Bicolor Lespedeza
- Thread starter Bowman
- Start date
mikmaze
5 year old buck +
hancock has it........... I havent tried it. https://hancockseed.com/bicolor-lespedeza-seed-5-lb-bag-311.html
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
This is a good thread for me to include this warning:
Bicolor Lespedeza is a non-native and can be invasive under some conditions. This is one where you need to be sure to do your homework. It works very well for me in my uses. With my soils and in my area, it does not seem to be invasive. I've been using it for about 10 years and except for a few individual stray plants, it has not shown up outside the planted areas. It does not seem to outcompete my native plants and is actually pretty tough to establish in my area. I decided to convert one stand back to beans/corn. There was a little bounce back from the bicolor the first year, but by the second year, it was gone and other weeds predominate. Make sure you do your homework and make sure it is appropriate for your application and doesn't become invasive. If you do decide to use is and want to know the tricks I used to establish it, let me know.
I bought some from the local coop one year and used Hancock one year when they had it on sale. You can use fire or bushhogging high every 3 years or so to keep the sand healthy. It is a perennial legume so I have great stands that were planted almost 10 years ago. It has lots of advantages for quail and turkey. It is not a preferred deer browse but does will use stands of it for fawning.
Thanks,
Jack
Bicolor Lespedeza is a non-native and can be invasive under some conditions. This is one where you need to be sure to do your homework. It works very well for me in my uses. With my soils and in my area, it does not seem to be invasive. I've been using it for about 10 years and except for a few individual stray plants, it has not shown up outside the planted areas. It does not seem to outcompete my native plants and is actually pretty tough to establish in my area. I decided to convert one stand back to beans/corn. There was a little bounce back from the bicolor the first year, but by the second year, it was gone and other weeds predominate. Make sure you do your homework and make sure it is appropriate for your application and doesn't become invasive. If you do decide to use is and want to know the tricks I used to establish it, let me know.
I bought some from the local coop one year and used Hancock one year when they had it on sale. You can use fire or bushhogging high every 3 years or so to keep the sand healthy. It is a perennial legume so I have great stands that were planted almost 10 years ago. It has lots of advantages for quail and turkey. It is not a preferred deer browse but does will use stands of it for fawning.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It's much better and less expensive to establish by seed.
mikmaze
5 year old buck +
great input, I'm sure I'm not the other one that wants to know the tricks you used to establish it. I could see it as part of a mix in an area that you may just this one time be able to get into and prep, and then after that let it do its thing providing cover, and the rest of the mix targeting say a big red clover, chicory, maybe some self seeding annuals.
Bowman
5 year old buck +
Here is that request Yoderjac.
I have a field that started in sweet fern, blueberries and something that looked like brillo pads. It is very sandy and is on the southern border of my property. My plan was to provide some cover since it is open and there have been poachers and I was not living here yet. So I sprayed Roundup as per Ed Spinnazola recommendations. He said that Roundup was inert after spraying in his book and I asked him further in person. I have since changed my opinion and will longer use Roundup.
I tried to establish his Wildlife Cover and Forage Blend with limited success for 2 years. I have very little Big Bluestem. It does not stand in the winter in northern Michigan anyway.
My co-op recommended Jack pines as a screen. Some died, little growth and no screening.
I used an Ariens tiller to prepare and planted Switchgrass. Nope.
I did the same and planted Miscanthis gigantus but so far I only have 2-3' height and none on the supposed expansion.
Last year, I had some success sudangrass and buckwheat. Very pleased with a September planting of winter wheat. Planted late as an experiment because of another dry summer. Many deer tracks, not too thick growth, but for me, very nice regrowth this spring.
I now have some equipment.
This year, I planted sudangrass, buckwheat, leftover timothy and arvika peas. My plan was to see how the peas might grow, fix some nitrogen, then mow the sudangrass to increase root growth for organic matter, then follow with cereals and clovers. Got some rain but then night time temperatures dropped into the 40's.
Starting to get some green.
I have talked to many sellers about bicolor lespedezas and was warned away from some types. Not sure now if it was Korean or some other type now. If I can get some permanent cover and additional food for fawning or birds, I am Ok.
I have a field that started in sweet fern, blueberries and something that looked like brillo pads. It is very sandy and is on the southern border of my property. My plan was to provide some cover since it is open and there have been poachers and I was not living here yet. So I sprayed Roundup as per Ed Spinnazola recommendations. He said that Roundup was inert after spraying in his book and I asked him further in person. I have since changed my opinion and will longer use Roundup.
I tried to establish his Wildlife Cover and Forage Blend with limited success for 2 years. I have very little Big Bluestem. It does not stand in the winter in northern Michigan anyway.
My co-op recommended Jack pines as a screen. Some died, little growth and no screening.
I used an Ariens tiller to prepare and planted Switchgrass. Nope.
I did the same and planted Miscanthis gigantus but so far I only have 2-3' height and none on the supposed expansion.
Last year, I had some success sudangrass and buckwheat. Very pleased with a September planting of winter wheat. Planted late as an experiment because of another dry summer. Many deer tracks, not too thick growth, but for me, very nice regrowth this spring.
I now have some equipment.
This year, I planted sudangrass, buckwheat, leftover timothy and arvika peas. My plan was to see how the peas might grow, fix some nitrogen, then mow the sudangrass to increase root growth for organic matter, then follow with cereals and clovers. Got some rain but then night time temperatures dropped into the 40's.
Starting to get some green.
I have talked to many sellers about bicolor lespedezas and was warned away from some types. Not sure now if it was Korean or some other type now. If I can get some permanent cover and additional food for fawning or birds, I am Ok.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
I think bicolor is more of a problem in the south. I've never tried to use it in a mix. I think that may be difficult because of how I establish it. Here is how I establish it:
1) It wants to see a firm seed bed. Kill everything with gly or 24d or whatever combination you need. You want to start was weed free as possible. If you till, cultipack before you broadcast.
2) Broadcast at 8-10 lbs/ac in the spring and then cultipack again. You can fertilize as though you were planting clover avoiding N. I shoot for a pH of 6.5 but it will tolerate low pH
3) In the first summer, you will see a field of weeds. You will also see some bicolor plants mixed in with the weeds. Set your mower just above the height of the bicolor and mow weeds that outgrow it to release it as often as necessary that first year.
4) By fall you will think you failed. Don't worry about it. If it looks like a field of weeds you are fine.
5) Here is the trick. I use a non-selective herbicide (glyphosate) with temporal selectivity. Bicolor is very late to green-up compared to most weeds. I wait until the weeds are green and actively growing but the bicolor is still dormant and then spray the field with gly. This significantly advantages the bicolor. No mowing is necessary the second year.
6) By fall you should see a good stand of bicolor that is 4' to 6' tall depending on your soil productivity. It grows 8'-10' at maximum.
7) Every 3-4 years, you should either mow it high or burn it. It really likes fire and bounces back well.
Thanks,
Jack
1) It wants to see a firm seed bed. Kill everything with gly or 24d or whatever combination you need. You want to start was weed free as possible. If you till, cultipack before you broadcast.
2) Broadcast at 8-10 lbs/ac in the spring and then cultipack again. You can fertilize as though you were planting clover avoiding N. I shoot for a pH of 6.5 but it will tolerate low pH
3) In the first summer, you will see a field of weeds. You will also see some bicolor plants mixed in with the weeds. Set your mower just above the height of the bicolor and mow weeds that outgrow it to release it as often as necessary that first year.
4) By fall you will think you failed. Don't worry about it. If it looks like a field of weeds you are fine.
5) Here is the trick. I use a non-selective herbicide (glyphosate) with temporal selectivity. Bicolor is very late to green-up compared to most weeds. I wait until the weeds are green and actively growing but the bicolor is still dormant and then spray the field with gly. This significantly advantages the bicolor. No mowing is necessary the second year.
6) By fall you should see a good stand of bicolor that is 4' to 6' tall depending on your soil productivity. It grows 8'-10' at maximum.
7) Every 3-4 years, you should either mow it high or burn it. It really likes fire and bounces back well.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It is going to be more difficult to establish without herbicide. It is very slow to establish and does not compete well with weeds until it gets tall enough. In the summer when it is fully leafed out, 5 yards in plenty for a screen, but when the leave fall you can see through it. I'd guess 10-15 yards would be sufficient winter or summer. I made my strips 20 yards wide.
If you get it to establish well without herbicides, be sure to report back and let us know how you did it.
Thanks,
Jack
If you get it to establish well without herbicides, be sure to report back and let us know how you did it.
Thanks,
Jack
Boll Weevil
5 year old buck +
Is that sericea lespedeza in the lower left corner of your photo, Jack? I ride the whole farm spot spraying that crap every year to try and keep it in check. If bicolor has any of the invasive tendencies of sericia, no way I'd plant any of it.
Bowman
5 year old buck +
http://wildlifeseeds.com/info/bicolorlespedeza.html
Some info. They recommend mowing. I might give it a shot.
Some info. They recommend mowing. I might give it a shot.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Yes, it is in my seed bank. It is not a huge issue, but it is one of the invasives in my area.
Thanks,
Jack
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It prefers fire, but bushhogging works. It is a pain in the but to mow if you don't have a bat wing but you can mow it in reverse. If you're mowing forward, a loader helps. Set your bushhog about a foot off the ground is best. I can't find a picture after bushhogging but you don't want to spray herbicide after bushogging. There is so many open wounds in the stems that it acts like hack and squirt.
Thanks,
Jack
