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I have about a quarter acre of area down by a creek, I have been round-up,ing weeds out of last fall and this spring. I had frost seeded some clover on it some yrs ago. This late summer, what can I plant with few tools. Is there any alternative to the "No Till" bagged stuff? Or is that about the best?Thanks,
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With a creek along one side to use as a firebreak, I would do a prescribed fire in August and then broadcast rye the day you burn after the area has cooled. The photos below are from a mature stand of mostly tall fescue we burned last July.
We then hand seeded german millet onto the black area the same day of the burn. By September there was a great stand of millet.
No herbicide was used, the fire provided the fertilizer, and the result was a very cheap, simple and affective foodplot. Our objective was to provide a foodplot/coverplot for quail but you could do exactly the same thing in the location you described for deer by broadcasting rye.
Use the creek as a firebreak for one side and handrake or leaf blow your firelines in the timber outside the perimeter of your small opening. Your local county conservation board likely has a few backpack water squirters you can borrow if you feel they are needed, if they don't, buy a couple cheap handheld herbicide sprayers at Wal-Mart and fill them with water and a little dish soap.
Fire is a great tool for habitat management if you know how to use it.