General Advice

Q. have about 20 acres rolling hay field. planted pines on hill tops - would like to do praire grass(es) for turkey and pheasant. located in west central wisc. (Eau Claire) what would you suggest.

Pete,

I would suggest a diverse selection of native grasses and forbs. For brood cover and habitat I would suggest using our Prairie 3 Plus Prairiegrass mixture and our Habitat mixture. This combination will provide nesting cover and also attract insects for young birds to feed on. You can also use our Prairie 7 Prairiegrass mixture in other areas for heavy cover. This mix includes the tall native grasses that will provide thick, dense cover and remian upright through the winter. We also stock a forage base deer and turkey mixture along with an upland game bird mix for food plots. You can view more information on these products on our website under the mixtures tab. Thank you!

Q. I planted a mixture of prairiegrasses and wildflowers in the spring of 2008. Should I mow them down now ( march 25,2009).

Yes, early spring is a good time to remove last year's residue. This will make room for the new growth this year and also help warm the soil faster to stimulate the grasses and flowers to break dormancy sooner. Thank-you!

Q. Which clover afixes the most nitrogen for plow-down benefit ? thanks

A good soil building mix would be 80% Mammoth Red Clover and 20% Yellow Blossom Sweet Clover. Seed this at a rate of 12-15 lbs./acre for plow-down purposes. We carry both types of clover seed. Thanks!

Q. We live about 1/2 mile inland from Lake Michigan high on a sand dune. We would like to get some drought tolerant, low maintenance grass going in a flat area that is mainly weeds now. We don't intend to mow, just let it go. Are we too far north for buffalo grass? If so, can you recommend another type for us? Thanks!

I would not recommend buffalograss because it does not do well in sandy soils. I might suggest a blend of Little Bluestem, Blue Grama, and Sand Lovegrass. These grasses do better in sandy soils, and would provide an attractive landscape without any maintenence. These grasses would also do well in drought conditions, although moisture during germination and establishment is important to success. Thank-you!

Q. Looking for creeping red vetch. Is there such a seed? Thank you for your time.

There is creeping red fescue (http://www.stockseed.com/prairiegrasses_product_display.asp?pid=419)... but I have never heard of creeping red vetch. I did find an obscure reference to a deep red vetch, however, it doesn't seem to be in production of any kind. The closed official name I could find was Creeping Milkvetch (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ASTR8).