut area that I've been filling in some bare areas with shrubs, plums and miscanthus plugs. The deer really like socializing in this area. I don't want a ton of switch in there to risk a fire damaging the walnuts, but just some more diversity. I think between the plums and MG, it's going to achieve my goals.

 

[Bassattackr]

I have roughly 6 acres of pure switch.

View attachment 33306

I'd love to have a stand positioned right on that edge of the switch and food plot!

 

[buckdeer1]

I haven't throw and grow switch biut I have big blue as it's a fluff seed and I did it in about a 30 MPH wind.Switch is a hard seed and can be broadcast with a regular broadcast spreader.I would at least burn the and then broadcast right before a snow or roll to get good seed to soil contact.Frost seeded will usually be a better stand a year later than drilled as you will have higher germination due to stratification.

 

[westonwhitetail]

So this area ended up being a big plot of soybeans overseeded with brassicas and rye. Its doing great. Long term, I still like the idea of adding native grasses for cover and bedding here but I would like to provide some food value to it. I copies a picture below of some of this area prior to the food plot.

I was in the stand last night and got thinking about trying to mix grasses and food/browse together. I thought about starting some dogwoods, small nut trees, apples and other shrubs at the same time I plant this in native grasses. I'm sure long term maintenance options would be limited unless laid out in rows and such, but maybe letting it go and let nature take its course isn't a bad option after getting some desirable species started. Has any one done something like this? I could do this in up to 4 acres.

Treespud, I see you have some apple trees inside your switch, how has that worked for you?

 

[Teeder]

I plan to do that on about 3-4 acres at my place in the next couple years. I want a good mix of native grasses and shrubs with fruit bordering.

 

[H20fwler]

So this area ended up being a big plot of soybeans overseeded with brassicas and rye. Its doing great. Long term, I still like the idea of adding native grasses for cover and bedding here but I would like to provide some food value to it. I copies a picture below of some of this area prior to the food plot.

I was in the stand last night and got thinking about trying to mix grasses and food/browse together. I thought about starting some dogwoods, small nut trees, apples and other shrubs at the same time I plant this in native grasses. I'm sure long term maintenance options would be limited unless laid out in rows and such, but maybe letting it go and let nature take its course isn't a bad option after getting some desirable species started. Has any one done something like this? I could do this in up to 4 acres.

Treespud, I see you have some apple trees inside your switch, how has that worked for you?

I’ve done exactly that. Over five years ago we did a native grass blend in our fifteen acre pasture with big shrub strips around it.
We also planted a clover mix and lots of wildflowers for lower ground cover in with the grasses.
The cone flowers we put in do their thing in early and mid summer, the grasses get tall late summer early fall so they don’t seem to really compete much. And the shrubs have slowly come along, they were all really small when we put them in just now starting to really look like something. We planted thousands of trees/shrubs that produce nuts and berries.

 

[Teeder]

What shrubs have worked best?

 

[westonwhitetail]

Does the timing a the shrubs and grasses work ok? Meaning do the shrubs get big enough by year 3 when the grasses may be reaching full height so the shrubs don’t get shaded out? Or did you have plastic down or something to keep competition away from the shrubs?

 

[Bassattackr]

A harvested soy bean field is a perfect starting point for NWSG plantings. Easy surface to frost seed NWSG, wildflower and forb mixes, etc on a clean slate!

 

[westonwhitetail]

A harvested soy bean field is a perfect starting point for NWSG plantings. Easy surface to frost seed NWSG, wildflower and forb mixes, etc on a clean slate!

Good to know, thank you!

What about frost seeding in a foodplot that was brassicas the fall prior? Brassicas are typically pretty bare in the spring for me. Similar results do you think or no?

 

[Bassattackr]

Good to know, thank you!

What about frost seeding in a foodplot that was brassicas the fall prior? Brassicas are typically pretty bare in the spring for me. Similar results do you think or no?

Yes, definitely. Paul Knox (Dbltree) used to do this all the time. I've done successfully as well with clover after brassicas.

Brassicas are slightly allelopathic but I've never heard anyone with any issue with this, unless they are fairly thick still in the early spring.

 

[H20fwler]

Does the timing a the shrubs and grasses work ok? Meaning do the shrubs get big enough by year 3 when the grasses may be reaching full height so the shrubs don’t get shaded out? Or did you have plastic down or something to keep competition away from the shrubs?

Some of the shrubs we put in;

Pinoak
ROD
Silky Dogwood
Gray Dogwood
Purple osier dogwood
Buttonbrush
High bush cranberry
Winter Berry
Chokecherry
Elderberry
American plum
Hazelnut
Crab apple
Nanny berry
Indian current
Ninebark

All planted within days of seeding the pasture. Because of volume we planted pretty small stuff.
The grasses haven’t seemed to have been to restrictive on the shrub growth…the deer browsing definitely has though.
It just wasn’t practical or feasible for us to try and protect over a thousand little shrubs.
The shrubs have gotten ahead of the browsing now most are 3’ tall or better..just bushier than they would have been and I’m OK with that.
Goal was for them to kind of be like an old school thick fence row full of stuff for wildlife to eat. We planted most in four 400 yard long strips down one side of pasture then four more strips 250-300 yards long on one end. I think it is going to work out good it just takes longer than we had thought at the start.
You can see our progression with it and the pasture mix from start to now in my land tour The Big Woods.

 

[westonwhitetail]

Thanks Bassattckr!

I just watched the Craig Harper video in the Let em go so they can grow thread and it has convinced me this is the route to go. Also, I will be adding a good amount of forbs to the mix.

 

[H20fwler]

What shrubs have worked best?

ROD, High bush cranberry and Hazelnut have been the most vigorous for me.

Our ground is heavy clay and kind of wet half the year.