bueller
Moderator
Yep. This is only the second year for this plot. If all goes well I'll be sharing photos of some lush red clover from this plot in a couple years.
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- Thread starter bueller
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- land tour sandy soil
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
bueller, I don't know if I would wait on that red clover, I would have put some down this go-around. The amount you would need to cover that small powerline plot will set you back less than $20 and I'm betting that if you could get it established under that thatch layer, it would send down a good tap root into that sand and you could be off to the races. We threw some out more often than not, but as I have said before, our OM and pH was way worse than even the average Juneau Co guy because for 15 years the old man would not stop either plowing, discing, or tilling our plots. We essentially had no real OM in the top 3 or 4 inches of soil and the lime leached through that talcum powder tilled sand like a sieve. I would put some down the next time you seed into that thatch, just as an "experiment" to see how well it will establish now and if you can get some through a summer. With the very minimal tillage that you do now, I think you could get a good amount of it started in there and your soil will thank you for the extra N and OM. The deer will go nuts with it as well, given that likely no one in your immediate vicinity has any hay fields around.
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bueller
Moderator
Your probably right, I should have thrown some clover in this time around. I have a really nice stand of clover growing in my best plot right now but it's on a property a mile away. I established it by overseeding a buckwheat plot last summer with rye and clover. Weeds and grass were minimal so I didn't even spray or drag. This year its lush plot of clover that the deer have pretty much left alone until just recently. I don't know if the tall blades of rye kept them out or what. In the last two weeks they really started pounding it. Should hold up for several weeks into the bow season. Last time I had clover like that it was a HUGE draw into the gun season before getting covered by snow.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
I have a plot of clover about 3/4 of an acre that had tall wr stalks in it this summer as well. I left most of it, but over the 4th of July, I took a drag with the teeth pulled up, and just ran the drag around the outsides of the plot to see if it would make a difference. The last time I was up there I went and checked it out, the clover came in pretty decent, but it looked about the same as where I left the wr standing, but it looked a little greener, and thicker where there wasnt any wr stalks. I havent seen much, if any browse on the clover, but I also dont have an exclusion cage up either. I was just going off a walk past it, I didnt see much for the tops chewed off. Hopefully they dont over browse it, and there is some still standing for draw into the gun season.
bueller
Moderator
Red clover planted a year ago is looking great. And the deer are really hammering it after leaving it alone through July. I overseeded this weekend with rye. Probably should have added a couple pounds of clover also.
Not so pretty from a distance.
But as you get closet it gets better
Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk
Not so pretty from a distance.
But as you get closet it gets better
Sent from my XT1096 using Tapatalk
Native Hunter
5 year old buck +
Your plots are looking great - and the video tells the tale on the buckwheat.
Everything shaping up nicely!!
Everything shaping up nicely!!
bueller
Moderator
Thanks. In past years we did a lot of our rye planting on Labor Day weekend. We are ahead of the game this year. Our season opens in 2 weeks!
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
#1 suggestion from someone who dealt with that Juneau sand for 20+ years, leave the heavy tillage equipment in the shed!!!!
Other than maybe a chain-link fence drag or an unweighted spike-toothed harrow, otherwise, anything more is too much tillage. Do not destroy what little OM is there. That is where bueller has made huge inroads over our old place, he did not start by moldboard plowing every spring for 20 years, then discing, then dragging and he has good "covers" that hold moisture to keep that clover thriving, ours would have been dead by early to mid August every year.
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bueller
Moderator
I used to mow my plots but I've found that either leaving the crops and weeds standing or rolling/dragging them down leaves me with more sand covering organic matter for longer. I'm leaning more and more towards leaving them standing in recent years. There is already a thatch layer present and the standing crops/weeds really help during the hot and dry summer months.
wiscwhip
5 year old buck +
That ^^^ is what we started doing the last couple years we were plotting out there, seemed to be working until the old man ran the spike harrow over it to knock stuff down and the whole field came up in sandburs. Funniest thing was, it looked like they were row planted, because they came up right in the paths of the spikes, damned stuff looked like it was planted on purpose with a grain drill.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Same plot, July 2016
And now in September. The rye is decomposing on it's own and falling to the ground to provide more thatch in the future. And the tall seed heads are now easily accessible for the turkeys or whoever else wants them.
You can run your ATV over the rye & clover knocking the rye to the ground and the clover with push up through the rye in the rows created by your atv wheels. I also do not mow the plots. I believe the deer actually feel more comfortable with the taller dead rye.
