Seeding right after prescribed burn?

[jerad]

I am going to be burning the family grasslands this spring and would really like to get them back into quality nesting habitat for upland birds as this is slough ground with not much deer habitat around. I know that just doing the burn will stimulate the seed that is already there to germinate. Do you think adding more seed would help and would it be fine just spreading the seed into the ash after the burns? Has anyone tried this before with success?

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

I've done it and I think the biggest downfall to doing this wasn't the fact the burnt area might hurt the seed, it was that what was there before the burn greened up so fast and choked out any of the seeds that may have sprouted and tried growing.

So you can definitely do it and some will grow! But if it's some nasty fescue or brome field you just burnt and are seeding into, then that grass will come back thick and likely choke out a good amount of what you seed. That's my $0.02. I'm curious to see what others think

 

[Daver]

I've done it and I think the biggest downfall to doing this wasn't the fact the burnt area might hurt the seed, it was that what was there before the burn greened up so fast and choked out any of the seeds that may have sprouted and tried growing.

So you can definitely do it and some will grow! But if it's some nasty fescue or brome field you just burnt and are seeding into, then that grass will come back thick and likely choke out a good amount of what you seed. That's my $0.02. I'm curious to see what others think

I have burned CRP, primarily brome, many times, but I can't say that I have immediately reseeded right after the fire. I do find that by just doing a burn that the resulting regrowth will include other plants, that were obviously in the soil all along, besides the brome. So I have gained some plant diversity by doing nothing other than burning and then letting nature take its course. It seems like that helps for about 2-3 years and then voila...the brome starts dominating again.

That being said...I think Jordan is probably right above, in that brome or fescue would tend to dominate other plants seeded just following a fire. So.....how about going ahead with the fire, then wait 1-2 weeks until the new brome/fescue starts growing back and then hitting it hard with gly and then broadcast your other seeds? I know you can get a smoking good kill on "fresh" brome by burning, waiting for some regrowth and then spraying.

And if you time it right, you would still have plenty of bare soil for your preferred seed to "find" and the brome will have taken a major hit...and you should still catch plenty of spring rains on your new seed, etc.

 

[DannyBoy]

Is it natives already?

 

[DannyBoy]

I have burned CRP, primarily brome, many times, but I can't say that I have immediately reseeded right after the fire. I do find that by just doing a burn that the resulting regrowth will include other plants, that were obviously in the soil all along, besides the brome. So I have gained some plant diversity by doing nothing other than burning and then letting nature take its course. It seems like that helps for about 2-3 years and then voila...the brome starts dominating again.

That being said...I think Jordan is probably right above, in that brome or fescue would tend to dominate other plants seeded just following a fire. So.....how about going ahead with the fire, then wait 1-2 weeks until the new brome/fescue starts growing back and then hitting it hard with gly and then broadcast your other seeds? I know you can get a smoking good kill on "fresh" brome by burning, waiting for some regrowth and then spraying.

And if you time it right, you would still have plenty of bare soil for your preferred seed to "find" and the brome will have taken a major hit...and you should still catch plenty of spring rains on your new seed, etc.

Agree with Daver here, but I would tend to drill rather than broadcast by the time you were to burn and spray. Broadcasting is preferred but that seed has to work it's way into the soil, which happens best with freeze/thaw cycle of late winter and early spring. Seed to soil contact is very important. Not saying broadcasting won't work tho! Just might up your odds of germination this year if you drill it and get it set shallow in the soil profile.

 

[LoessHillsArcher]

We've done what Daver described with hitting the regrowth with round-up and it works. It's not the ideal scenario for seeding natives but it's better than not battling the fescue/brome/etc and just letting it take over! Good points Daver!

And great points on the drilling vs broadcasting Danny. Man I wish we owned a drill! haha

 

[Daver]

All good thoughts...using a drill would certainly be the best, but if you don't have access to one and were reduced to broadcasting the seed only. Then you could always run a cultipacker over the ground once you seeded it. Drilling would be far better, but the cultipacker would be a step up from just broadcasting.

 

[IowaBowHunter1983]

We've done what Daver described with hitting the regrowth with round-up and it works. It's not the ideal scenario for seeding natives but it's better than not battling the fescue/brome/etc and just letting it take over! Good points Daver!

And great points on the drilling vs broadcasting Danny. Man I wish we owned a drill! haha

Most counties have a conservation board that most likely has a drill for public use.

 

[jerad]

Part of this field is natives already and part is reed canary grass. I am trying to fight the good fight against the dang reed canary but that stuff can take over in a hurry. I want to give the nwsg every advantage I can.

Thanks for all the replies