When I came up with my idea for a "Wild Game Meadow" I did so with a few requirements in mind. First of all it would have to contain a large diversity of plant varieties that could provide great nutrition and be highly palatable to multiple game species throughout the year. It also needed to be made up of perennials and self seeding annuals that would be adapted to my local climate and be able to self propagate and compete against weeds so that it would need minimal maintenance and last many years without needing to be reestablished. And finally it would need to be made up of different plants adapted to different ecological niches such as grasses, legumes and broadleaf plants, cool and warm season plants as well as annuals, biennials and perennials. Once all of the niches in a meadow ecosystem were filled then I could reasonably assume that it would be able to keep out the vast majority of undesirable weeds because they would have no place to establish. So as of now, after months of research, I have compiled a fairly extensive list of different plant species that I think will meet most of these requirements and I am now ready to start testing them on my property. And while I will likely continue searching for new species to include, I feel my list as of now is sufficient to go into the trial stage as I can always add new plant species later on.
Cool Season Perennials:
Cool season perennials are probably the most important types of plants I can establish on my property. This is because these are the types of plants that naturally dominate wild meadows in my area. Being perennial means they will persist for long periods of time and being cool season means they will grow during our wet season which is late fall through early summer. Some species I would like to test out include:
Legumes -
- Alfalfa
- Sainfoin
- White Clover
- Red Clover
- American Vetch
- Crown Vetch
- Cicer Milkvetch
- Palouse Milkvetch
- Utah Sweetvetch
Broadleaf -
- Small Burnet
- Little Sunflower
- Arrowleaf Balsamroot
- Common Camas
- Forage Chicory
- Forage Plantain
- Winterfat
- Forage Kochia
- Sticky Geranium
- Rocky Mountain Penstemon
Grasses -
- Idaho Fescue
- Bluebunch Wheatgrass
× I am deciding to not include common cool season perennial forage grasses (such as Meadow Foxtail, Smooth Brome, Orchardgrass, Timothy and Tall Fescue) because my property and surrounding properties are already dominated by these species, however they may make good recommendations for other properties in other regions depending on a land manager's goals. ×
Warm Season Perennials:
Warm season perennials will likely be of less importance, however they could provide green food during the summer when cool season plants have dried out and gone dormant. In order for warm season perennials to be able to grow in my area they will need to be particularly drought resistant in order to handle weeks without any precipitation during our hot dry summers. Some warm season perennials include:
Legumes -
- Round-headed Bush Clover
- Purple Prairie Clover
- Western Prairie Clover
- Birdsfoot Trefoil
Broadleaf -
- Jerusalem Artichoke
- Lewis' Flax
- Fireweed
- Western Goldenrod
- Missouri Goldenrod
- Perennial Sowthistle
- Cup Plant
- Showy Goldeneye
Cool Season Annuals/Biennials:
Cool season annuals and biennials could be of relative importance as long as they self seed relatively easily. One of the most common weeds in my area is a cool season annual called yellow-star thistle so it would be convenient if I could find some options that could outcompete this species on my property. Some cool season annual and biennial options include:
Legumes -
- Sweet Clover
- Crimson Clover
- Hare's foot Clover
- Black Medic
- Hairy Vetch
- Balsana Clover
Broadleaf -
- Yellow Salsify
- Purple Salsify
- Forage Radish
- Forage Turnip
- Canola/Rapeseed
Grasses -
- Cereal Rye
- Winter Wheat
Warm Season Annuals/Biennials:
Warm season annuals and Biennials will probably be the least important type of plant for my area. This is because of our very dry summers. Even so, there are a few species that may be viable options. These include:
Legumes -
- Cowpeas
- Lablab
Broadleaf -
- Prickly Lettuce
- Lamb's Quarters
- Common Ragweed
- Annual Sowthistle
- Burdock
- Moth Mullein
- Buckwheat
These are some of the plants I would like to experiment with on my property. I do realize there is a high chance that some of these will likely not do well on my property, however that is one of the main reasons for trying out a large diversity of different species. I believe that through trial and error I will be able to develop a seed mix that will be able to provide a very nutritious forage for multiple game species throughout the year as well as require very little maintenance over time. This is my main goal for my Wild Game Meadow and this idea fits perfectly into the rest of my Hunter's Eden system for creating the ultimate habitat for wild game.
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