Gleaton Chip Ranch Updates

[Patton]

Are y'all going to be leaving the cedar mulch where it lies? My unclehad some cedar hydroaxed/mulched a few years ago and he had to go back in this year with his bobcat and make piles of the mulch because it wasn't breaking down. Those little cedar mulch spears can pop a tire quick and also be a potential fire danger. Just tossing something out it there, y'all may have already thought of that though.

[bgleaton]

I appreciate the insight. We will be taking our shredder over it to break it down a little further. I'll happily take shredded cedar mulch versus a cedar thicket to help improve the habitat. At least now the rainfall and sun will be hitting the ground. The cedar mulch is way less of a fire hazard than the cedars themselves.

[Patton]

I appreciate the insight. We will be taking our shredder over it to break it down a little further. I'll happily take shredded cedar mulch versus a cedar thicket to help improve the habitat. At least now the rainfall and sun will be hitting the ground. The cedar mulch is way less of a fire hazard than the cedars themselves.

[BrandonA]

I appreciate the insight. We will be taking our shredder over it to break it down a little further. I'll happily take shredded cedar mulch versus a cedar thicket to help improve the habitat. At least now the rainfall and sun will be hitting the ground. The cedar mulch is way less of a fire hazard than the cedars themselves.

Might be a good time to top seed with some rye or other grass.

[bgleaton]

I was thinking about hand seeding a native grass mixture over these lanes and then taking our chain harrow over it to make sure the mulch is covering the seed. Any ideas on whether you think this will work? I guess there's only one way to find out. I'll take some better pictures with my camera when I'm out there to show you fine the mulch is and getting some better detailed pictures.

[BrandonA]

I was thinking about hand seeding a native grass mixture over these lanes and then taking our chain harrow over it to make sure the mulch is covering the seed. Any ideas on whether you think this will work? I guess there's only one way to find out. I'll take some better pictures with my camera when I'm out there to show you fine the mulch is and getting some better detailed pictures.

I am almost certain it would work. You probably wouldn't even need to harrow it. Might be better to wait before a good chance of rain though.

[bgleaton]

Here's what I'll be hand seeding in all of these clearings:

https://www.turnerseed.com/native-perennial-wildlife.html

Hopefully it will come up in a year or two . I know that native grasses and forbs are slow to establish. I'm hoping the mulch will help protect them and keep the soil moist.

[BrandonA]

Here's what I'll be hand seeding in all of these clearings:

https://www.turnerseed.com/native-perennial-wildlife.html

Hopefully it will come up in a year or two . I know that native grasses and forbs are slow to establish. I'm hoping the mulch will help protect them and keep the soil moist.

That looks like a real good blend. I bet you see it coming up this spring

[Puncher51]

Here's what I'll be hand seeding in all of these clearings:

https://www.turnerseed.com/native-perennial-wildlife.html

Hopefully it will come up in a year or two . I know that native grasses and forbs are slow to establish. I'm hoping the mulch will help protect them and keep the soil moist.

You'll for sure see the green sprangletop the first year, but I bet you see the sideoats and maybe some little bluestem as well.

[wdtorque]

Enjoy you posts. Thanks for doing so. Neat to see the transformation.

[stxslayer]

Wow he has done a lot of work. It looks great. I think seeding would be a great idea. it will probably come up this spring.

[hammer63]

Really enjoying this thread! Thanks for sharing!

[gingib]

Looks great. Not sure it would be tall enough to shred effectively to lessen the big pieces

[bgleaton]

There are many benefits that come from the mulch left behind. Cedar mulch is acidic and it contains elements that aid in the breakdown of alkaline based limestone that is prevalent in the Texas Hill Country along the Edwards Plateau. As the mulch decomposes into compost, nutrients are made available via micro organisms living under the mulch.

This process eventually creates more topsoil on your property. This doesn't happen overnight and takes some time, but we believe that this will definitely help improve our property.

I will take some pictures of the soil underneath some of the mulch now and then take another picture of the same spot every 3 or 4 months to show any improvements in the soil.

[bgleaton]

More Cedar Mulching Pictures from Today...

Clearings he did this morning:
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Here are some of the other pictures I posted yesterday, but I fixed them so they are right side up:





Here's a map of everything he's mulching for us:

The blue outlined areas are fields that have a handful of cedars growing in them and we wanted him to just mulch those cedars and get rid of them. The red circles are oak trees that he's mulching the cedars underneath and around them.