Fall seed, frost seed, Spring seed ???

[bowhuntr311]

Ok, so here is what I started with. This was around an old stand on a property I can hunt. The land owner had his bobcat in there years ago and pushed alot of the brush out around this stand for shooting lanes. He was on that end of the property one day this early summer and I had told him to push a few dead trees off the wheeler trail if he was down that way. Well to my amazement the next time I was through there he had and taken a few stumps that were old and rotten.
So heres what I started with.

After a quick mowing with my mower behind the ATV, and some work with an ATV disc, this is what I ended up with.

Ok so I know its not much but I figure its better than it being just brush. Im planning on planting some old brassica mix seed I have which has only about a 35% germ rate so I plan on putting PLENTY of seed down this weekend. I want to turn this shady area into a clover/chicory spot for next year. What Im wondering is when should I put the clover/chicory seed down? Should I mix it with my brassicas or seperate at a different date? Its tilled now for fall, I can frost seed it next spring, or I can wait and re-disc it next spring and plant it.

When should I plant? and is there an advantage to planting spring vs fall, frost seeding vs spring seeding ect???

Thanks.

 

[letemgrow]

Make sure it gets plenty of sunlight, and I would plant the clover with brassicas by mid august.

 

[Crimson Arrows]

I had trouble planting brassicas with clover last year but maybe rye/clover in about 3 weeks? That way you have a fall food source and give the clover a chance to start. Then you can frost seed to "thicken" it up this March and mow the excess rye next year. Just a thought.

 

[dbltree]

I had trouble planting brassicas with clover last year but maybe rye/clover in about 3 weeks? That way you have a fall food source and give the clover a chance to start. Then you can frost seed to "thicken" it up this March and mow the excess rye next year. Just a thought.

I agree...I know you want to use up the brassica seed but...

The brassicas have a alleopathic chemical that may inhibit clover germination if frost seeded or spring seeded ad if seeded with the brassicas they may shade out the clover.

Notice I entered a lot of "maybe's" into all of this...

The other problem is brassicas often don't do well at all in shade areas where trees also suck moisture and nutirents from the soil.

Rye on the other hand does reasonably well...

Just some things to ponder but rye and oats work great to establish the clover this fall but brassicas may or may not be a problem...

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

We planted a mix of berseem clover and oats in a semi-shady spot this spring. It became really obvious how much more the clover thrived towards the outside...sun shiney area vs. the shade spot back in the timber. Maybe girdle some trees or get some more sunlight in there to help the clover out.

 

[Seth]

Well I'm about as new as new can be when it comes to food plotting but here is my observation about fall vs. spring planting when it comes to clover. I planted a plot in alice white clover last august. It came up fairly well and because I did it so late in the growing season, not many weeds or grass came up with it. Fast forward to this spring. As soon as the weather started turning warm, the clover took off like a scalded cat. A few weeds and grass came up with it, but the clover was so thick it choked most of it out. After my first mowing the clover was back up within a week and nary a weed was to be seen.

All of this was done without fertilizer or herbicides in soil that has who-knows-what for a pH level. Mixing oats in will only help. The deer LOVE them and when they die off this winter they will lay down a good organic mat to help keep any weeds and grass from starting next spring and the clover will have the go for launch.

My $0.02