Creating and maintaining a food plot should not be something that requires a lot of work. If left to mother nature a disturbed area will eventually transition into a meadow. So in theory if we can design a meadow made up of highly palatable and nutritious perennial and self-sowing grasses and forbs that mimic a natural meadow and that are adapted to the planting site then it should be possible to simply choose the right seed mix, plant it, possibly do some minimal maintenance and then reap the benefits with healthier wild game and an awesome hunting spot.
I think the key here will be in choosing the right seed mix. We will need to figure out species that fill all the niches that exist in a natural meadow. You'll likely need both grasses and broadleaf forbs, both perennial and self sowing annuals, as well as cool and warm season species. The plot will need to have as much dense growth on it as possible to prevent spaces for weeds to take hold. This is because weeds need sunlight and soil contact to germinate. If you can create shade with living plants and mulch with dead vegetation then weeds should not become a huge problem. And with less weeds means less weed seed and you will greatly reduce the seed source for weeds in the future. This also means we will most likely be using a pretty dense planting of desirable species. A lot of the seeds we plant will likely not make it, but it will also ensure that weeds will have a harder time as well.
So for my plot this is how I will go about setting it up. I will be starting it in an area which is mostly covered in dense perennial forage grass. This area was once an old cattle pasture and possibly a hay field as well so it is already in a meadow like state. I will need to get rid of as much of the grass as possible and try to prevent most of it from coming back. This gives me a few options. My first option would be to simply hoe or rip up the grass in order to til it under which would likely get rid of the vast majority of it. This however would expose a lot of the soil to sunlight and potentially create a perfect environment for weeds to germinate. My other option would be to cut the grass to soil level several times during the growing season in spring and early summer to suppress it and that way the cut grass would act as a mulch in a way to somewhat cover the soil surface, keeping it shaded and allowing less weed seeds to germinate. This, however, would likely not kill all the grass which I'm not too worried about since this grass type is a preferred forage grass for wild game especially in the springtime, but I would just need to make sure it didn't take over the rest of the species I plant. So after I take care of the grass with either method my next step would be to start spreading seed. If there was a light mulch of dead grass left over I could likely just broadcast the seed and it would fall in between the mulch and make contact with the soil surface while also being somewhat shaded and protected from seed predators such as birds. If not then I would either lightly rake the seeds into the soil or add a thin layer of dead grass over the top of them. Depending on the species I would either plant in late summer, fall or early spring. I may even do multiple planting on the same plot in different seasons to make sure it is well seeded. After that I would monitor the plantings during the growing season and remove any weeds or grass that was too dominant. And that would likely be it for this initial planting.
I would probably start on a fairly small plot not much bigger than a large garden and if I saw it was a success then I could expand the area out every year until it was of the desired size. In the meantime my previous plantings would likely be maturing and ideally would be growing well enough and dense enough so that I wouldn't really need to worry about weeds.
This method if successful would likely be able to be replicated in practically any environment as long as the seed was well adapted to the property. Over time it is likely that this type of planting would mature into a mostly perennial dominated meadow, but if any small disturbance happened such as a mole hill etc then the seed bank would contain seeds from some of the self-sowing annuals that were originally planted. Also if enough disturbance was created at the edges of the plot then it is likely that it could gradually spread out across the property intermingling with the vegetation already established on the property creating even more food for wild game.
As I've stated several times doing your research and choosing plant species that are adapted to your site would be one of the most important aspects determining the success of your plot. After a lot of research I think I have a good base of possible species I could plant on my property. My property is a temperate dry summer climate with somewhat cold snowy winters, wet springs, and hot dry summers. Some of the species I think might do well on my property are Alfalfa, Sanfoin, Red and White clover, Small burnet, Lamb's Quarters, Common Ragweed, Chickory, Prickliy Lettuce, Salsify, Aster's, Goldenrod's and Sunchokes. These are just a few of the species I'd like to create a mix of. One thing to notice is that I have both native and nonative species as well as some people would consider weeds. However, many species people consider weeds are actually excellent wild game forage, a good example being ragweed as a deer forage. That's why it's important to keep an open mind and let the research show what are the best forage species for your area.
So this is my basic plan for my experimental test plot on my property. As you can see it is extremely simple in terms of the type of work and maintenance I will do. I think this is important because if I can make this work than it will show that you don't need expensive equipment and loads of fertilizers and herbicides ect to make a productive food plot. This is the way nature does it. All it needs is a seed source, a disturbance and the right climate and soil conditions and a meadow will naturally form. We're just tweaking this natural process a little bit by choosing species that are attractive to wild game and will create an awesome food plot, or "wild game meadow".
In the future I will document and keep you updated on the establishment and progress of this plot. There's a chance it might not work the way I think it will and I might experience problems I didn't foresee, but even then I will be able to learn from my mistakes and come up with a better plan. Then on the other hand it might work out better than I expect and could become my best idea yet for creating awesome wild game habitat. I'm hoping I can share my successes and failures with everyone who is interested in creating better habitat for game animals on their property that way they too can be better set up to enjoy nature's bounty.
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