So I’ve got two small, in a wooded clearing, kill plots (one is about 1/10th of an acre and one is about 1/3). Planted LC mix late August the last two years and had great results. This fall, had mostly mature rye and ladino clover but it was relatively sparse.
So, we did a hybrid throw and mow. I came mid-August and spot sprayed the biggest weeds (there weren’t many), but the now mature rye had suppressed weeds very successfully.
Then, on 8/24 I seeded Rye (100lbs/acre), radish (4lbs/acre), a 50lb bag of VNS Ag soybeans I had laying around, and then a heavy rate of Ladino, Medium red, Fixation Balansa, Arrowleaf clovers. I seeded into the rye stubble and live white clover, mowed and then drove the plots thoroughly to pack the seeds into the exposed soil. The results have been amazing, fueled by nearly non-stop rains in the week or two after planting. We got 1” the day after planting, and probably close to 12” over the following 2 weeks. Even the soybeans, which I was just including to use them up, look terrific.
As a result (and finally getting to my question), we have a TON of white clover bouncing back from last years planting as well as an incredible blanket of clover seedlings throughout the new rye. My question comes in regarding next spring, as I want to transition this to clover longer term. However, we maintain these plots with a garden tractor with a mower deck that won’t go any higher than ~5” or so. Last time we spring mowed the rye, it seemed to stunt the clover as I think we mowed it too short (even all the way up). I’m kind of planning the spray the rye with clethodim next May and just leave it stand in the plot. Then we can mow it late summer right before a rain and the cooler weather favors the clover. Does this sound like a good plan? I’ve also considered just letting the rye go, as I’ll seed rye and clover into whatever I have next summer before the aforementioned late mowing anyway.
So, we did a hybrid throw and mow. I came mid-August and spot sprayed the biggest weeds (there weren’t many), but the now mature rye had suppressed weeds very successfully.
Then, on 8/24 I seeded Rye (100lbs/acre), radish (4lbs/acre), a 50lb bag of VNS Ag soybeans I had laying around, and then a heavy rate of Ladino, Medium red, Fixation Balansa, Arrowleaf clovers. I seeded into the rye stubble and live white clover, mowed and then drove the plots thoroughly to pack the seeds into the exposed soil. The results have been amazing, fueled by nearly non-stop rains in the week or two after planting. We got 1” the day after planting, and probably close to 12” over the following 2 weeks. Even the soybeans, which I was just including to use them up, look terrific.
As a result (and finally getting to my question), we have a TON of white clover bouncing back from last years planting as well as an incredible blanket of clover seedlings throughout the new rye. My question comes in regarding next spring, as I want to transition this to clover longer term. However, we maintain these plots with a garden tractor with a mower deck that won’t go any higher than ~5” or so. Last time we spring mowed the rye, it seemed to stunt the clover as I think we mowed it too short (even all the way up). I’m kind of planning the spray the rye with clethodim next May and just leave it stand in the plot. Then we can mow it late summer right before a rain and the cooler weather favors the clover. Does this sound like a good plan? I’ve also considered just letting the rye go, as I’ll seed rye and clover into whatever I have next summer before the aforementioned late mowing anyway.
