Fried Overgrown Pasture

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

There's an area of my farm that before last weekend was a 1 acre patch of overgrown old pasture. It consisted of cockleburr, mustard, and various other crap plants and was just nasty.

I went in last weekend and got rid of all of it then sprayed a bunch of Roundup. I went in this morning to have a look and the whole area is completely fried, all the crap gone and the area looks like pasture once again.

I have a treestand set up on a trail that leads into this area, and I would like to plant something on it now that will help attract deer into the area. The area is secluded so I can't get my tractor or any large equipment in there. Any suggestions?

 

[JNRBRONC]

I spent part of my day planting an apple tree and an oak tree......

 

[dbltree]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have a treestand set up on a trail that leads into this area, and I would like to plant something on it now that will help attract deer into the area. The area is secluded so I can't get my tractor or any large equipment in there. Any suggestions? </div></div>

Does sound like a great spot to plant both hard and soft mast producing trees as Randy suggested.

The ideal crop for areas like that is clover because it can be frost seeded into the killed sod.

Assuming you aren't able to work this ground up, you could try a couple options....

Brassicas could be broadcast ahead of a heavy rain later this summer

and

some folks have had luck doing the same thing with clover seed by broadcasting right now ahead of a heavy rain. The dead thatch will provide a temporary mulch and keep the soil moist to help the clover seed germinate.

I wouldn't purchase real expensive clover seed for something like this, but it's worth a try if tillage isn't an option.

One problem I have encountered is that old pastures are often very poor ground. It needs lime and fertilizer to get to grow anything very well. This type of soil would need copious amounts of nitrogen for brassicas to do well I'm afraid.

I posted this pic in another thread...but it is clover popping up in an old pasture where I killed the sod with roundup earlier this spring.

I can't say that it will thrive but it will survive at least...so clover would get the thumbs up for a poor soil, hard to get to spot like yours /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/cool.gif

 

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

Thanks for the great info guys. Funny story...I actually frost seeded clover into this pasture in March (it was bare, no old weeds). I also shoveled in some lime in areas and raked some lime in in other areas. The clover was coming up great but unfortunately all the crap took over and the rest is history.

The bad news is that I live in Iowa City, work in Cedar Rapids, and my farm is just north of Burlington, haha...good combo! The month of June for me is booked so the next time I'm going to get to the farm will be in July. Hopefully we'll have some rain that weekend so I can broadcast clover on 1/2 acre and some brassicas on the other 1/2 acre. I'll probably fertilize it as well, so hopefully by fall the deer will have a lush plot to come to and call home. Again, thanks for the info and I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

 

[SaskGuy]

Does this mean I may actually be able to get sonme clover to grow in old grassy areas if I weed whip, wait until it's geeen, and hammer it with the roundup then wait awhile and broadcast the seed before an expected rain? I sure likethe sounds of that if I could.

 

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Saskguy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does this mean I may actually be able to get sonme clover to grow in old grassy areas if I weed whip, wait until it's geeen, and hammer it with the roundup then wait awhile and broadcast the seed before an expected rain? I sure likethe sounds of that if I could. </div></div>

Yep, I think you probably could!

 

[huntdoc]

I have done exactly what you guys are talking about. Two things I learned: 1 Spray with roundup several times before even bothering to try seeding. This gives weed seed a chance to germinate and then kill it. Investing a summer/season doing this really knocks weed growth back. 2 Don't expect clean magazine cover food plots. The deer don't care too much. Wish I could make them like that but just isn't in the cards for me.

I bought a book that has an entire section on no-till plots like this with clover and it is slower success than tilling but can be done if you have limited resources. My recent visit to plots showed a lot of clover nipped off.