Way to make hayfield cover better?

[Derek Reese 29]

So I have a 3 acre field above my house in the shape of a sideways ice cream cone..with the skinny end to the East. The easternmost acre of the field is a food/tree plot. In the West side of the field (the big end of the cone and near my Western property line) I have a screen of 5 rows of pine, spruce, poplar, and bush crabapple. To the East of that I have about 1.5 acres of overgrown hayfield (this field used to be a cultivated hayfield). Is there any way to speed up succession or to make this thicker than it already is? So far there is a good stand of hay and also some smaller trees, weeds and briars starting in it. Would giving it a shot of fertilizer help next spring? Don’t really want to mow it as I like the height on it (2-3’ minimum)…thanks in advance for the help.

 

[BenAllgood]

What kind of hay? Some of those grasses used for hay can dominate and suppress other grasses and forbs. Fertilizer added on it may just make that hay grow thicker and not give the cover you're wanting.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

What kind of hay? Some of those grasses used for hay can dominate and suppress other grasses and forbs. Fertilizer added on it may just make that hay grow thicker and not give the cover you're wanting.

Im not sure? It’s pretty brown/yellow now and I know there’s a little alfalfa and some goldenrod in it but it gets pretty high and stays that way till we get a good snow..would really just like it to be thicker and brushier (I know I may have to plant some of that)..see pics below…

 

[BenAllgood]

I'd get rid of that green underneath there. I think that's what's suppressing the taller stuff. Spraying it now while everything else is dormant would benefit the cover aspect.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I'd get rid of that green underneath there. I think that's what's suppressing the taller stuff. Spraying it now while everything else is dormant would benefit the cover aspect.

Hmmm think that pic was from last March…could I spray with roundup or would that smoke all my other forbs/briars/shrubs that are already growing?

 

[BenAllgood]

Spraying when it's dormant to kill the cool season grasses is ideal. If you have any green grasses now, I'd spray them. Before I converted mine, it looked like that when left to fallow. After I got rid of the cool season pasture/hay grasses, the warm season plants jumped up.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Spraying when it's dormant to kill the cool season grasses is ideal. If you have any green grasses now, I'd spray them. Before I converted mine, it looked like that when left to fallow. After I got rid of the cool season pasture/hay grasses, the warm season plants jumped up.

Would that still be good late season cover? Are those warm season grasses tall? (I expect that they are aggressive). This field faces South and my intention is for this to be a bedding/staging area. (Along with the conifer screen) Also my neighbor’s house is about 100 yds from the West edge of this thicker hay and I would like it to be thick enough that they feel safe..I’ll have to get updated pics when I’m up there this weekend.

 

[buckdeer1]

Don't know alot about PA weather but if it snows late season,no that won't stand up and it will be flat.I would plant what ever shrubs grow up there and deer use.Check with USDA office or state forestry see if they have a seedling planter and spray those strips and kill grass and drill into them.Lightly discing may stimulate.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Don't know alot about PA weather but if it snows late season,no that won't stand up and it will be flat.I would plant what ever shrubs grow up there and deer use.Check with USDA office or state forestry see if they have a seedling planter and spray those strips and kill grass and drill into them.Lightly discing may stimulate.

I have some switchgrass seed to try to plant near the tree screen but haven’t gotten around to nuking a small section then planting it yet..I l could get used to the idea of a bunch or random shrubs out there too just want it to be thick and a visible barrier

 

[BenAllgood]

I went from this:



To this:

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I went from this:

View attachment 59594

To this:

View attachment 59595

Yep that right there with maybe some pockets of shrubs and briars is what I’m looking for..does it hold up ok in the cold?

 

[BenAllgood]

Yep that right there with maybe some pockets of shrubs and briars is what I’m looking for

I did plant some areas, but didn't plant others. From a cover aspect they're almost the same. There are beds all through it. Briars and shrubs came in on their own. I wanted to plant add some switch, but the local biologist talked me out of it. He drove around to different fields with a deer decoy to show me the cover aspect of what he was suggesting I do just to convince me. I'm glad I listened to him. I have more grasses than I'd care for right now. I really need to thin them out. I could stand in areas and not see a deer 10 feet in front of me. I even need to cut lanes out through it just to be able to see them moving.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I did plant some areas, but didn't plant others. From a cover aspect they're almost the same. There are beds all through it. Briars and shrubs came in on their own. I wanted to plant add some switch, but the local biologist talked me out of it. He drove around to different fields with a deer decoy to show me the cover aspect of what he was suggesting I do just to convince me. I'm glad I listened to him. I have more grasses than I'd care for right now. I really need to thin them out. I could stand in areas and not see a deer 10 feet in front of me. I even need to cut lanes out through it just to be able to see them moving.

That would be my end goal..I want them to feel safe to come into the food/tree plot been planting it since 2021 and at the end of the spring there will be 44 apple/crab/pear trees in it along with clover/brassica/WR.. see below for a “long distance” pic taken from my stand this evening ..note the setting sun to the West and the point of my neighbors house also

 

[Telemark]

If you want to make it into cover, I would terminate the hay and do switch with conifers in the western acre and bushy trees and shrubs in the middle acre.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

If you want to make it into cover, I would terminate the hay and do switch with conifers in the western acre and bushy trees and shrubs in the middle acre.

Was thinking something similar..a small thin stand of switch (like 6 yds wide by 60yds long ) as a living wall that will expand and throw seed towards the thicker area..any ideas on bushy trees and shrubs ..think I’m near the border of zones 5/6

 

[Telemark]

Was thinking something similar..a small thin stand of switch (like 6 yds wide by 60yds long ) as a living wall that will expand and throw seed towards the thicker area..any ideas on bushy trees and shrubs ..think I’m near the border of zones 5/6

Rather than a strip of switch, I would plant it kinda patchy or checkerboard. This adds structure and horizontal cover, which deters predators and let's deer feel secure as well as blocking cold winds.

As for shrubs and trees,

Dogwoods
Willows
White cedar
Sumac
Elderberry
Mountain maple
Sugar maple (must be coppiced periodically)
Ash (must be coppiced periodically)
Highbush cranberry
Nannyberry
Mountain ash
Hazelnut

 

[Teeder]

Watching with interest.
I have 2-1/2 acres of crop field that I plan to do this to after next year's planting season.
My goal is that it adds to a 3 acre wooded sanctuary that I'm thickening up.

 

[Telemark]

Bonus species:

Gaultheria procumbens​

Viburnum nudum​

Magnolia acuminata​

 

[H20fwler]

Was thinking something similar..a small thin stand of switch (like 6 yds wide by 60yds long ) as a living wall that will expand and throw seed towards the thicker area..any ideas on bushy trees and shrubs ..think I’m near the border of zones 5/6

Highbush cranberry
ROD
Pinoak
Chinquapin oak
Sawtooth oak
Chinese chestnuts
Crab apples
Indian currant
Ninebark
Hazelnut
Wild plums
Persimmons

 

[RGrizzzz]

Spray it with a strong side of clethodim in the spring as the grass is starting to green up. That will kill off the grass, and let other things fill in.