Switch grass too thick?

wango tango

5 year old buck +
Forgive me, because I know switchgrass may not be considered native habitat. I have a 4 acre south facing slope kanlow switch grass. It is crazy thick. There’s not much bedding in it from what I can tell. I’m thinking I’m going to burn it this spring and spray some areas with herbicide to create more diversity and more lanes. Anyone else have problems with switch grass being too thick? At first I didn’t think that could be the case but man oh man this is thick.

The pictures don’t really show how tall the stuff is, this is me holding my camera up above my head. This stand is a good 6 to 7 feet tall.

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Are deer moving through it ?
 
Looks way to thick to me but could just be how the snow/ice has it bent over.

You could thin it. And you may not be wrong for doing it.

I would first consider cutting some strategic lanes through it plant some perennial clovers and put stands at each en for wind direction.


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If your going to burn it you would be well advised to mow some major fire breaks. That thing is going to blaze!! I’d also light the fire at the top and let it back down the hill.


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What was your seeding rate? I've read that Kanlow should be 4-5 lbs/acre.

I'm going to be establishing 5 acres of Kanlow this year and am really curious to see what you end up doing.
 
They don’t move through it as much as other bedding areas on my farm

I’ve done two prescribed fires now. We do backfires at the top of the hill. And holy moly it is hot. You can’t get within 30 feet. A head fire would be scary!

The last one we did, there is an area about the size of a swimming pool and 16 raccoons came running out all at once. Crazy.


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What was your seeding rate? I've read that Kanlow should be 4-5 lbs/acre.

I'm going to be establishing 5 acres of Kanlow this year and am really curious to see what you end up doing.

Don’t remember the seed rate unfortunately. But I would go less rather than more based on this experience.


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I burn mine every year but I mow firebreaks very early like a couple months and use a hay rake to rake the cuttings back over in the area to be burned.I like to mow alot of mine as I don't want to take the chance of it getting out of control.My switch is thick and I will strip disc this year after burning to stir up some weeds and if it does ok I will alternate next year.Yes the NRCS usually has you plant up to 10lbs per acre but 5 is fine.You want somewhat thinner if you have small game and game birds.Be sure and burn early enough before nesting.
 

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Also NWSG can be very good habitat so don't apologize
 
I have some switchgrass I plan to thin this year as well, it was planted at 8-10lb per acre. It’s not getting used much, just for pass through it but not much bedding it appears. Gonna try some mechanical disturbance and herbicide to see what works best.
I converted a switch field to crops last year and one spraying of glyphosate thinned it significantly, it too two spraying to really take care of it.
 
I have found that deer like switchgrass but not a dense monoculture of it. In areas where I have it too think the deer don't use it. In areas where it is mixed in with native weeds and the like they love it. I would do some strip spraying and try to give some of those native weeds a chance. You can still leave long strips of the switch for bedding, screening or even just edge. A real thick stand is a great way to block deer as well from downwind of stands and the like. I do this on one spot on my place to ensure the deer don't get too close of a shooting house.
 
I think J-bird has it down - variety is the spice of life and so goes with Switch grass... a native planting should have a blend and weeds to boot. But you do have a very nice stand. The burn will help, it will make it much easier to spot spray and or create some broke up areas. Especially during the early re green up.
 
I know from many years of chasing coyotes that when you are running a grass patch you will find the animals around changes in growth.It may be sunflowers or weeds.Another thing I heard of doing and since it's a dead tree shouldn't break any rules is dragging an tree top out into grass
 
The easy way to thin an NWSG stand and get annual weeds to germinate is light to medium disking. Experiment with how much disking by doing some strips at different rates. No chemicals required.

I did that last year with my tiller. Didn’t do anything really. Many times was timing. Am going to do gly or cleth I think.


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I did that last year with my tiller. Didn’t do anything really. Many times was timing. Am going to do gly or cleth I think.


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You didn’t break the ground enough to disrupt the root system. Next time use a plow. It worked for the pioneers. They had no trouble thinning (and destroying) native grass stands that way.
 
Warm-season grasses are most vulnerable going into and coming out of dormancy. If timing of the disturbance is up to you, I would monitor the Switchgrass and do it when you notice it coming out of dormancy in the spring. This could look like new leaves out of the crown of the plant, or older leaves gaining some more green color.
 
I plan on burning it all, and then waiting till it greens up and then spraying herbicide. I don’t have a plow.


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I am going to disc some of mine after I burn
 
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