hillrunner
PMA Member
I acquired this property in December , and instantly began making plans for for habitat improvement. I started by drilling in cave in rock switchgrass into about 8 acres of open pasture as soon as the ground would allow.
The next step was to plant about 800 trees on the property with the main goal to be creating long term poaching screens from the road and neighboring properties.
In April it was time to spray. I used a 300 gallon sprayer behind the tractor to spray Atrazine and Round up on the switchgrass. After about a week it was pretty obvious I had some misses so I went out with the 4 wheeler to clean things up.
Soon after that it was time for the "bucket method" of spraying around the trees.One guy on the 4 wheeler while one followed with a bucket on a stick and the spray boom made fairly quick work of this job.
Several hours of plowing , discing had 10 acres of pasture ready for alfalfa seeding.
3 cuttings later the alfalfa is doing great , the deer love it , and the bales make a great backstop for wild arrows.
Now its time for some fall plots. After spraying the brome with round up , I waited a week before burning. After burning I tilled it up with the disc.
And finally spreading the oats before discing them in.
The alfalfa looks great , the switchgrass is coming , and 99 % of the trees look healthy. Its been a ton of work , but I enjoyed it all and have plenty of plans for next year. ( including trying to remember a few more pictures along the way.)
If anyone else wants to share feel free !
The next step was to plant about 800 trees on the property with the main goal to be creating long term poaching screens from the road and neighboring properties.
In April it was time to spray. I used a 300 gallon sprayer behind the tractor to spray Atrazine and Round up on the switchgrass. After about a week it was pretty obvious I had some misses so I went out with the 4 wheeler to clean things up.
Soon after that it was time for the "bucket method" of spraying around the trees.One guy on the 4 wheeler while one followed with a bucket on a stick and the spray boom made fairly quick work of this job.
Several hours of plowing , discing had 10 acres of pasture ready for alfalfa seeding.
3 cuttings later the alfalfa is doing great , the deer love it , and the bales make a great backstop for wild arrows.
Now its time for some fall plots. After spraying the brome with round up , I waited a week before burning. After burning I tilled it up with the disc.
And finally spreading the oats before discing them in.
The alfalfa looks great , the switchgrass is coming , and 99 % of the trees look healthy. Its been a ton of work , but I enjoyed it all and have plenty of plans for next year. ( including trying to remember a few more pictures along the way.)
If anyone else wants to share feel free !