A Practical Guide to Prairie Reconstruction: Second Edition

Seeding

23 What kinds of equipment will work best? How much seed should you plant? Is there a best time to seed? There is no perfect time to seed tallgrass prairie. Successful plantings have been done in spring, summer, and fall. For many years we planted in mid to late June and found that we had fewer weed problems than we encountered with early spring seedings . There is also less chance of erosion from very heavy spring rains after mid June. Since some species of forbs need cold-wet stratification to germinate, they may not germinate until the following spring. Cold-wet stratification means that the seed seeding c h a p t e r s e v e n  Drop seeders such as this old Ezee Flow fertilizer spreader work well for many seeding applications. 24 needs to be moist and just above freezing for a period of thirty to ninety days to break its dormancy. This process occurs over winter when you seed in late October and early to mid November and appears to give a wider variety of species an equal start. On some occasions we have planted the first half of the seed in the fall and overseeded the second half, without tillage, the following fall. Seed harvested from native stands usually varies considerably in quantity, quality, and species diversity from one season to the next. To increase diversity in your planting, use seed that is harvested in two different crop years. Seed about ten to fifteen pounds of mixed forbs and grasses per acre using at least twice the weight of forbs compared to that of grass seed. Use a ten-pound rate for certified seed and a fifteen-pound rate for hand-collected seed. We use a rate of fifteen pounds for seed harvested from virgin sites. Certified seed that has been tested for germination and purity is more reliable. It is, however, more expensive if you are planting for high species diversity. Depending on the management of the native site, the viability of seed harvested from virgin stands can range from less than 10 to more than 70 percent. In any case, we have never had a planting failure when using a rate of fifteen pounds per acre. Regular burning on the harvest site is extremely important if you want to maintain seed quality and quantity from one year to the next. Sites that have not been burned for many years are generally poor seed producers (see chapter 10). Truax and Great Plains drills work very well for clean seed; however, they may not work well with seed that contains broken leaves, large stems, and other debris larger than an inch. We have found that dry fertilizer spreaders work well for seed mixed with heavy trash, but the material must be agitated by a person riding in the back of the spreader or it will bridge up and fail to deliver a uniform quantity. Fertilizer spreaders distribute seed over an area about six feet wide. Ezee Flow spreaders work very well for seed that contains heavy trash. Three-point broadcast seeders such as the Vicon are also being used by many individuals with good results. After the seed is broadcast or drilled, harrow lightly if the soil has been cultivated and roll until the soil is very firm. Remember that rolling is your best defense against water erosion when the soil is not protected by vegetation. If you are planting on a soybean or corn stubble field, leave the seed on the surface and let natural weather conditions plant it.  A cultipacker or field roller is an important tool where the soil has been deeply disturbed by tillage. It will compact the soil to give a firm seedbed and help prevent erosion from heavy rainfall. ...