Importing Thatch

[SD51555]

The big dig is just a couple weeks away. I've been planning and prepping for the whole deal for a while. One idea that came to me recently was importing thatch.

I'm not talking anything revolutionary here. I'm gonna be digging a pond and spreading heavy clay spoils. They have historically taken me at least two growing seasons to get any sort of ground cover and decent amount of food out of them. Eventually they do take, but I'm trying to cut down the time it takes to do it. I've got a couple round bales at my place I've been using for projects and gardens. I'm planning to haul the remainder of those two bales back to the new clay layer and putting that down and spreading it out after I'm done seeding. I'm hoping that'll help get my stuff germinated, keep the soil moist, and prevent crusting.

When I get to the bottom of the hole, I want to try to remember to pull a soil sample. I'm curious what's going on that far down. I did one a few years ago from like 30-36" below the surface. It was very different from my topsoil samples.

 

[jsasker007]

If you have any spots that seem to stay drier than the rest of the plot clay would help to retain a little more moisture.

 

[SD51555]

If you have any spots that seem to stay drier than the rest of the plot clay would help to retain a little more moisture.

I can hang on longer than just about anyone without moisture. The only concern I have is exposed soil turning to brick in the sun. I have fairly heavy clay, but I'm very close to the water table. So as long as I've got my ground covered and stuff is growing, nothing ever really suffers or dies from lack of rain. I just can't get anything germinated if it doesn't rain. My yard plot has sat there catching a tan and being crispy because it hasn't rained enough to get it germinated after I sprayed and reseeded it.

 

[jsasker007]

Old hay bales should be a good addition. I have been dumping my grass clippings with my mower bagger on the edge of my plot by my house to spread out later. Might just add more to it and compost before spreading it.

 

[SD51555]

Old hay bales should be a good addition. I have been dumping my grass clippings with my mower bagger on the edge of my plot by my house to spread out later. Might just add more to it and compost before spreading it.

I've got about 5 yards of sawdust and another couple yards of about half rotted wood chips I've pulled off my firepit ring over the past few years. I've been hoarding all of that for garden builds, but now you've got me thinking I should just spread that saw dust on my plot. The rotted wood chips I want to keep. I do plan to build a few more garden beds, and those rotted chips would be great to mix into the fill batches.

 

[jsasker007]

You just need to add a little green to that pile and you're composting.

 

[SD51555]

You just need to add a little green to that pile and you're composting.

I know. Trouble is, I don't want to lose that carbon until it's where it's going to end up. I wish I could keep it dry so it doesn't break down at all until I find a home for it.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Are you going to dig a fish pond or any watering holes?

I think the hay or straw would be a good idea and with a little rain you should be able to grow something yet this year. Maybe add a couple downed tree tops on top of the hay to keep it in place during a strong wind and also act as an exclusion cage to see what grows in areas the deer can't eat.

 

[SD51555]

Are you going to dig a fish pond or any watering holes?

I think the hay or straw would be a good idea and with a little rain you should be able to grow something yet this year. Maybe add a couple downed tree tops on top of the hay to keep it in place during a strong wind and also act as an exclusion cage to see what grows in areas the deer can't eat.

I'm digging a large watering hole/small pond. It's not meant to be a fish pond, but as long as we're gonna be digging, I'm going to try to get down far enough to see if it can be a fish pond. It'll be under 1/10th of an acre. I more so want to watch and see what happens with the water if I can get down that far. It may end up being a dry hole in years like this. I may also hit the water table and it could always have 8-10' of water in it no matter how dry it is. I just won't know until we start digging and see what happens.

Even if it holds 8' of water, it won't be very big, but maybe It can be a forage pond to feed the big fish pond that doesn't exist yet. If we'd get back to rain like we had from 2016-2019, it'd easily be a fish pond. I used to get 8" of rain every few weeks it seemed. Now, I haven't exceeded 1.5" since the snow melted first week of May. Not complaining though. I'd love to see zero rain for the next few weeks so we can pull off this project. It'll go fast if the clay is dry.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

If it holds any water, it would be a good idea to throw some mud minnows in it this year so they can start populating your pond for you. I have a little beaver pond on my WI place and that thing has a pile of mud minnows, bugs and frogs even though it freezes solid most years. My sons like scooping them up and they are great walleye bait.

It will be interesting to see how much water your new pond holds, but I'd be shocked if you dug down 8 feet and didn't hit water.

 

[Wild Thing]

I mowed my switchgrass this year and then decided I could use the free thatch to mulch my newly planted trees. Worked out quite well. Have you got any switchgrass you could mow?

This strip had 2 different aged plantings - I think 3 and 4 years ago is when I planted this. The older strip had never been burned or mowed. I wanted to burn it but with the drought conditions we've had this year I would have burned half of the Upper Peninsula as well...


So I just mowed it with my brush hog...This was on June 11th.






Maybe a week later I decided that I could use some mulch for about 100 oak seedlings and crabapples I had recently planted. I just took a rake and some pails out and raked up some mounds and stuffed the thatch into pails...


If I needed a lot, I suppose I could have easily raked it up with the 7' landscape rake and tractor...


It made great mulch for my trees...


and 3 weeks later, (and maybe 3/4" of rain) my switchgrass looks great!

 

[SD51555]

I mowed my switchgrass this year and then decided I could use the free thatch to mulch my newly planted trees. Worked out quite well. Have you got any switchgrass you could mow?

This strip had 2 different aged plantings - I think 3 and 4 years ago is when I planted this. The older strip had never been burned or mowed. I wanted to burn it but with the drought conditions we've had this year I would have burned have of the Upper Peninsula as well...
View attachment 54185

So I just mowed it with my brush hog...This was on June 11th.
View attachment 54186

View attachment 54187

View attachment 54188

Maybe a week later I decided that I could use some mulch for about 100 oak seedlings and crabapples I had recently planted. I just took a rake and some pails out and raked up some mounds and stuffed the thatch into pails...
View attachment 54189

If I needed a lot, I suppose I could have easily raked it up with the 7' landscape rake and tractor...
View attachment 54190

It made great mulch for my trees...
View attachment 54191

and 3 weeks later, (and maybe 3/4" of rain) and my switchgrass looks great!
View attachment 54192

View attachment 54193

I don’t have any switch. My place is solid woods. The fastest way to make cover is hours on the saw. My place regens very quickly. I can cut in November and it’s prime cover by July. 18 months in, it’s a total black up to 10-12’. My bigger issue is that I need to go into my clear cuts at about year three at take out all the balsam poplar, or it’ll be an ugly next crop.


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