Fall Seeding

[Jerry-B-WI]

Is it possible to seed in the fall and hope the seed lays dormant until spring like the weed seeds do? I'm thinking about seeding some trails on my property with something like Deer Creek Seeds, Loggers Trail Food Plot Mix, in mid to late Sept. or even early Oct. before too many leaves fall but after the other trash on the trails are done growing. Let nit sit over winter and let it come up in the spring before the other grasses come up.

Good plan or no?

 

[Bassattackr]

Many native weeds and grasses don't come back until the spring because they need 30+ days of cold, freezing weather to open the seed coating. This process is called destratification, to allow them to germinate. Many annual and perennial weeds, grasses (especially native warm season grasses) require this process.

As far as any food plot "soft" seeds go with grains, legumes like clover, etc.. They will all germinate immediately with the right seed/soil temperature and moisture. Some clovers do make "hard seed" but by far and large most food plot seeds and blends will germinate immediately with the warm temperature + moisture combination.

My question would be why wait to allow germination later in the spring? With fall germination, your plots will have a head start on the weed competition, therefore suppressing weeds MUCH better than a spring planting. Established plant beats the seed on the surface every time..

That specific mix - Loggers Trail - Has quite a bit of fescue and annual ryegrass in it. Fescue is good for ground cover and erosion prevention, that's about it. It holds no wildlife value from either a cover or forage standpoint. It's actually quite detrimental to small animals like turkey poults due to it's sod formation, which limits their mobility.

IF I were establishing a clover plot on a logging road, my first choice would be fall seeding with a nurse crop, especially for perennial clovers. They just take a while to establish due to root structure priority over top growth (like most perennials).

My mix would look something like this (Rates per acre, you may have to walk or use OnX to measure your approximate area) :

- Cereal Rye (not ryegrass!) - 60# / acre
- Perennial White Clover - 6#-8# / acre (Good options include - Ladino, Durana, Alice, Will, White Dutch, etc..)

Depending on sunlight, the rye may get 4'+ high and start to produce heads. You don't have to wait that long but you could mow around May 1 and again a few weeks later to take care of the rye. This will prevent seed set and you'll be left with a nice stand of clover.

Good luck!

 

[Someday isle]

I’m not sure what you’re looking for but I started my logging road trails about five years ago. I overseed with rye and white clover every fall. Right now in our mid Missouri scorched earth conditions they’re pretty spotty and dormant but they look really good In the spring and fall. Initially I used the full LC mix on them but now I just spread a little rye and add to the clover each year. Here’s a few pics from this spring. Again, not sure if this is what you’re looking for but a blend of letting sunlight in and still having some shade has worked well for me. Rye is about 50 lbs per acre and ladino clover at 6 lbs per acre initially.

 

[Bassattackr]

SI - You're right, I was thinking perennial rates and typing annual clover rates.. Corrected
My logging road is getting more shade with time, I need to hinge a few like you've done to open back up a bit..

OP, a few other key tips:

- Also easy to supplement your stand by frost seeding on any "bare" patches come February or March.
- Logging roads tend to be rather acidic, so throwing down some pelletized lime also helps. Could always soil test.

 

[Jerry-B-WI]

So I learned a lot here. Weed and grass seeds are different than what I want to plant and that explains why I shouldn't plant in Oct.

If I planted in the next couple of weeks would I be OK?

If I try to frost seed in Feb or March I'd be putting the seed on top of a foot of snow. Location is NE Wisconsin, about 100 miles north of Green Bay.

 

[Tree Spud]

So I learned a lot here. Weed and grass seeds are different than what I want to plant and that explains why I shouldn't plant in Oct.

If I planted in the next couple of weeks would I be OK?

If I try to frost seed in Feb or March I'd be putting the seed on top of a foot of snow. Location is NE Wisconsin, about 100 miles north of Green Bay.

Broadcast WR at 100lbs/acre and red clover at 3-4 lbs/acre in early Sept and you will have WR for fall and early winter food and WR & red clover for early forage this spring.

This is what I do every fall and I am in Wis. Both will tolerate your climate.

Keep it simple ... don't stress it

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

I have an old RR bed I’d like to plant. It’s on a south facing hillside 1/2 the way up. I want to plant it in small burnet. The deer eat it but purpose for planting is that of a fire brake. I’d almost lean the same direction if I was planting logging road trails.

Use them as fire brakes, set sthe woods on fire and create a huge “food plot” in the process.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bassattackr]

So I learned a lot here. Weed and grass seeds are different than what I want to plant and that explains why I shouldn't plant in Oct.

If I planted in the next couple of weeks would I be OK?

If I try to frost seed in Feb or March I'd be putting the seed on top of a foot of snow. Location is NE Wisconsin, about 100 miles north of Green Bay.

If you're in WI, I'd plant as soon as you can. You may not get a lot of fall growth but still better than winter frost seed or spring planting.

You could then push your frost seeding into April (if you still need to add to your stand), I typically target about 30 days before my last frost date. This still allows a few frosts for good seed to soil contact. Snow on the surface is fine, but preferably not a lot. If there's quite a bit, the snowmelt may take your seed quite a ways off.

Any of the perennial white or red clovers are good candidates for frost seeding. Berseem clover (annual) is not!

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Agree with the Berseem, been there done that.