J-birds place

[j-bird]

Why expand my switchgrass planting? In the beginning - my place was farmed right up to the timber. It was a very hard edge, so I implemented some CRP practices. I initially simply allowed the native weeds to grow, but I found switchgrass is much better for cover in the later months of the year.

This is what mother nature does on her own vs switchgrass as of this weekend. The "weeds" are roughly waist high while the switch on average is a foot taller.

My switch field edge buffer 120' deep.

Mother nature buffer.....

Some other "islands" of saplings to see if these pockets will help hold deer as well......

I have even starting planting cedars in clusters to see if the deer will relate to them in my switch planting as well.

I also like to allow some of the broadleaf plants to grow in thee switch.....you will see some clover, rad weed and even some not so great stuff, but I don't worry about it too much.

 

[j-bird]

I also put some cages around my direct seeded sawtooth oaks as well as they did real well and without some protection I expect the deer will eat them.

I did have a couple that didn't germinate so I did transplant a few of the larger ones off the back porch into those locations......I did consider the root issue with my containers and took a pic of those as well. It wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, but I did have some issues.

I have had above a 75% success rate with direct seeded acorns in my plot areas.....I was pretty surprised by this. They didn't do as well as those on the porch, but I think that is more due to soil temps and access to sun light and water. It will be interesting to see how these do thru the summer stress.

 

[Bill]

Think with the switch at 3.5 lbs there would be room for about 2 lbs of clover?
Kinda bed and breakfast thought.

 

[j-bird]

Think with the switch at 3.5 lbs there would be room for about 2 lbs of clover?
Kinda bed and breakfast thought.

Not clover but I am sure some will come in on it's own. I want to leave room for other native weeds and browse type plants. The switch I have already was planted at a far weaker rate, but it was drilled with other native grasses that didn't do so well (the big blue and indian really didn't grow at all). I also like a lighter spacing for other critters like rabbits, quail and turkey. These areas are buffers between my strips of timber and larger food sources like my ag fields or my plots, so food isn't far away. It's literally 120' at it's max. I just wanted to improve the cover aspect to potentially hold a few more deer if possible. I look for it to be does, and that is fine, but maybe if I can move the does into these areas, maybe, just maybe I can create enough space in what trees I do have to hold a buck or two. Come winter time the natural weeds turn into a forest of stems and the screening value drops a bunch. The switch I planted has proven to be great at standing thru the winter and keeping that screening value. If I had known then what I know now - way back when I put these CRP areas in I would have went with native grasses, but I was not experienced at the time and was on an even tighter budget. I have a bad habit of being too cautious when I shouldn't be and jumping in with both feet when I need to show patience.....

 

[Catscratch]

Great buffer strips! I think buffers are very important to a habitat and yours look great. If I was planting switch I would have done just like you did and tried to under seed it so that other natives would have a chance. I'm not big on a monoculture of switch when goals are like yours.

I'm glad your bottle sawtooth didn't have bad circling. I figured they would, but honestly don't think you can screw up sawtooth. They seem bulletproof. Caging is import though. I have a few hidden in tall grass that hasn't needed caged, but the one's in the open I didn't cage last yr got eaten to the ground.

 

[j-bird]

Great buffer strips! I think buffers are very important to a habitat and yours look great. If I was planting switch I would have done just like you did and tried to under seed it so that other natives would have a chance. I'm not big on a monoculture of switch when goals are like yours.

I'm glad your bottle sawtooth didn't have bad circling. I figured they would, but honestly don't think you can screw up sawtooth. They seem bulletproof. Caging is import though. I have a few hidden in tall grass that hasn't needed caged, but the one's in the open I didn't cage last yr got eaten to the ground.

I have been real surprised at how well they have done (pending the woods planting). If they produce well and the deer like them I look for their addition to my plots to be great ones. I have some that have essentially turned a plot into a nut orchard with sawtooth and chestnut trees, and in other cases I have simply lined one or two edges of a plot with these sawtooth while other parts of the plots have a few apples and hope to be some crab apples come spring as well. I like the idea of providing food without needing the constant attention that many of our plots require.....especially the annual plots.

My buffers are a decent amount of work, but they have helped me increase cover and diversity on my place and not affected the bottom line of the farm. The only issue I have is that they are buffers and that I can't retire entire fields in the same manner. I know as of last fall these buffers are holding deer as I had more than once had deer "appear" by simply standing up while I was on stand, or watch the deer move thru the cover as they worked downwind of a plot. They can however make recover a bit more difficult because you nearly trip over them before you see them, but I'll take that trade-off!

 

[j-bird]

Well I was out all last week in MO on biz and with father's day I wasn't out much over the weekend either......so I made up for it today after work and took a walk.

Well the soybean crops are doing well and I know we hear of folks asking all the time about how to grow beans for deer and the amount needed. Well in my area, it's simple low deer numbers and more beans than the deer can eat are EVERYWHERE! In the pics below it's easy to see where the deer are browsing the beans in the field edge. I see these same patterns come fall as they travel along that field edge near the cover. I shot one of my best bucks after I shot a doe at the edge like this and she ran into the field and he came charging out after her......I had no idea he was there......but it didn't take me long to make that adjustment!

Took some pics of my north plot as well. There is a lot going on up there since I am trying a few different things. I have a perennial clover plot that is doing well with a mix of ladino clover and chicory. I also have an annual plot that was seeded with a mix last fall. Some of it I have left entirely alone. Some of it I mowed and the red clover is being hammered by the deer. I also tilled a few strips after mowing as well a few weeks ago and some of the brassica has reseeded itself as well. I think it will be way to thick but it was interesting that they matured and produced seed and is now growing.

I also have what I hope is a pleasant surprise.....I HOPE this is a chestnut bur....if it is, it's my first one!!!! This is a Chestnut hill tree I planted as a 3 gallon container tree back in 2014.

I also went up to check on the new waterhole and to see if I could find any of my sawtooth oaks I direct planted in the woods. No dice on the acorns growing....... I checked several locations and not a one. The waterhole however was much easier to find! The "wildlife" found it rather relaxing as well!!!!

I also saw my chinkapin oaks are showing signs of acorns as well. Grow little buddy grow!!!

 

[j-bird]

I also took a few pics of a road screen project I'm working on. I have a woven wire fence where I have transplanted some honeysuckle and it is growing.....I then have a row of transplanted cedars as well. This is a work in progress. I don;t have anything planted to attract deer specifically, but clover does grow on it's own here. I let the weeds grow to provide some screening as well, but eventually I hope the honeysuckle on the fence and the cedars will do the job and then I will figure out what to do with the rest of the area.

Since my chinkapin was showing signs of acorns I went to check my white oak and found a location where deer where bedding in the tall weeds just off the soybean field. I have NEVER found beds here before so this was unexpected as well.

I also found a splash of color out there......got some honeysuckle, trumpet vine and some maxi sunflower.

Maybe tomorrow evening I'll take a walk along the south side of the place and see what's going on there as well. If I find something interesting maybe post an update.

 

[Bill]

PM me your address. I've got an experiment to send you for that screening project.

 

[j-bird]

PM me your address. I've got an experiment to send you for that screening project.

Done....

What exactly are you sending me?????

 

[j-bird]

I did get a confirmation that my chestnut tree IS developing a bur, so with a little luck maybe I'll end up with my first chestnuts this year. I'm pretty tickled even though I know they may not mature, at least I know the tree is mature enough to start producing.....and that is a start.

 

[Bill]

Done....

What exactly are you sending me?????

Time to get you on the MG band wagon.

 

[j-bird]

Well I guess I can add "Bill grass" to the list then.....I already have "catscratch oaks". I have looked into MG before but just haven't taken the leap. More "deer crap" growing on the back porch....the wife will love it!!! Besides this screen project I have some blinds and access routes I have been thinking of putting in MG as well. We will start small and take it from there. Your PM makes it sound easy growing from cuttings.....we will see, I'm pretty damned inept sometimes!!!

Oh - and, Thanks!

 

[j-bird]

Well, sometimes you just need a little push to try something you haven't and thanks to Bill, I got that "push". So with some help from Bill I have officially started my journey with MG (I'm just going to call it MG because I can;t spell what it really is without looking it up). Since I have "Catscratch oaks" I guess I now have "Bill grass" as well. I have very little idea what I'm doing, but from what Bill has told me - It sounds pretty straight forward......so, here goes nothing!

Bill sent me approx 30 "stalks" of MG - I think those in the know refer to them as cuttings. I am told to soak in water until they begin to root and then transfer them into containers. Pointed ends down - flat ends up ..... per Bill's instruction. Sitting out back where they will get a majority of the mid day sun. If they need more I can move to the front (faces south).

My kids asked what I was doing with bamboo..... I told them it was "weed".....my son told me I need to ask for my money back because I got some pretty shitty "weed"!!!! My youngest chimed in and said, "Gotta be some deer stuff if dad's mess'n with it." I will add this to my habitat journey and have a few places where I think this stuff will work great for various screening purposes.

I have to give a great big THANK YOU to Bill for these.

Just to be clear I did offer to send him some Johnsongrass, canada thistle, MFR or Jap bush Honey suckle in return....:D:D:D:D

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Last sentence above - What a SWELL guy !!! ^^^^^^

 

[j-bird]

Last sentence above - What a SWELL guy !!! ^^^^^^

Hey - I knew it all grows well on my place so I wanted to send him something I felt would be a success on this place too!!!!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Classic !! ^^^

 

[j-bird]

Took some pics today while I was on the south and southwest portions of my place today and thought I would share.

I have 1 apple tree producing this year but it seems to be progressing well.

My south bottom plot is going OK. There was a lot of volunteer corn that I will have to contend with. I was concerned of that. I did hit the plot with some gly (2% mix) to clean up the weeds however and will evaluate the need to address the corn density once I see what is actually corn. I may take a few passes with a tank of cleth to weaken the corns grip on this plot, but we will see. I just wanted it for some cover....the soybeans are the "food".

I did find a surprise.... Turns out some of the sunflower seeds I added by chance germinated as well. I avoided hitting them with my gly application. we will see how they do. I added the corn for some cover so I figure the sunflowers should help with that as well.

My southwest plot looked about the same but didn't have the volunteer corn issue, but still need a shot of gly...and it got it.

I also transplanted the remaining container sawtooth oak trees from the back deck into areas of sunlight I found in the woods in the north to see if they would make it, buy having a bit of a jump start....we will see how they do. And the waterhole up north has become quite the frog pond as well. Several frogs and tons of tadpoles. No real sign of the broadcast switchgrass in the south yet....I hope I didn't throw my money away, but there is still time....patience isn't a strong suit of mine! Over the course of the day I did see several deer and a real surprise was a hen turkey and 3 young ones - the young where advanced enough that they flew off, but still had the "ugly duckling" look to them.

 

[j-bird]

Well I was looking for something and had to take a stroll back in time..... these property threads are a pretty good tool to recall what and when you did something. I started it to help others, but if you take terrible notes (like me) - these can be a pretty good tool to keep a timeline for yourself as well. It will be interesting to see how valuable these are once I get a few years into them. Obviously the more info you share the more value you get out of it later as well. I can certainly see why folks really lost their mind when that "Q" place shut down and all their personal info was lost like that. Even if you don't want to share - a property log like this will be a great tool for anyone doing work on their property. It also sort of forces you to make observations and the like that you may otherwise not or forget in time.......and you do forget.

 

[j-bird]

Well - I did find some good news. I had noticed a few large shrubs (due to their white flower) that I wasn't sure what they where. I'm pretty decent with my trees, but not shrubs at IDing them. So I posted on the forums and turns out it's Elderberry. I don;t know much about it, but I hear folks planting it all the time and the deer seem to like to browse it. I think I'm going to try to get some cuttings at some point and see if I can get it to spread in some areas to thicken up the understory. Normally when I find something "new" it's some sort of invasive!!! but this time it's something good.

Same pics I posted in the my posting asking what it was, but thought I should include it in my habitat thread as well.

From what I can tell it seems to like damp soils in places where it can get some sun. The one I took pics of is roughly 10 feet across and just as tall. Obviously it will do me more good down around where the deer can reach it. I'll try to get some cuttings from it and may even "prune" it back to get more of that browse in the deer's reach. I have several of these so I will try one first and see how it goes.