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Post by Dutch on Sept 16, 2012 19:50:42 GMT -5
I'm hoping our resident burn boss will respond here.
Our club has an 8 acre warm season grass field that I'd love to keep in great shape. Its thick with WSG's right now, but there are briars, some trees, and mile a minute beginning to invade it. I can hit the trees with 2,4,D to kill them, but the mile a minute is a problem.
Will burning this field in the spring kill off the briars and mile a minute?
Eric can you help me here with an answer?
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Post by cornusracemosa on Sept 18, 2012 9:52:24 GMT -5
OK, first I'll take the approach of maintaining it as NWSG. A September burn is very effective at reducing woody encroachment into a field. Additionally, September burns promote native legumes and reduce cool season grasses. You won't get a rip roaring fire but the results will be great. If done right, you won't even be able to tell you burnt the field as the fire will creep along with low flame heights. Slow moving and low flame heights hangs around the base of the woody veg and basically girdles it.
If you wish to use fire, you should first disk a break around the filed and plant it to a cool season like clover. This will prevent the fire from moving out of the unit.
Now, if the field is really thick with grass, you way want to promote some forbs so you don't have a grass monoculture. Too much of any one thing is counter productive. By trying to balance the amount of forbs with grass, you'll provide more forage for your deer than a food plot. This is easily done by fire followed by disking.
Timing your disking is important. To promote your forb composition, you should disk shortly after the burn, 2-14 days. In warmer climates a disking in April led to an increase in non-desirable grasses like crabgrass.
Regarding mile-a-minute, any type of soil disturbance will lead to an increase, whether it be fire or disking. Your best bet is to hit it with glypho next spring when it pops up next year and get a handle on the MAM before you attempt to increase your forbs. You can also collect some MAM weevils which feed specifically on MAM. Over a period of 4-6 years, weevils are extremely effective at controlling MAM. I can help show how to collect them.
Hope this helps and feel free to contact me with any further questions.
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Post by Dutch on Sept 18, 2012 19:54:56 GMT -5
I've been hitting trees and MAM with 2,4, D.
I'm wondering if just discing the field next spring will encourage the WSG growth, in order to maintain a thick stand.
Our hunters use these fields for pheasant and chukar hunts. I want to reduce my maintenance and extend the life of the stand.
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Post by cornusracemosa on Sept 19, 2012 9:43:27 GMT -5
Yes, a spring disking will definitely increase your NWSG.
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Post by Dutch on Sept 19, 2012 10:47:39 GMT -5
Yes, a spring disking will definitely increase your NWSG. Well, we may do that. Much cheaper than a burn, and we have a farmer next door that will do it for us. |
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Post by cornusracemosa on Sept 19, 2012 14:37:54 GMT -5
The biggest hinderance may be an excessive build up of grass thatch that will reduce the effectiveness of a disk to break the soil deep enough. If you can burn, it would wise to try if you have thick grass already. If you can't burn, experiment with the disk and see what happens.
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Post by Dutch on Sept 19, 2012 16:23:21 GMT -5
Thank you "Corny".  |
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Post by cornusracemosa on Sept 22, 2012 8:51:47 GMT -5
Anytime!
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