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need help- cant prepare seedbed in poor soil
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Posted by Fledgeling_ 4b SD (My Page) on Wed, Aug 3, 05 at 17:04
| I want to sow seed for a small measic prarie garden, but-
My yard is on backfilled clay subsiol, and i fear it might be compacted to varying degrees- i used a shovel and put my full weight on it to see how deep it penetrated( some areas were worse than the high-foot traffic areas in that regard) In addition it has very low organic matter content- i dare not amend the sil or brake it up because this soil type is callassified by the USDA as 'highly erodable.' Im sowing seeds and im worried the seedbed would erode if i boke the soil. in addition im worried about bird predation because the neibor has a bird feeder nearby. i might use hay mulch but all the hay around here that i have seen are full of weeds. WHat should i do? Should i just sow the seeds?
Help! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: need help- cant prepare seedbed in poor soil
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| If you seed bed is basically flat its not going to erode that much without slope...if it's that dry and wind is your concern, sow your seed in fall just before the first snows...or you may want to check out when would be the right time to grow a green manure crop, that would also add organic matter and prevent soil erotion and prepare for sowing in sping or next fall (depending on when you sow you manure crop) ...A fall sowing is better since most prairie plants need a cold period... You may also wish to invest in a nursery crop suitable for your area that can be sown along with the prairie seed. Vera |
RE: need help- cant prepare seedbed in poor soil
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Mulch with straw.Sow when soil is wet and roll or walk or drive or march or dance on seed to get soil contact.
I drag a piece of chain link fence to rough up the soil surface before sowing. |
RE: need help- cant prepare seedbed in poor soil
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| If your future prairie is not on a slope I wouldn't worry about erosion, I'd worry about something else...if you break up the soil, you're going to expose countless weed seeds to light, and they will sprout. I learned this the hard way..as the area my prairie was going to be was well-trod hard-pan..I had no choice. I had to rototill. This caused a massive weed explosion. I had a ragweed and Queen Anne's Lace farm! Prairie Nursery has a seed mix called "Clay Buster", and their catalogue has great instructions for starting a prairie. www.prairienursery.com What you can do, instead of rototilling, if you have a smallish area, is rough up the soil surface with a rake. Throw your seed down, then roll it in, to make sure it gets good contact with the soil. This is what the State Parks by me do to start a prairie. If you have a large area, then dragging a weighted piece of chain link fence across the ground before you plant is a good idea. Some people say you don't even have to do that..just throw the seed down, roll the seed in! Also, if i'm not mistaken, prairies in most areas grow on lean soil...there's not much organic matter in it because it's usually burned off. Good luck! April |
RE: need help- cant prepare seedbed in poor soil
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| one of the great things about the prairie plants is they dont need good soil to grow. if you get the correct plants for clay soil - you can sow them on top. and they will do the penetrating for you. if you scarify the top a bit, like with a fence like Rudy suggested, that would be perfect. |
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