One half of this field was seeded onto the first accumulated snow of the season (about 3/4" of dry snow). This seeding was covered the next day by a big blizzard (about a foot of snow followed by several inches freezing rain).

The other 1/2 of the field was sown durig a warm spell in late December onto a wet melting layer of snow. Under this was a thick compacted layer layer of snow/ice.

I have had good results with late fall seedings onto bare ground. I live in Wisconsin and did not plan to seed on snow, unfortunatly winter came early. I will say that seeding on snow really lets you get a good distribution as the sawdust really stands out. It will be interesting to see if there are any differences in establishment between the two different seeding dates.

There is no less than 2-3 feet of snow on the site at the moment. . . and I'm afraid to put the seed out there. I really don't want to feed the wildlife ~ and have had alot of trouble w/ wild turkeys in the past.

Seeds and wet rain/snow that will melt onto unfrozen soil does mix exactly where I put it.

Many years ago when I was pressed for time, I seeded as you suggested late in the year and had almost 100% of the germination on the last 5ft of the downslope of ~ 3% slope. Luckly I realized this first year and re sprayed and re seeded and have a nice spot now.

IMO, the first snow of the year is the best seeding time of the year. But not into frozen ground...you'll be singing that famous paul simon song 'slip slidin' away...'

Froggy

I would hate to see it fail as it was a very good mix with about 60 forbs. I collected/processed at lot of the seed myself which is a big investment of time (although it is fun). I also bought about $300 of seed.

I have not given up hope yet. Maybe it will depend on what kind of thaw we get in the late winter/spring. I am hoping for a gradual thaw where some of my seed will stick to the soil, as opposed to a big thaw that causes my seed to take a ride down the hill.

I will report back next summer when I have some results.