What to plant after mulching?

[TradAg02]

I am having my river bottom mulched to open it up a bit. What and when should I seed once complete?

I am between Hondo and Devine. We are pretty much a dust bowl right now as we haven't received any meaningful rain in months. I assume I should seed a few days prior to the next decent forecasted rain?

I am looking for something that I can either just spread on the surface or at a most drag over, not looking to disk. I'd also prefer not to fertilize (plenty of decomposing leaf debris). Really just looking for something to provide some ground cover and hold the soil until the native grasses return.

Thanks for your input.

[hog_down]

also in, and where would you buy something like this from?

[Johnny Dangerr]

Almost all dogs are alergic to colored mulch..............

[panhandlehunter]

Rye grass. It was on sale at Tractor Supply.

[brokeno]

Rye for winter and will come back next year. Just broadcast it out and wait for cool weather and cool nights

[TradAg02]

Rye for winter and will come back next year. Just broadcast it out and wait for cool weather and cool nights

Will it keep exposed on the ground, or do I need to spread just prior to rain?

[S-3 Ranch]

Will it keep exposed on the ground, or do I need to spread just prior to rain?

I say right before a rain, I have ryegrass out and only the irrigated stuff is growing, same with oats

[Deerguy]

If you are at all concerned with the habitat, I wouldn't recommend rye at all. It is an extremely invasive cool season plant and will take over just about everything. Nothing you can plant will be better than the native stuff that will come back given the chance, assuming enough light penetration. If you do plant something (probably not needed), stick with a native mix adapted for your area. All native seed companies will have a mix (Bamert, Native American Seed, Turner Seed, etc.).

[b.a.saha]

Depending on how much mulch there is actually on the ground you may just pissing in the wind trying to seed anything. Your natives will prevail once mulching breaks down some. You can help this running a shredder through there once mulch dries out some. Then the return will depend on how thick of mulch is left. Think of it landscaping wise. You mulch flower beds to hold moisture and to keep weeds from growing. If you had a good stand of native just let nature take its course. Don’t introduce an invasive specie

[.243 WSSM]

^^^^^^this. Excellent points. If there is a bunch of thick stuff the mulch is going to be thick. Will take a while to break down.

[lovemylegacy]

Rye or Winter Wheat.

According to the biologist deer cant eat Rye

[dclifton]

Depending on how much mulch there is actually on the ground you may just pissing in the wind trying to seed anything. Your natives will prevail once mulching breaks down some. You can help this running a shredder through there once mulch dries out some. Then the return will depend on how thick of mulch is left. Think of it landscaping wise. You mulch flower beds to hold moisture and to keep weeds from growing. If you had a good stand of native just let nature take its course. Don’t introduce an invasive specie

I agree with this mulching up here in east texas leaves so much mulch youll just be pissing in the wind this year. Now down there since you may not have as much bulk mulch then you may be ok. But i think i would just wait till spring if i was you and spend that extra money to do it better this spring.

The mulch will help with washing etc and give it this winter to soften up and rot.

[bboswell]

Rye or Winter Wheat.



According to the biologist deer cant eat Rye

That biologist is full of BS, I have watched too many deer in rye grass for too many year.

[bboswell]

Your best bet to get anything to grow soon is to turn it deep, real deep.