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new meadow fall or spring?
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Posted by Amymcc 7 MD (My Page) on Sat, Oct 9, 04 at 15:51
| I'm going to have a small amount of land cleared next month to plant a meadow of grasses and wildflowers. Because we're in a "critical area" of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we are required to seed and straw the area immediately. Would it be better to seed with annual rye this fall and then seed with the grasses and wildflowers I want next spring? If so, would I have to somehow remove the dead rye next spring or could I broadcast the seed on top of it? Or should I simply seed with the meadow grasses and flowers this fall? Or something else entirely? Thanks for any ideas.
Amy |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: new meadow fall or spring?
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| It would be best to sow the desired grasses this fall. Don't wait until next spring. Will you plant warm season (prairie) grasses? Or non-native cool season species? Either way, it would be best to plant this fall. If you are planting warm season grasses, it would be best to wait until the soil cools enough so germination doesn't happen until next spring. Use a cover crop of annual rye, to get the area greened this fall or early winter. The warm season grasses will then know exactly when to germinate next spring. Here in northern Ohio, we wait to plant warm season grasses in mid November or later. Because your soils are still warm, you might wait to plant in late Nov or into December. |
RE: new meadow fall or spring?
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| Thanks for your help. To clarify, are you saying I should put down the rye seed and straw when I clear the land and then in early December (or so) add the warm season grasses & wildflower seeds? How would I do that to be sure the desirable seeds hit the ground? Or are you saying wait until December to plant everything at once? Thanks again for any advice. |
RE: new meadow fall or spring?
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| We plant both grasses in late October and all through November. The key thing is to get the seeds on to bare soil, where they will germinate and grow on their own terms. The annual rye should germinate quickly, turning things green this fall. The warm season grasses won't germinate until things are ideal, next spring. But the soil must be bare. If it's covered with either living or dead vegetation, the scattered seeds don't get in solid contact with the soil and the seeding is lost. That why our desired seedbed is the bare soil of soybean stubble. But getting the rye seeds into the soil might be a problem. Rolling over them works in all but the densest clay soils. The warm season grasses just need to be laying on the ground. Winter rains and frost/thaw cycles will get those seeds into the top 1 mm of soil, where they will be happiest. |
RE: new meadow fall or spring?
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| Thanks very much. I'm looking forward to trying it. Now the fun part - reading the catalogs and picking out the seeds. Amy |
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