Planting Advice

Q. I live on an acreage in Gretna. I have approx. 3 acres that i would like to plant in the Mixture 3, with the native grasses and wildflowers. What do i need to do to prepare the ground. Currently there is basically grass, weeds and a little bit of alfalfa on it. I mowed this past fall. Would you recommend spraying this area with round up a couple of times? Does a person need to disk the ground or can we go right in with a native grass drill. Any insight would be great. We have pheasants, quail in the area and think it would really benefit as positive habitat for the. Thanks Jeff

Jeff,

The best results will come from planting into a seedbed free of existing grass or weeds. You should be able to plant with a native grass drill without tillage unless there is too much residue for the equipment to properly place the seed in direct contact with the soil at the correct depth (1/4 to 1/2 inch). You can plant both the Prairie 3 Plus and Stock's wildflower mix anytime May-June. You can then use the time up to that point to apply round up to eliminate undesired grasses/weeds that come up. For three acres, I would drill in 24 PLS lbs of Prairie 3 Plus and 15-30 lbs of Stock's wildflower mix (depending on how thick you want the flowers). If you don't have access to a native grass drill, I can put you in contact with a couple companies that can do the installation. Thank you!

Q. Can Little Bluestem and Big Bluestem be planted together or will the Big Bluestem once established dominate both species due to its size.

Little Bluestem and Big Bluestem can be planted together without issue, in fact, our Praire 7 Prairegrass Mixture contains both grasses (as well as five other grasses).

Q. This is a 2 in one: I have scarlett flax seed - I thought I would seed it over my bulb beds to provide ground cover - how tall does it get - would it choke out the growing bulbs? I have the same question about hairy vetch - would it provide a ground cover over bulb beds without choking out the bulbs? If my horses get into the vetch is it safely edible for them? Thanks! Vicki

Scarlet Flax can get up to 24 inches (generally between 12-24 inches). Depending on the bulbs in question, Scarlet Flax would probably work fine. I have tulip bulbs in a flower garden at my house, and I have an array of wildflowers planted in the same area as the tulips. Becuase the tulips bloom early, and the wildflowers bloom a bit later (e.g. growing while the bulbs are blooming), this works well. Hairy vetch is better suited as a cover crop for establishment of other plants... I know that we have used Hairy vetch for hay and pasture before, however, I also am aware that it may cause a systemic granulomatous disease... rarely... and only if the growing plant is grazed during mid to late spring. In your case, I would probably stay away from the vetch just to play it safe... even though the likelyhood of any problems is low. We also sell a Southern Belle mixture that would be really neat to plant in Texas here is the link: http://www.stockseed.com/mixes_product_display.asp?pid=434

Q. Is it to late to plant the wildflower / native grass mix? And we live here in Nebraska, can I get it quick?

It is NOT too late to plant native grasses and wildflowers. You have until mid June without pushing it... Depending on your order, we usually have a really quick turnaround time.