Take a walk with me through the prairie

[Native Hunter]

you would brush hogging snow at both of my places. East and west.

Good idea for the turkeys.

Yes, the reason I did it yesterday is because we have 3 to 8 inches of snow forecasted for today and the temp is supposed to drop down to 8 degrees. This old boy forgets about deer and Turkey in weather like that….

 

[Native Hunter]

I've posted so many plants in this thread that it's getting harder to find new ones. However, I came across a colony of this plant while doing spring prairie maintenance. It's call Beaked Corn Salad. It's not toxic and can be eaten by rabbits and deer. However, it's not a plant you see often, so it wouldn't be a major plant that would be browsed. It was pretty growing there at the edge of a ditch and caught my eye immediately as I passed by.

 

[Brian662]

Wonderful thread Native, I think I've read the whole thing 3 or 4 times.

How much CIR switchgrass did you incorporate into the planting of your prairie to add structure? I've got about 6 acres of prairie I want to plant this spring and have some sunburst switchgrass seed to spike it with for standability purposes here in MN. The CRP mixture (CP2) already has .35 lbs/acre of switchgrass in it but I thought adding a few more lbs/acre may do me some good come snowfall season.

 

[Native Hunter]

Wonderful thread Native, I think I've read the whole thing 3 or 4 times.

How much CIR switchgrass did you incorporate into the planting of your prairie to add structure? I've got about 6 acres of prairie I want to plant this spring and have some sunburst switchgrass seed to spike it with for standability purposes here in MN. The CRP mixture (CP2) already has .35 lbs/acre of switchgrass in it but I thought adding a few more lbs/acre may do me some good come snowfall season.

Thank you Brian. I appreciate your comments. My amount of switch was not as high as I would have liked, because I had to go with what the program called for. If you can add a few more pounds, I would recommend doing it, because I like the winter standability of the switch better than any of the other grasses. However, in KY our winters are usually not severe, and most of the other grasses stand pretty well.

People talk about Switch taking over a stand, but that hasn't been the case for me. The Big Blue and Indian both seem more aggressive than the Switch. Good luck to you, and I will keep trying to find some new plants. If I run out of new ones in my prairie, I may have to go somewhere else and start looking........

 

[BenAllgood]

If I run out of new ones in my prairie, I may have to go somewhere else and start looking........

You're always more than welcome to go take a look at mine.

 

[Native Hunter]

You're always more than welcome to go take a look at mine.

We may just do that sometime Ben.

 

[Bill]

People talk about Switch taking over a stand, but that hasn't been the case for me. The Big Blue and Indian both seem more aggressive than the Switch.

That’s my experience also. Even when I planted 10 lbs/acre. After a few years it thins on a downward spiral.

But I don’t burn, so….

 

[Brian662]

That’s my experience also. Even when I planted 10 lbs/acre. After a few years it thins on a downward spiral.

But I don’t burn, so….

Do weeds start to take over or the thatch gets too heavy for it to push through?

 

[buckdeer1]

I wish more weeds would sprout up in mine

 

[Native Hunter]

Blackberry briers are what try’s to take over on my place. I do a lot of spot spraying to stop them from forming big patches. A few scattered ones is a good thing, because they are good browse plants, but they can get out of hand quickly. Mowing once a year doesn’t deter them.

 

[Bill]

Not a matting problem that I’ve noticed. I get other grasses and broadleaf. Also as Native said blackberries, they seem to love switch fields.

 

[TreeDaddy]

East texas briars get ~ 4 feet in height and will dice you up like a peach driving through a patch in the Mule

bill

 

[blueKYstream]

Blackberries usually fight multiflora rose, Autumn Olive, and Black Locust in my native grasses. Still, I might be able to skip a year of mowing if not for the black locust. AO spreads like wildfire, but they're easy to cut (if it's in a field)!

 

[Native Hunter]

Blackberries usually fight multiflora rose, Autumn Olive, and Black Locust in my native grasses. Still, I might be able to skip a year of mowing if not for the black locust. AO spreads like wildfire, but they're easy to cut (if it's in a field)!

On one end of my field, I have a sweetgum problem. We mow them every spring, but by the next spring they are right back. Time for me to do some spraying there.

 

[Native Hunter]

I think that since these clover and oats plots are at the edge of the prairie (and touching it) I get to count them.......

 

[b116757]

Blackberry briers are what try’s to take over on my place. I do a lot of spot spraying to stop them from forming big patches. A few scattered ones is a good thing, because they are good browse plants, but they can get out of hand quickly. Mowing once a year doesn’t deter them.

triclopyr during bloom should control them do not mow first you need plenty of foliage to translocate the triclopyr to the roots use a surfactant.

 

[Native Hunter]

triclopyr during bloom should control them do not mow first you need plenty of foliage to translocate the triclopyr to the roots use a surfactant.

Yes, that’s what I do. Spray and then mow in about 2 weeks.

 

[Native Hunter]

One grass that I hate is Deer Tongue Grass. It forms patches that chokes out everything else, and it doesn't get tall enough for deer cover. When I find a patch forming, I spray it with gly and let annuals come back out of the seedbank to replace it. Usually that is mostly partridge pea and common ragweed - which are both very desirable in a deer prairie. Shown below is an example of the dead Deer Tongue and the forbs that replaced it. This is one of the ways I manage my prairie.

 

[SwampCat]

I think that since these clover and oats plots are at the edge of the prairie (and touching it) I get to count them.......

What kind of clover is that?

 

[Native Hunter]

What kind of clover is that?

Ladino from the feed store, which is not a specific variety. Seems to be some pretty good stuff.