My Land Tour...The Big Woods

[H20fwler]

How is your Miscanthus doing? Any updated pics?

That one is is almost a sore topic!

It started out great although I planted my ryzomes and root cuttings way to close together.
Had a real good stand of it started, then the county mowers came through and mowed it all two years ago. They mow every summer early fall along the roadsides here.
The old guys that do the mowing in my area are kind of dicks, the tractors they use have brush hogs on an arm that reaches out plenty far. They mow around all the telephone poles too and don’t care if farmers have crops up close.
So...I posted it “Do Not Mow” last summer and called the head of the county road service and had a very in depth conversation on what I was trying to do with my property. I get that the county wants to mow the ditches every fall, I just don’t need them reaching as deep as they can across the ditch a few feet past the telephone poles into my property.
He drove out and looked it over called me back and said the old guys do mow plenty far outside of the ditch but they do have the right to? I pretty much lost my shit and explained how I own to the center of the road and pay taxes on it and don’t need some old guy mowing as far as he can reach into my property. I offered to come up and talk with him in person he declined and said he would talk with them.
The MG has a great root base now and grows to a few feet tall in summer nice and thick.
The old guys mowed it again last fall...this time when I called I wasn’t even a little nice about it.
I need to have a come to Jesus meeting with the actual guys mowing and will be keeping an eye out for them when I see them mowing in the neighborhood this fall.
I don’t understand why the old guys think everything they can reach needs to look like a putting green but will put fresh signs up again this summer.
What they can’t mow at my turn in because of posts looks great, nice and tall...the few feet that is left unmolested. The rest of it gets nipped down after growing decent all summer. I need to put in some more a few feet further back and see if that makes it to full size.

 

[williams111]

That sucks! Hopefully you'll get them to change their ways and it will take off. I have debated planting some right next to the road ditch, but I have a feeling the same thing will happen here. Thanks for the update.

 

[PatinPA]

That one is is almost a sore topic!

It started out great although I planted my ryzomes and root cuttings way to close together.
Had a real good stand of it started, then the county mowers came through and mowed it all two years ago. They mow every summer early fall along the roadsides here.
The old guys that do the mowing in my area are kind of dicks, the tractors they use have brush hogs on an arm that reaches out plenty far. They mow around all the telephone poles too and don’t care if farmers have crops up close.
So...I posted it “Do Not Mow” last summer and called the head of the county road service and had a very in depth conversation on what I was trying to do with my property. I get that the county wants to mow the ditches every fall, I just don’t need them reaching as deep as they can across the ditch a few feet past the telephone poles into my property.
He drove out and looked it over called me back and said the old guys do mow plenty far outside of the ditch but they do have the right to? I pretty much lost my shit and explained how I own to the center of the road and pay taxes on it and don’t need some old guy mowing as far as he can reach into my property. I offered to come up and talk with him in person he declined and said he would talk with them.
The MG has a great root base now and grows to a few feet tall in summer nice and thick.
The old guys mowed it again last fall...this time when I called I wasn’t even a little nice about it.
I need to have a come to Jesus meeting with the actual guys mowing and will be keeping an eye out for them when I see them mowing in the neighborhood this fall.
I don’t understand why the old guys think everything they can reach needs to look like a putting green but will put fresh signs up again this summer.
What they can’t mow at my turn in because of posts looks great, nice and tall...the few feet that is left unmolested. The rest of it gets nipped down after growing decent all summer. I need to put in some more a few feet further back and see if that makes it to full size.

That sucks. Can you put in some snow fence or T posts painted florescent orange along the road there. That would probably deter them from mowing it. They probably wouldn't go through the effort to move them and probably shorten up their mowing distance. I know some of my neighbors have done that for the snow plow guy who likes to get pretty aggressive and take swaths out of our yards every year.

 

[H20fwler]

That sucks. Can you put in some snow fence or T posts painted florescent orange along the road there. That would probably deter them from mowing it. They probably wouldn't go through the effort to move them and probably shorten up their mowing distance. I know some of my neighbors have done that for the snow plow guy who likes to get pretty aggressive and take swaths out of our yards every year.

I’ve e thought about putting T posts or electric fence post every few feet but those goofs would probably just reach over the top of them with the arm. And it would look like crap.
I shouldn’t have to do anything to protect my own property from someone else mowing it that is the part that pisses me off. It isn’t like I planted the MG right along the edge or anything it’s a good ten feet or more back from the ditch.
I just need to talk to the head county guy and the mowers well ahead of time to try and avoid any misunderstandings before they happen again.
The old guys have that clean farming mentality not the habitat view that we all have. They just need to try and look at it through my eyes.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Understand your frustration but county boys have conflicting objectives from yours. They are all about safety and max visibility from a driver perspective.

Ran into that last year literally with my car and cost me some thousands in damage. Before Covid was doing about 1 hour 45 min round trip to work every day and visibility in one spot is the worst. Homeowner put in a screen of spruce next to the road and now 15-20 yrs later very thick and branches spread out from trees quite close to the road. Young bambi's have no traffic sense and coming out of those trees no time for a driver to react. Sure mowers are probably overdoing it but if they or a family member ever forked out thousands or knew someone that got hurt and likely their opinion is to max mow everything.

Didn't help that across road was a cornfield that was probably bambi snack bar.

 

[H20fwler]

Understand your frustration but county boys have conflicting objectives from yours. They are all about safety and max visibility from a driver perspective.

Ran into that last year literally with my car and cost me some thousands in damage. Before Covid was doing about 1 hour 45 min round trip to work every day and visibility in one spot is the worst. Homeowner put in a screen of spruce next to the road and now 15-20 yrs later very thick and branches spread out from trees quite close to the road. Young bambi's have no traffic sense and coming out of those trees no time for a driver to react. Sure mowers are probably overdoing it but if they or a family member ever forked out thousands or knew someone that got hurt and likely their opinion is to max mow everything.

Didn't help that across road was a cornfield that was probably bambi snack bar.

I can see that point, but they mow every ditch all through the county even next to bare dirt.

It would make more sense to me if it was a bare field, it is not.
It’s a pasture of seven foot tall native grasses and there are white pines growing along it twenty thirty feet off the road, my road frontage right next to the pasture is thick woods right up to the ditch for a couple hundred yards.
I’m not in a high deer density area but every few years one does get hit along that stretch.
I considered that the old guys might be concerned about drifting snow but with the native grasses it can’t get that far.

Road hunting is a national year round sport to to some of the local Einstein’s in the area...I am trying to get a permanent privacy screen established and sooner or later I’ll get it done.

 

[H20fwler]

Took a few pics this morning while I was watering some apple trees planted this spring.

Wildflowers starting to pop and bloom giving the bees some easy pickings.


Had a lot of trouble with mites this winter almost wiped out all the hives. Slooowly getting built back up splitting hives.


The orchard is finally looking like a real orchard has taken 4-5 years to look legit between the pear and apple trees probably have around fifty or better fruit trees in this one now.
The pears are fastest growers and most impressive even though the first ones went in a year later than the apples.
The oldest are 12’-15’ now with baseball bat sized trunks.




The pears were a a couple weeks earlier than the apples blooming this spring and setting fruit. And of course we got a cold snap below freezing. The cherries and peach tree that were full of blossoms lost everything….the pears have a few fruit here and there so it’s not a total bust again this year.



The apples made it through the freeze many setting fruit for the very first time this year. So I will at least have something to post about in the “Let’s See” fruit threads.

 

[H20fwler]

Continued;

An Arkansas Black


Golden Hornet flat out loaded! I think these are one of the showiest and pretty trees in the fall loaded with little orange apples.


About every other cage had a deer bed next to it in grass.


Willows along road for road screen in the wet area are growing great, going to plant a bunch next spring , lots of ROD Flame Yellow and Fire to give it a neat look in winter.


Planted month ago as cutting


And we have geese all over front pond every day. Still seeing lots of woodies too, but the geese act tame.

 

[H20fwler]

Took a walk around the farm this morning to check things out.
Spotted a hen woodie with eight chicks on the front pond, the ducklings had a little size to them normally the hens take them on to the river.


Fruit trees are looking good, snapped a couple apple and pear pics.

Keiffer


Moonglow


Becton


Bartlett



Johnny Appleseed


Fuji


GoldenHornet


Also walked around pasture.
We have hundreds of of pinoak “bushes” in the shrub strips…deer are keeping them short for now. All about 3’ tall


The ROD gets browsed hard too but it is outgrowing the deer pressure. Most is around 4’ tall 3’ wide now.

 

[H20fwler]

Continued;

Chestnuts are pollinating


And we are up to four hives now!


Plenty of flowers coming on to keep the bees busy and my wife happy, she absolutely loves looking at wildflowers.

 

[H20fwler]

Continued;

 

[H20fwler]

Continued;

Last fall while pheasant hunting around the country I would pick milkweed pods as I saw them and put them in my vest.
Then later on as I was walking across pasture on my way to deer stand I would float the seeds in the breeze.
Have hundreds of these in the pasture now.


And the coolest find of the day…..

Our first peach ever!


And Darcy pointed up a bunny and two meadow larks.

 

[Troubles Trees]

Looks great H20! Always nice to see the fruits of our labor (pun intended :)
Love seeing the Milkweed, I did the same thing you did and now have an abundance of it. One of very few successes I have seen on my property lol

 

[H20fwler]

Looks great H20! Always nice to see the fruits of our labor (pun intended :)
Love seeing the Milkweed, I did the same thing you did and now have an abundance of it. One of very few successes I have seen on my property lol

Thanks!
Milkweed is definitely a very good thing to have on our farms, we also have a little swamp milkweed in the runoff of the front pond.
I planted a bunch of fennel and dill last spring to try and help out the swallow tails too.

 

[SWIFFY]

Looks great! I love all the wildflowers!

Ive noticed lots and lots of little ducks at my place this year, hopefully be a good year for the birds.

 

[buckdeer1]

Looks great,really like all the different flowers.You are correct about owning to the middle of the road but that doesn't mean you can plant things there.You have to be on the property side of the right of way line.The R/W is usually just inside or outside of the electric poles and is the same line that you would have to follow if you were putting up a fence.Kind of different that if you live in town you have to mow to edge of street but you don't own all the way to street in most cases.You can find your pin in middle of road and find how wide the road is supposed to be there and measure to find R/W line.

 

[H20fwler]

Looks great,really like all the different flowers.You are correct about owning to the middle of the road but that doesn't mean you can plant things there.You have to be on the property side of the right of way line.The R/W is usually just inside or outside of the electric poles and is the same line that you would have to follow if you were putting up a fence.Kind of different that if you live in town you have to mow to edge of street but you don't own all the way to street in most cases.You can find your pin in middle of road and find how wide the road is supposed to be there and measure to find R/W line.

Yep, I planted the MG well behind the telephone poles off the easement.
The old guys that mow for the county in fall just think everything they can reach with the mower arm has to be scalped, pisses me off.
MG is growing in good again this summer almost three foot tall until the mowing morons hit it again. The mowing is keeping it from crowning good and growing thicker, but roots are well established keeps trying to come back.

 

[H20fwler]

Stopped by the farm today to check on the wildflower bloom.
They are coming on strong.





Lots of bees buzzing around.
This one didn’t quite look like a honey bee and wasn’t dark enough to be a mason.


Lots of bumble bees


And some of these little ones the size of a grain of rice.


Swung over to the orchard to check on the fruit.
I do not mow orchard at all so ground cover is wild, it’s good for the bunnies and pheasant and deer bed all though it.
Also let’s fruit trees prove that they are survivors because they get no babying here, it’s all for wildlife.
One of the many deer beds.


Many of the apple trees are fruiting for their first time…from a couple apples to a dozen on some trees. Not pretty but they are there.

 

[fishin coyote]

H20,
Looks to be some sort of Syrphidae aka Hoover fly. Harmless native pollinator

 

[Bill]

Looks great!