Pollinator question

Mattyq2402

5 year old buck +
I'm looking to ant a hillside in pheasants forever pollinators mix for SE Ohio. Do I want grasses included or without? Is there a benefit?

Also how have you planted pollinators with success. The location currently has a grass that has been there forever. Pla ting timing? spray? Fertilize?
 
My buddy is involved in a similar thing. In order to get his native pollinator field ‘approved’ he had to start out with a clean seed bed. Gly, till, gly plus fertilizer and lime. I believe his seed mix included various grasses but mostly lots of wildflowers.

He planted in the late spring and I think, but it takes a few years to get going good, he told me.
 
The advice above is good and you will need to get the existing vegetation under control to have any chance of your planting growing successfully. Spray the area in May once the grass is 6" tall, then let it die off. Till the area and let it sit until it grows back to 6" tall. Then spray the area again to kill the new growth and start planting.

I don't know what mix you have, but the seed mix should give you recommended planting dates, but getting the existing vegetation under control is more important than planting timing.
 
I'm in NW Ohio.
We did kind of the same around eight years ago. We sprayed off a hay field of fifteen acres, disced it up then planted big/little bluestem, Indian grass, switch, and a pollinator blend with a nice variety of coneflowers, Indian blanket, bergamot, black eyed Susan and other native flowers. We did ours in July because that is when the timing worked out for us after putting a couple ponds in. Like Maddog66 said it takes a couple years before it looks like anything. We also mowed it all a couple of times to get the grasses crowning. We did not fertilize. The grasses and pollinators don't seem to really compete with each other much they thrive together doing their own thing...the pollinators bloom hard in mid-July and late summer then the grasses come on bolting in late September after the flowers start withering. Same cycle every year since then and they are self-sustaining and each year it is even thicker.
I think the benefits of a similar project is almost limitless. Great for all kinds of wildlife year-round from deer to bees and it is outstanding for the soil.
Ours is not "clean" by any means we do have some weeds but overall, I think they are even a benefit to the diversity of the whole scheme of it.

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Same spot different time of year showing species of native grasses.

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Kind of details the project and shows the progression better in a timeline in the Land Tour section, The Big Woods
 
I'm in NW Ohio.
We did kind of the same around eight years ago. We sprayed off a hay field of fifteen acres, disced it up then planted big/little bluestem, Indian grass, switch, and a pollinator blend with a nice variety of coneflowers, Indian blanket, bergamot, black eyed Susan and other native flowers. We did ours in July because that is when the timing worked out for us after putting a couple ponds in. Like Maddog66 said it takes a couple years before it looks like anything. We also mowed it all a couple of times to get the grasses crowning. We did not fertilize. The grasses and pollinators don't seem to really compete with each other much they thrive together doing their own thing...the pollinators bloom hard in mid-July and late summer then the grasses come on bolting in late September after the flowers start withering. Same cycle every year since then and they are self-sustaining and each year it is even thicker.
I think the benefits of a similar project is almost limitless. Great for all kinds of wildlife year-round from deer to bees and it is outstanding for the soil.
Ours is not "clean" by any means we do have some weeds but overall, I think they are even a benefit to the diversity of the whole scheme of it.
Nice description of your process, H20. Great looking patch.
 
Agreed. Very nice! I have a 6-10 acre hidden field I’ve thought about this for. My buddies “butterfly field” looks a lot like yours above!

I’ve also thought of using it as the “yard” at our new house in ‘24 (appx 1 acre) with apple and pear trees sprinkled in. Beautiful, healthy, useful, and zero maintenance!!! I must be looking at it wrong?
 
Grasses like little bluestem, prairie dropseed, and side oats grama are often parts of a pollinator planting.

Some perennial wildflowers need cold stratification to germinate, but annuals can be planted like most other warm season crops.
 
I planted our Pollinator field last year using a rented drill from the county extension office. Year 1 field prep was early mow and roundup, and let grow. Year 2 was early season burn (April 9) roundup in late April and agin prior to seeding. Seeding was mid-May. I outlined the process in this post from last spring. By summer we were seeing more pollinators than any of our previous years.
 
best practice would be to till (or no till) then plant the field in RR soybeans for the summer , spray gly at least twice to make sure you burn down the competition , then seed late fall before snow or late winter by broadcasting with rice hulls (available thru PF) on top of the soybean stubble. The summer it germinates , mow it a few times in the summer but never shorter than 10" tall, (i mowed when it reaches 12-16" or so). In 3 years you will have a great stand that benefits all types of wildlife and looks great. tempImageHG40Hm.jpg
 
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I’ve also thought of using it as the “yard” at our new house in ‘24 (appx 1 acre) with apple and pear trees sprinkled in. Beautiful, healthy, useful, and zero maintenance!!! I must be looking at it wrong?
Great idea!! I planted a couple flower beds for my wife in our suburban "development" yard for pollinators (which visit continuously). But maybe I ought to enlarge them a bit. Can't go with a meadow-look, large-scale planting ........ it would lessen our home value and also those around us. But we're in a "re-landscaping mode" anyway - before I'm too broken down to man a shovel. Some things just outgrow their spaces after some years. So more coneflowers, phlox, black-eyed Susans, daisies, etc. for us!!
 
best practice would be to till (or no till) then plant the field in RR soybeans for the summer , spray fly at least twice to mark sure you burn down the completion , then seed late fall before snow or late winter by broadcasting with rice hulls on top of the (available thru PF) soybean stubble. The summer it germinates , mow it a few times in the summer but never shorter than 10" tall, (i mowed when it reaches 12-16" or so). In 3 years you will have a great stand that benefits all types of wildlife and looks great.
That's a great patch!!! I even see milkweed in there for the monarch butterflies to lay eggs on. Queen Anne's lace, bee balm (wild bergamot),black-eyed Susans, coneflowers ......... can't tell the rest. It's a heckuva mix.
 
That's a great patch!!! I even see milkweed in there for the monarch butterflies to lay eggs on. Queen Anne's lace, bee balm (wild bergamot),black-eyed Susans, coneflowers ......... can't tell the rest. It's a heckuva mix.
43 different species in that plot, the queen annes lace isnt supposed to be there and is a very formidable foe , ive not found a good method yet that works to remove or knock it back..
 
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