Clover?

[ShaneHallum]

I've got a small tract of land, it's surrounded by pasture fields, and a big pond on the other side. I've took out most of the underbrush. Just left the nice oaks, dogwoods and poplars.

I'm thinking about sewing down some type of food plot. This area will get a good amount of sunlight. Will clover be a good seed to put down. which type of clover would be best?I do not want a bunch of bumble bees in the ground, but can handle them to an extent.

If clover doesn't sound like my best bet which would you guys recommend? Thanks Shane

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Not a bad idea at all. I dont like Spring plantings of clover though, much prefer Fall. I would wait til fall, spray, disk, throw in a cover crop like Winter Wheat and then a clover like ladino. Your going to get alot of answers on what clover folks prefer though, I like alot of them but I think ladino and durana are good choices for perennials.

 

[BigGame]

In my experience clover is by far the best thing for a food plot. After you get it established all you have to do is keep it mowed. As Steven said fall plantings produce the best results. But if you want to hold deer they need some sort of thicket to bed up in.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

There is nothing wrong with planting clover. It is a crop that is loved by deer AND turkeys. Planting in the spring, you will have the turks, then when the rain comes in the fall, the deer will be all over it. IMO, it is the best "all around" plot you can have. The only thing that I do not like about it is, at least where I am, it always gets dried up from our ridgetop soils during the summer. Good luck

 

[BowGuy84]

I am still working on building up my soil so I planted an annual clover this fall with a cover crop of winter wheat...deer hammered it. At one point my exclusion cage was about 6-8 inches with thick clover underneath and the surrounding plot was down to an inch. It was pretty and I know the 8 point I shot out of it enjoyed his last bite there.

I planted this plot around end of September.

 

[ShaneHallum]

Tell me guys.. what type of clover would work best? Red?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Depends if you want an annual or a perrennial. We mix it together, Ladino and Crimson. I make sure that there is plenty of Ladino, because the Crimson seems to disappear earlier in the year. The main thing that I have found with clover, is that I like to overseed it and make it really thick. It is amazing how fast that stuff will come up after a good rain.

 

[BigGame]

It depends on your conditions. I get a limited amount of sunlight and I tried red clover at first with poor results. I went to white clover a few years later and the stuff really took off. I bought a sack of imperial white tail clover and mixed in strait ladino with chickory. Make sure you lime it clover needs lime. Get a soil test by all means.

 

[ShaneHallum]

But if you want to hold deer they need some sort of thicket to bed up in.

This area is about a 5 acre section of woods.. roughly 3 acres is thickets and cedars.

I cleared out enough to make a funnel to the pond.

Kinda wanting this to be my little Honey Hole!

 

[Football Hunter]

sounds good

 

[deerchaser007]

Tell me guys.. what type of clover would work best? Red?

Just hard to say for sure without knowing your conditions. With clover ,.. moisture holding is the key!!
If the area is getting the right amount of sunlight and you don't have heavy clay soil ,.. white clover alone will work great. If the area is sloped, well drained, heavier soils you could try a white clover/red clover/chicory mix and get the best of all three under any condition.

Most of the time i always recommend for a perennial plot to do a red/white/chicory mix cause it usually works under any condition except no light. If the weather stays wet,.. the white will do good,.. but if weather turns dry the red and the chicory will still provide forage.
If your gonna do nothing but white,. i like durana by pennington with alittle patriot by pennington(if you can find it). Durana is more drought tolerate , but tends to choke out chicory and red when its in a mix. If your gonna do the red/white/chicory mix ,.. go with will ladino white and medium red from the co op and throw in some tecomate chicory. OR,.. if your gonna order over the internet from someone like cooperseed,. go with regalgraze white clover, redland maxx red clover, then throw in some tecomate chicory or even biologic chicory( both are ok and easy to get ).

Hope that helps you some!!

 

[ShaneHallum]

Thanks for the advice deerchaser