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Post by mnaaron on Feb 14, 2017 9:27:35 GMT -6
We planted about 12 acres of warm season native grasses 1.5 yr ago. It is still has quite a bit of cool season competition. Curious if anyone has tried or had luck spraying roundup on the cool season grasses when they wake up in the spring prior to the warm season grasses. I have heard it can work great if you get the timing right. Thoughts???
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Post by coop on Feb 14, 2017 10:11:22 GMT -6
We planted about 12 acres of warm season native grasses 1.5 yr ago. It is still has quite a bit of cool season competition. Curious if anyone has tried or had luck spraying roundup on the cool season grasses when they wake up in the spring prior to the warm season grasses. I have heard it can work great if you get the timing right. Thoughts??? I think spraying Gly on the entire area is a must during establishment. In fact, I spray a portion every year except years that we burn. It's amazing how well the NWSG's respond to it! You can clearly identify the sprayed vs unsprayed areas throughout the growing season.
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Post by riggs on Feb 14, 2017 10:20:17 GMT -6
I mowed mine 2-3 times a year for two full yrs against the advice of FSA. I also spot sprayed thistles as needed and I'm very happy with how diverse my stand is. IMO I don't think a pure stand of NWSG is what you should strive for, diversity is important. Spraying gly would eliminate forbs from your mix.
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Post by mnaaron on Feb 14, 2017 10:22:44 GMT -6
We burned the area and after green up we sprayed everything with round up prior to planting. We had terrible thistles so we sprayed the entire area for thistle control. Only had one forb so didn't smoke too much.
So how big is the window for spraying roundup in the spring before it effected the warm season grasses?
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Post by biglakebass on Feb 14, 2017 10:23:05 GMT -6
I have 5 acres of natives we planted through the Alexandria SWCD office several years ago. That office closed up. So I contacted the East Otterail office to get some guidance. They would not help me. Seriously. They said its billable and for them to make recommendations they need to visit the site, etc etc. I couldnt just get basic info on things to do or consider.
I have mowed it twice is all. I really want to do something substantial with it. There is natives growing, but not like I would have expected after a handful of years.
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Post by coop on Feb 14, 2017 10:30:35 GMT -6
We burned the area and after green up we sprayed everything with round up prior to planting. We had terrible thistles so we sprayed the entire area for thistle control. Only had one forb so didn't smoke too much. So how big is the window for spraying roundup in the spring before it effected the warm season grasses? In SE the magic window is usually late April, early May. You can dig into the clumps of Switch or Big Blue looking for growth. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to tell when it's still dormant.
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Post by mnaaron on Feb 14, 2017 10:34:41 GMT -6
We burned the area and after green up we sprayed everything with round up prior to planting. We had terrible thistles so we sprayed the entire area for thistle control. Only had one forb so didn't smoke too much. So how big is the window for spraying roundup in the spring before it effected the warm season grasses? In SE the magic window is usually late April, early May. You can dig into the clumps of Switch or Big Blue looking for growth. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to tell when it's still dormant. Thanks Chris I am going to try it this spring at least on a portion. Should start to see some growth this year...at least hoping too.
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Post by mnaaron on Feb 14, 2017 10:37:14 GMT -6
I have 5 acres of natives we planted through the Alexandria SWCD office several years ago. That office closed up. So I contacted the East Otterail office to get some guidance. They would not help me. Seriously. They said its billable and for them to make recommendations they need to visit the site, etc etc. I couldnt just get basic info on things to do or consider. I have mowed it twice is all. I really want to do something substantial with it. There is natives growing, but not like I would have expected after a handful of years. Mark - I have a friend I can refer you to who does this for a living and see what he would recommend. I am shocked that the EOT SWCD wouldn't provide some guidance. They have a farm bill biologist that is suppose to do that. Interesting. I will be stopping there on some other matters next week so I will ask what kind of support they provide.
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Post by biglakebass on Feb 14, 2017 10:43:11 GMT -6
This was a couple years ago. We did the project through the Alex office. So there was some contention about who should or should not be involved. I gave up quickly on it. I have plenty of other stuff that keeps me busy every spring any way.
But it would be nice to do something of substance with it this spring if I can.
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Post by Freeborn on Feb 14, 2017 11:19:15 GMT -6
I have 5 acres of natives we planted through the Alexandria SWCD office several years ago. That office closed up. So I contacted the East Otterail office to get some guidance. They would not help me. Seriously. They said its billable and for them to make recommendations they need to visit the site, etc etc. I couldnt just get basic info on things to do or consider. I have mowed it twice is all. I really want to do something substantial with it. There is natives growing, but not like I would have expected after a handful of years. Mark - I have a friend I can refer you to who does this for a living and see what he would recommend. I am shocked that the EOT SWCD wouldn't provide some guidance. They have a farm bill biologist that is suppose to do that. Interesting. I will be stopping there on some other matters next week so I will ask what kind of support they provide. Mark,
That surprises me also, they did my planting and they have always been willing to help.
Based on your location aren't you in the West Ottertail Soil and Water district.
Here is there shared website. I think your office may be in Fergus.
www.eotswcd.org/
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Post by biglakebass on Feb 14, 2017 11:21:07 GMT -6
Oh it was the West OTC office that gave me the BS. I have bought trees from EOT office.
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Post by Freeborn on Feb 14, 2017 11:28:09 GMT -6
Aaron,
Do you have a seed tag you could paste or a list of seed? In your mix they must have native cool season grasses (Like slender wheat grass) which you will kill it if you use gly. If you want to maintain your mix then I think Rigg's approach is the best. Keep mowing to keep the cool seasons at bay and let the Warm Season grasses establish. Once you have 3+ years the warm season grasses will have developed there root systems and then they will take care of themselves.
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Post by Freeborn on Feb 14, 2017 11:32:13 GMT -6
Oh it was the West OTC office that gave me the BS. I have bought trees from EOT office. When I purchased my place the realtor said I was lucky because I did not have to deal with the WOSWCD. I have never worked with them but he indicated they were difficult to deal with.
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Post by mnaaron on Feb 14, 2017 12:29:02 GMT -6
Switchgrass Indian grass side oats gramma Big Blue Slender Wheat Grass (need to confirm we did planted this) Western Wheat Grass (need to confirm we planted this) Purple Cone Flower
We were going for more height since we are not in pheasant country per say.
I will track down what we actually planted but I am guessing these are the right species or darn close.
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Post by biglakebass on Feb 14, 2017 12:36:59 GMT -6
This is what we planted Attachments:
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