post mulcher food plot

[EastTexasTiger]

had a old/overgrown easement mulched and now looks real similar to this. Aside from piling up the mulch or burning whats the best next step? dont have a tractor but can sling and drag seed/fertilizer/lime. any of yall make these into rough plots?

[dbaio1]

Personally I would hire a local with a tractor and disk and chop that mulch down in. Plant a perennial recommended for your area and then you will have a better base for throw and grow. Long tem you will need a tractor in there every few years to keep in a plot.

[EastTexasTiger]

Discing probably not an option either due to stumps and roots still in ground. Hoping that pulling a drag will loosen up the surface enough to get seed to soil with small seeds at a higher rate in the meantime

[BrianL]

What I did.

Mow with shredder 3-4 times. Then run disk with blade in the lowest cutting angle so it will roll over and stumps left in the ground but still work the top few inches of soil. Repeat late spring, late summer. then you should be ready to broadcast plant in the fall

[EastTexasTiger]

Thanks Brian - i am hoping that along with my drag should work. mulcher did a good job of taking it down into smaller chips. any issues with high PH after mulch?

[dbaio1]

BrianL is spot on. Without a tractor periodically that mulch work will be for naught over time. You could keep it sprayed I guess and drag like crazy to scratch surface and use throw and grow. That will be a lot of work and in my experience about the same cost for lesser results.

Dont guess on ph run soil test they are cheap.

[BrianL]

I'm guessing with a drag you are just going to have mounds everywhere. Not sure I would go that route but you will know pretty quick if you try it. Hard to have too high a PH,but few weeks before you plant get a soil test. They are only about $30 but take a couple weeks to get back. Then you will know exactly what fertilizer to put out. Fertilizer is expensive to be guessing at what you need and don't need.

[BrianL]

How big an area? It will be a tough chore without a tractor/shredder/disk

[EastTexasTiger]

Have access to a shredder - will definitely be using that when it greens up.

[BrianL]

A main reason for shredding now is cutting up the mulch into smaller and smaller pieces each time you shred. Just speeds up the decay process. You don't have to do anything and it will still be gone in 2-4 years, but if you want it faster, shredding will get you there in a year. Stumps will be an issue for a long while if they were large trees.I have found keeping covered with dirt is fastest natural way to rot out stumps.

[txbowman12]

75lbs per acre Elbon rye 3-5lbs of daikon radish in the fall (mid october), let it grow until rye hits anthesis (usually about April 1 - look for yellow pollen on the seed pods), then crimp down to create a layer of thatch. Before you crimp down, plant some buckwheat. Rinse and repeat. You can also mow, but the laid down thatch won't be as thick. Rinse and repeat. Year two add 6lbs of white clover and 12lbs of crimson clover per acre in your fall plant.

Elbon rye will grow in the bed of a side by side in a closed barn. Can't find a better plant for soil health and deer food.

[EastTexasTiger]

All good info and definitely second the elbon rye - i've had great success with that before. Any thoughts on a spring seed?

[KactusKiller]

Tractor supply sells a good heavy drag harrow. Look it up. I pull mine behind the canam. I just broadcast seed and drag. That mulch will help save moisture in the soil so its not hurting anything. I would just every couple yrs do a broadcast or spot spray of woody plant herbicide(poison oak, sumac etc) if you want. But alot of the woody brush is good forage for deer as well. I wouldn't worry about trying to disk.