What to do

[Bill Loser]

Dumb question maybe. If the suggestion is to start the rod cuttings in pots would it work for me to take a bunch of cuttings and give them the winter to take root to plant in spring? Please don't beat me up. Too bad if that's a stupid idea.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Dumb question maybe. If the suggestion is to start the rod cuttings in pots would it work for me to take a bunch of cuttings and give them the winter to take root to plant in spring? Please don't beat me up. Too bad if that's a stupid idea.

Just hold off and plant them in the spring in pots outdoors when they want to grow naturally. Fill a pot with dirt, add 6-8 cuttings per pot pushing them all the way to the bottom of the pot leaving a couple inches above the soil. Water frequently to keep the soil moist and plant them late in the fall when dormant or early the following spring.

I've done this a number of times and I have wild ROD growing in the spot that I set my pots. Apparently if a section of root grows through the pot and finds dirt, it will turn into a shrub even after you snap it off while picking up the pot.

 

[SD51555]

Dumb question maybe. If the suggestion is to start the rod cuttings in pots would it work for me to take a bunch of cuttings and give them the winter to take root to plant in spring? Please don't beat me up. Too bad if that's a stupid idea.

Not a stupid idea. I've been studying ROD for years and I keep learning. Knowing what I know today, this is how I'd tackle it, with the following goals in mind:

*Speed to growth
*Cost savings
*Likelihood of success
*Speed of installation

1. Skip over the cutting and go harvest wild plants right when the frost comes out. You can pull 1-3 dozen stems per minute depending on how rich of a honey hole you find. This will save you hundreds, if not thousands in purchasing costs. So I wouldn't rule out driving up to 3 hours one way to find some.

2. Plant 10-30 seedlings per hole right away, skip the potting phase, and then cage/mulch them. If you site match them well enough, I don't think you need to mat them, but you certainly could. I also like to bring in outside topsoil, just to be certain I get the roots covered, and I'm not trying to make soil out of 8" slabs of sod.

3. If you have enough surplus brush laying around, you can always plant bigger groupings and build a hell of a brush wall around them. It doesn't need to last forever, just long enough for them to get above browse height. I think a few dead spruce or cedar trees would make about the best barrier I could think of. Hardwood tops with softwood brush thrown over the top would be a close second. You could also put in a row or square and use Tenax fencing to keep the deer out. Now you're talking about buying fence posts, and that can get awful expensive quickly.

 

[Bill Loser]

Not a stupid idea. I've been studying ROD for years and I keep learning. Knowing what I know today, this is how I'd tackle it, with the following goals in mind:

*Speed to growth
*Cost savings
*Likelihood of success
*Speed of installation

1. Skip over the cutting and go harvest wild plants right when the frost comes out. You can pull 1-3 dozen stems per minute depending on how rich of a honey hole you find. This will save you hundreds, if not thousands in purchasing costs. So I wouldn't rule out driving up to 3 hours one way to find some.

2. Plant 10-30 seedlings per hole right away, skip the potting phase, and then cage/mulch them. If you site match them well enough, I don't think you need to mat them, but you certainly could. I also like to bring in outside topsoil, just to be certain I get the roots covered, and I'm not trying to make soil out of 8" slabs of sod.

3. If you have enough surplus brush laying around, you can always plant bigger groupings and build a hell of a brush wall around them. It doesn't need to last forever, just long enough for them to get above browse height. I think a few dead spruce or cedar trees would make about the best barrier I could think of. Hardwood tops with softwood brush thrown over the top would be a close second. You could also put in a row or square and use Tenax fencing to keep the deer out. Now you're talking about buying fence posts, and that can get awful expensive quickly.

Ok, so what size am I looking for? New growth or established plants but not to big?
Posts for cages aren't a problem, I've got hundreds. This was a horse farm when we moved here and I spent a year pulling posts.
For the grass, is there any way to broadcast switch grass or similar into the already established grasses and expect it to grow? The problem is the grass mats down after the first snow and then there is no cover left after that.

 

[SD51555]

Ok, so what size am I looking for? New growth or established plants but not to big?
Posts for cages aren't a problem, I've got hundreds. This was a horse farm when we moved here and I spent a year pulling posts.
For the grass, is there any way to broadcast switch grass or similar into the already established grasses and expect it to grow? The problem is the grass mats down after the first snow and then there is no cover left after that.

I'd say anything you can pull out of the ground without hurting yourself, ideally 18-36", but I wouldn't pass up any small ones either. Any clump you find will likely be root grafted together anyway. That was my experience when I tore apart a bush by my outhouse. I thought I had 50 individual stems, but as they pulled out, they were all pointing towards each other and broke off as the roots came up. Still, with all the breakage and carnage, I think I got 100% survival, and that is because those plants were dormant and I got the site match correct. They went into fairly soggy soil, and in full sun.

I didn't see any dead ones anyway. I was blown away at how well that worked.

I can't help ya on the switch grass. I know very little about NWSG's.

 

[Tree Spud]

Ok, so what size am I looking for? New growth or established plants but not to big?
Posts for cages aren't a problem, I've got hundreds. This was a horse farm when we moved here and I spent a year pulling posts.
For the grass, is there any way to broadcast switch grass or similar into the already established grasses and expect it to grow? The problem is the grass mats down after the first snow and then there is no cover left after that.

Most likely you have reed canary grass growing there. It grows by rhizomes spreading creating a thick mat of subsurface root structure. Until you get rid of the RCG, it will be a challenge to establish any shrubs ... that's why there are not there now. The RCG will drop over and smoother any small shrubs.

You'd be better off spreading a season killing off the RCG with multiple sprayings of glysophate. Once you get the RCG eliminated, you will have a better chance of getting shrubs to grow to be tall enough and sturdy enough to withstand the RCG if it comes back.

You won't be able to seed switch grass with any success because it is a warm season grass. As RCG is a cold season grass, it will come up first and outcompete the SG.

 

[Bill Loser]

Most likely you have reed canary grass growing there. It grows by rhizomes spreading creating a thick mat of subsurface root structure. Until you get rid of the RCG, it will be a challenge to establish any shrubs ... that's why there are not there now. The RCG will drop over and smoother any small shrubs.

You'd be better off spreading a season killing off the RCG with multiple sprayings of glysophate. Once you get the RCG eliminated, you will have a better chance of getting shrubs to grow to be tall enough and sturdy enough to withstand the RCG if it comes back.

You won't be able to seed switch grass with any success because it is a warm season grass. As RCG is a cold season grass, it will come up first and outcompete the SG.

Ok, I've kinda thought that but I am afraid of killing the grass and being without cover for deer season
But that said it sounds like that's my only choice. Do I do it in sections? And is there anything other than switch that you'd suggest?

 

[Tree Spud]

Ok, I've kinda thought that but I am afraid of killing the grass and being without cover for deer season
But that said it sounds like that's my only choice. Do I do it in sections? And is there anything other than switch that you'd suggest?

I've had lots of battles with RCG and it is a bitch to deal with. Once it snows, it falls over creating a mat as you noted. Like I said, there is a reason there is very else growing there now.

My approach has been an initial gly spraying when it first greens up and emerges. Give it another 3-4 weeks and spray again what comes up. You will probably need a 3rd spraying.

Switch will take 3 years to establish and shrubs even longer so there is no fast solution. Putting shrubs in 4'-5' tree tubes will allow you to plant them and then spray.

 

[SD51555]

Ok, so what size am I looking for? New growth or established plants but not to big?
Posts for cages aren't a problem, I've got hundreds. This was a horse farm when we moved here and I spent a year pulling posts.
For the grass, is there any way to broadcast switch grass or similar into the already established grasses and expect it to grow? The problem is the grass mats down after the first snow and then there is no cover left after that.

If you’ve already got the posts, you can do a boat load of tenax fencing for 60 cents/foot. Just make your spots small enough the deer don’t want to jump in. Would be great for rows or small squares of 6x6 or less.

Amazon.com

That’s supposed to be an Amazon link. I’ve had a few rolls of that stuff and I really like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Loser]

If you’ve already got the posts, you can do a boat load of tenax fencing for 60 cents/foot. Just make your spots small enough the deer don’t want to jump in. Would be great for rows or small squares of 6x6 or less.

Amazon.com

That’s supposed to be an Amazon link. I’ve had a few rolls of that stuff and I really like it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks sd, I've actually got rolls and rolls of plastic snow fencing I scavenged off a job site years ago. I've also had good luck caging trees with standard electric fence wire. Have to stagger it, and I've got miles of that stuff around.
I've got tons of rod growing around the pond in the front yard, I should be able to pull a bunch from there. Otherwise I was just going to pull some from the thicker spots already growing on my land.

 

[Bill Loser]

I've had lots of battles with RCG and it is a bitch to deal with. Once it snows, it falls over creating a mat as you noted. Like I said, there is a reason there is very else growing there now.

My approach has been an initial gly spraying when it first greens up and emerges. Give it another 3-4 weeks and spray again what comes up. You will probably need a 3rd spraying.

Switch will take 3 years to establish and shrubs even longer so there is no fast solution. Putting shrubs in 4'-5' tree tubes will allow you to plant them and then spray.

Thanks for the info. Is there any other way to kill other than gly? Besides the cost I am trying to get away from any chemicals
Ill need to plan this out and try to find a way to do this with out killing the hunting down there for a few years

 

[Tree Spud]

Here is a link to RCG control. You may also want to confirm that it is RCG as I am speculating. You could try smaller sections at first, not sure how you will get around the need for a herbicide though.

Reed Canary Grass Control