Native Warm Season Grass

[goatman]

Tried out a Truax seed slinger yesterday. I had a 4 acre patch to do in big bluestem. It did do a good job on getting that fluffy grass out. Glad I had snow on to see the coverage. The spread wasn't as far as a slick seed but did do the job.Also there is no settings on the fluffy stuff. Your ground speed determines your rate per acre. I did 6mph and was just alittle over 8lbs./acre. I did try a little switchgrass through it. I will be keeping my Herd seeder for that stuff and any clover.

And this is the 4 acres that got broadcast.

This is what 8lbs./acre of big bluestem broadcast on the snow.

 

[dbltree]

Very nice! Thanks so much for posting the pics and great information! :way:

 

[Scott]

Does anyone think there is a difference in the quality of the stand of grass you will get in using a broadcaster versus a drill? I am still a little on the fence on what I am going to use to plant mine in a few weeks here. My only concern with the broadcaster is getting good coverage along the edges of the timber.

 

[dbltree]

Does anyone think there is a difference in the quality of the stand of grass you will get in using a broadcaster versus a drill? I am still a little on the fence on what I am going to use to plant mine in a few weeks here. My only concern with the broadcaster is getting good coverage along the edges of the timber.

I have seeded both ways and you can't see a lick of difference in either one, a drill is more accurate with seed coverage but the end result is usually always the same...

 

[letemgrow]

Does anyone think there is a difference in the quality of the stand of grass you will get in using a broadcaster versus a drill? I am still a little on the fence on what I am going to use to plant mine in a few weeks here. My only concern with the broadcaster is getting good coverage along the edges of the timber.

There MAY be a difference in the first year or two, but by year 3-4, one would not know which was planted with either method. I prefer broadcasting and have great stands from doing so.

 

[SWBUCKHNTR]

Broadcasting over sod?

I have a quick question for you guys. I took possession of a farm in october and didnt get a chance to burn down an area with round-up. It was hayed in september last year so it is pretty short yet. It is 2 acres and I am wanting to put in a mix of bb and lb maybe a little indian grass mixed in. If I frost seed this week yet and then hit the field with with round-up early spring before the nwsg sprouts will this be worth my time or should I just wait and do it right next fall?

 

[Daver]

I have a quick question for you guys. I took possession of a farm in october and didnt get a chance to burn down an area with round-up. It was hayed in september last year so it is pretty short yet. It is 2 acres and I am wanting to put in a mix of bb and lb maybe a little indian grass mixed in. If I frost seed this week yet and then hit the field with with round-up early spring before the nwsg sprouts will this be worth my time or should I just wait and do it right next fall?

It can be done the way you said, it is not optimal, but it is viable. I have done it this way with switchgrass.

 

[dbltree]

As Daver mentioned it can be done but if you fail to get a good kill on the cool season grasses they will come back to haunt you. If you add Plateau to the glyphosate it won't be a problem....check the first page of this thread for more herbicide options...

 

[letemgrow]

I have a quick question for you guys. I took possession of a farm in october and didnt get a chance to burn down an area with round-up. It was hayed in september last year so it is pretty short yet. It is 2 acres and I am wanting to put in a mix of bb and lb maybe a little indian grass mixed in. If I frost seed this week yet and then hit the field with with round-up early spring before the nwsg sprouts will this be worth my time or should I just wait and do it right next fall?

You can do it that way, I would also go back this following fall and hit the area again with roundup after the bb and lb goes dormant to get a really good kill on the fescue. I prefer a warmup in early November....that is THE best time to kill fescue at least for my area on the IA/MO line. :way:

 

[dbltree]

February 24th, 2011

The NWSG has stood up pretty well this winter despite some 18-20" snow fall's and high winds

This is the perfect time of year to dormant/frost seed any native grass seed

Best to not seed on more then a few inches of snow however

Broadcast or drill onto frozen soil in early morning if possible

Beds are everywhere however they chose the conifers and brush when the snow was deep

Makes shed hunting like looking for a needle in a haystack but I did find this one only feet from the edge of the tallgrass

If you dormant seed this winter, spray with 1-2 quarts of glyphosate and and 2-4 quarts of simazine or atrazine by late April on switchgrass and big bluestem or use Plateau/Panoramic on mixes that don't include switchgrass. On established natives with some cool season grasses that need to be cleaned up use 1 quart of gly and 1-2 ounces of Oust XP by early to mid April to clean up the stand.

 

[gahartman]

Going to be doing my first CRP project this year if approved. I am planning on doing a CP2 combination of Lil Blue, Big Blue, Switch, alfalfa and either Indian Grass or Western Wheat grass. We will also be putting in some pollinator habitat(in hopes of qualifying) which will be 25% grass(combination of green needlegrass, western wheat, and canada wildrye) and 75% pollinator flower/forbs. Will be looking to improve pheasant and deer habitat equally. I have a couple of questions in regard to the above. First do you guys think this is a good combination from your experience? Secondly 60 acres of this will be put in on intermediate grass that we will try to kill this fall and again in the spring. The other 20 acres will go into wheat stubble. My question is should RUP in fall and spring be okay, or should we use some plateau in the spring. I don’t think the weeds will be to bad so could you do 4 of plateau so you do not harm the switch or do we need a higher concentration. I am planning on putting this in late nov/early december with a drill. Could seed the switch the following winter if high amounts plateau required. Any thoughts would be great. Thanks in advance.

Greg<O

 

[dbltree]

If you get a good kill on the CSG you will probably do just fine with 4 ounces of Plateau Greg. Should work very well in that regard but I would be cautious of adding much alfalfa....

 

[gahartman]

\ I would be cautious of adding much alfalfa....

Is that becuase you would be worried about it out competing the NWSG. What would you put in its place. What would your top 5 combination be.

 

[dbltree]

Is that becuase you would be worried about it out competing the NWSG. What would you put in its place. What would your top 5 combination be.

IMO adding alfalfa would be a waste of seed $'s because there is no way it can compete with tall NWSG. In the end only 2 species at best will survive and usually it's Indiangrass and Big Blue but the rules will force you to plant them all anyway.

It may be different in your area but here is an example of the minimum they require here for a CP-2

Grass: .17lb Rough dropseed, .09lb June grass .4lb Switchgrass, .4lb Canada Wildrye, 2.5lb Big bluestem, 2.25lb Indiangrass, .01 Prairie dropseed Forbs: Black-eyed Susan .9oz, Culvers root .23oz, Grayheaded coneflower .6oz, Alsike Clover 4oz.

Over time not one of the other species will survive but we have to add them

this is a Plateau tolerant mix

Grass: 3lb Indiangrass, 2lb Big bluestem, .5lb Sideoats grama, 2lb Little Bluestem
Forbs: Black-eyed Susan 1oz, Grayheaded coneflower 3oz, Illinois bundleflower 4oz, Sweet black-eyed susan 1.5oz, White Prairie clover 1oz, Prairie Coneflower 1oz,Purple prairie clover 4oz ,

If I had to pick 5 species for my area it would be the big 3 along with Little Blue and Side oats grama but even then in 4-5 years only 2-3 of the tall grasses will remain...

 

[spltbrow]

I have a property that i just purchased and it has 10 acres of crp that has been planted to switchgrass. The switchgrass is very patchy, thick in some spots and very weedy in other spots. I talked with the nrcs and they said a burn should help it come back. Is this true? Should i burn it all and then litghtly disc and overseed or just burn? Looking for suggestions as i would like to realy thicken it up.

 

[letemgrow]

I have a property that i just purchased and it has 10 acres of crp that has been planted to switchgrass. The switchgrass is very patchy, thick in some spots and very weedy in other spots. I talked with the nrcs and they said a burn should help it come back. Is this true? Should i burn it all and then litghtly disc and overseed or just burn? Looking for suggestions as i would like to realy thicken it up.

Just burn, it will fill in with what is already there.

 

[letemgrow]

If I had to pick 5 species for my area it would be the big 3 along with Little Blue and Side oats grama but even then in 4-5 years only 2-3 of the tall grasses will remain...

Some good choices for short grass prairie are side oats, little bluestem and prairie dropseed.

 

[spltbrow]

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=834[/IMG] Will the larger areas fill back in with switch.

 

[letemgrow]

I would say burn it this spring, see what pops up this year and then you can seed back in if need be next year...those "weeds" may not be all that bad to start with as they could be types deer browse heavily in the safety of the switch grass that is there.

 

[dbltree]

Just remember to burn late in the spring (late April into mid May) to set back cool seasons and encourage the switch. If you wanted to you could use 1-2 ounces of Oust XP right after burning to keep down foxtail and other weeds.

I suspect the thin areas are failed areas that don't have any switch present but as Phil mentions...only one way to find out. Burn or burn and spray will yield some answers :way: