Before and After fescue conversion! Even an idiot can do it.

[KATroutman13]

Plant some shrubs. Quail need woody cover too.

[jaytee]

I've used Outrider and its da chit for Johnson grass. Worked very good for the most part but there were just a few areas that I had to hit again but thats not the norm.

[Brad6260]

Thanks Jaytee,

I'll give it a shot in the spring in the areas that are heavy with Johnsongrass.

[Brad6260]

As promised here are looks assuring that there are trees and shrubs around.

Also how to convert the kids old play fort into a dandy johnny house!

[jaytee]

Looks like its time to get the chainsaw out and do some serious edge feathering!! You need to drop those tall trees and let the area grow up in shrubby type cover, then you'll see a huge difference.

[1GB]

Looks great!

I wish more people would realize the beauty that is wildlife habitat and strive for what's traditionally thought of as an "unkept" look instead of fescue and cut lawns.

[Madison COunty]

Your new habitat looks awesome!

What kinds of grasses did you plant there?

[Brad6260]

Thanks very much Madison Co.
I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed the process.

I learned very quickly a guy can sink a fortune into a field this size in seed and such and I had a tiny budget so this is what I refer to as a poor mans approach. I highly recommend it and my fish and game biologist that came out said it's as good an offering for the game as anything else he's seen.

I planted Korean Lesbadeza, Partridge Pea and Little Blue Stem.
Add to that the amazing emergence of the long dormant native stuff that disking brought out(ragweed, pig-weed, Indian grass , Johnson-grass, etc) and I got a fantastic stand of bird friendly grasses.
I then put in 20 foot wide strips of perdovic sunflower with 10' strips of milo flanking each edge leaving about 10' of mowed lanes between the grasses and the food plots.

As I said in my previous post's the main issue I need to think about for next season is getting some control over the Johnson-grass. Not that it's not good bird cover and a heck of an improvement over the fescue but for dog work it just gets too tall.

My County agent recommends Outrider Herbicide for the Johnson grass and I'm looking into it but it may be cost prohibitive. Bloody expensive!

Regards,
Brad