Take a walk with me through the prairie

SwampCat said:
I have some nwsg that came in naturally after killing the fescue. There were quite a few forbs to begin with, but now the grass - mostly little bluestem - has pretty well choked out the forbs. I also just enrolled a four acre field into a pollinator planing through our G&F Department - and they insist burning is necessary and required.

I have burned thousands of acres in my natural resource work with the Feds - but I had help and equipment - even then - a fire or two got out. I dont burn anymore with limited equipment and no help. I have burned enough in the past to learn that.

How do you keep the grass from overwhelming everything else - do you intermittently mow or spray it?
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Mowing and spraying both. Rather than the grass getting too thick , my nemesis is blackberry trying to take over. I like it in the fence rows and edges but not taking over fields.
 
Native Hunter said:
Mowing and spraying both. Rather than the grass getting too thick , my nemesis is blackberry trying to take over. I like it in the fence rows and edges but not taking over fields.
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I wish blackberry would grow in my fields. One man’s curse is another man’s blessing
 
Swamp, have you tried discing in fall. Should set back grasses and promote forbs. I’ll throw in a pound or two of forbs after I disc in fall to help the process. Partridge pea works great
 
I have an unusual one for you today. I found this at the edge of my woods and then unsuccessfully searched for 45 minutes for another one. After some research, I have identified this as Vaccinium stamineum (Highbush Huckleberry) also known as Deerberry. Apparently, it is quite rare in these parts. According to what I have found, deer seldom browse the plant, but they do like to eat the berries. I cleared out around it some and caged it so I can watch it a little closer in the future.


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Wind Gypsy said:
@Native Hunter is there ever anything that grows on your place that just looks lousy? I swear every damn plant you’ve ever posted a picture of is a top specimen.
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My sweetgum trees are prolific, and I have about 10,000,000 of them that need a new home.
 
How is your autumn olive? I swear anytime I open up sunlight near a field edge there they come
 
Howboutthemdawgs said:
How is your autumn olive? I swear anytime I open up sunlight near a field edge there they come
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Ditto for me. I cut numerous spots over the last few years. A year after cutting, I can't walk through, because it's so thick with Autumn Olive.
 
This is a spot that blackberries love. This picture was taken one year after the patch was mowed to within 4 inches of the ground. In places like this where blackberry flourishes, succession has to take place from trees moving in from the outside, which could take many decades. They grow so thick that even seedlings from the mighty oak will be killed by the briers. Yes, blackberries are great. I love them in fence rows - but be careful what you wish for.

Mo9VhHc.jpg
 
I forgot to mention something relative to that blackberry spot - seven years ago it was sprayed with Remedy Ultra to kill the blackberries. LOL, good luck with that. 😄
 
Blackberries are everywhere sun hits the ground on my land, many benefits to them but man... try to walk through the picture you took and then look at your jeans lol

I read a study somewhere on here about blackberries being preferred browse for deer so unless they are hindering anything I have planted, I just leave them be even though I personally don't see much browse. I also have wild raspberries that are friggin delicious and not so thorny. I did mow a spot similar to yours and it seemed to promote growth, or pissed them off, either way I had the same experience as you.
 
Blackberrys sprayed during bloom time are pretty easy to kill don’t mow them and then spray them you want maximum leaf contact.
 
It looks like all my Imgur pictures in this thread have reappeared. Maybe I can start posting in it again now.
 
Bill said:
I made our system save any imgur pic to our permanent cache. Once they show back up imgur can piss off, I got them forever.... 😉
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That's great Bill. For some reason the pics still aren't showing in some of my other threads, but maybe they will in time.
 
Native Hunter said:
That's great Bill. For some reason the pics still aren't showing in some of my other threads, but maybe they will in time.
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I'm not sure what it takes in the DNS world. But chances are they will eventually show up. What's weird is if you edit an old post your pics show up during editing but not when you're done. Old pics ??? I'm hopeful. Any new imgur pics are here to stay. the only hitch is we had some members post imgur pics on another and then copy and paste that link here. I can't save those, especially if that forum disappears.
 
I was harvesting a few chestnuts today and couldn’t help but notice the beauty of the loaded up serviceberry bushes. I doubt that deer care much about them but the birds sure do. Actually, serviceberry makes a decent thicket and good cover if you keep it from getting shaded out.

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Our deer really like coral berry but as dry as it is I doubt if theres much in the timber
 
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