reseeding a mowed powerline

[foresthawk]

Hello,
A powerline ROW goes through the property. It was just cleared and "mowed" with machinery for the first time in quite awhile by a utility contractor.  Its a bit of a wet area in places. 
I am looking for suggestions for reseeding it to a desirable planting. It was previously growing up with some unknown grasses, autumn olive, multiflora rose, poison ivy, and in some spots a bit of skunk cabbage - mostly undesirable stuff, overall. I would like to get a seed mix to reseed this area with.

[Tom King]

If you were in the same growing zone as me I could tell you exactly what to do.  Sorry, but being up there, I'm at a complete loss.  I'm sure there are plenty here that will know.

[SawyerTed]

If your ag extension or soil conservation folks are as enthusiastic as ours, they would be glad to advise you.  

I'm like Mr. King, I'm not much help for upstate New York.   

The man that leases our farm spent a day collecting soil samples from our pastures for testing several weeks ago.  He's using a no till drill today to seed tall fescue  prior to fertilizing.  

[Southside]

What kind of maintenance are you willing to put into it moving ahead?  Those plants were growing there because that's what the soil conditions - in it's present form - preferred.  If you simply plant the ground, even with the perfect mix, the same plants will return because the conditions didn't change and there are roots and a seed bank in place from what was established,  they will crowd out the new plants. 

If you can high clip the weeds back with a brush hog before they go to seed for a couple of seasons, use the area as pasture, or can do some tillage / soil improvements then there is a lot you can do, starting with cheap annuals and legumes like clover to prime the soil.  If all you do is toss seed on the ground then you are throwing your money away.  

[gspren]

What is your intended or desired use? If using as pasture get some goats!

[Ron Wenrich]

I'm surprised they actually worried about the low lying shrubs.  I did some consulting work with utilities and they didn't really worry too much except for trees.  Those they sprayed. 

If you don't keep it mowed, those shrubs will return.  Most are distributed by birds.  As noted, grasses or legumes could be planted to speed the conversion to meadow like conditions.  The extension service would be a good place for local advice.  The utility forester may also be of service.

[Southside]

It has been my experience that utility companies would do well to go into the tree planting business. Many times I have seen them scalp ROW's in August killing all the grasses and releasing all the tree seedlings from the adjoining wood lines. 

[chep]

@southside

Aren't they just doing their job? I mean it's not like they can perfectly time all the cutting in the row . It just happens to be when the crew get there on the rotation. I'm sure they cut other parts of the row at perfect timing.  there are 365 days a year. You can't only cut all the row in the perfect 3 week window for grasses? Right? Sounds like you are trying to hold them to an unfair standard.  I get it you aren't impressed but look at it from their schedule too.
At the op I would contact the row forester and see if they have recommendations on what to plant they really like when you want to reduce their workload know what I mean.

[newoodguy78]

Simply keeping it mowed is a good way to establish different species that are in the seed bank. It will offer different conditions that may promote a more desirable outcome. The mention of skunk cabbage leads me to believe it's a wet area. That could make mowing on a regular basis tricky but that's what I would try. 

[Southside]

Chep - actually I do believe they could do a whole lot better, and save money at the same time, with just a little bit of strategic planning.  It's the whole doing the same thing and expecting a different result mentality.  

Around here the standard is to use a track mounted light mulcher mower every five years, and take it to the dirt.  This soil disturbance creates the perfect opportunity for Gum, Poplar, Pine, Black Berry, etc to take over and flourish.  They get ahead of any grass that was there and they are off to the races.  So 5 years later more money is spent to send in expensive equipment to do the same thing as you are outside of what a brush hog will do.  Something as cheap as fescue seed planted in the fall, and then mowed with a 20' bat wing every other year, after establishment, would be cheaper, faster, and open the door to a whole lot more bidding competition given the equipment needs.  

Up north orchard grass, timothy, ryegrass, etc would accomplish the same thing.  

[thecfarm]

I see you are in NY. 
I am clearing old pasture land here. Slowly with just a chainsaw.
I cut the trees and I mow it. I use to buy a cheapie mower from walmart. Use to get them for $80 in the late fall, $120 in the summer. Now they are over $200. I call them my mini bush hog. Get a year out of one, I was doing good. But all this is on a small scale. Maybe an acre a year. Mowed a little at a time with a push mower. Done this for years. Yes it takes time, but does a much better job than a bushhog. This ground is uneven and the push hog is digging in on one side and up in the air a foot on the other. I have even used a weed wacker.
But what I am getting at, keep it mowed and the grass will come back and grow.

[Southside]

What Ray is talking about is very true.  Timber covered ground has different microbial life than sod covered ground, thus why you see a clear cut regenerate to a mess of briers, black berries, woody weeds such as Mares Tail, and Broom Sedge, then it's back to pioneer timber species.  Now if you open up areas slowly like Ray describes the soil biology has a chance to convert over and the grasses have an opportunity to dominate.  

[wisconsitom]

Yeah, and just removing the woody competition via repeated mowing.  Around here, numerous grasses already abound and unless fairway conditions are the goal, plenty of grass.

In your op, what would you consider desirable veg?  Personally, I like quirky natives like skunk cabbage, invasive shrubs like autumn olive, not so much🤬.

Too bad fire couldn't be used.  Can do wonders for meadow conversion but I'm guessing not in power row.

[treemuncher]

For my customers who desire grass or pasture after my services, I recommend fescue or rye grass. Your local area may require different grass species. I've recently read an article that a perenial rye will generally outcompete anything else once well established and prevent trees from taking over again. I'm not sure if that's true or not but it might be worth a try if the species is suitable for your climate.

The most important thing to get a natural strain of grasses to take off is to kill off the stump sprouts that come in after mulching or mowing. Bush hogging 3x a year as a minimum for the first year will kill off a fair amount of the stumps. Or, spot spray the resprouts when about a foot tall with RoundUp or Crossbow. Crossbow should allow your grasses to live through the spraying program. Once your grasses get thick enough, they will retard most of the new tree growth.

If the mulch from the mowing process is thick, without treatment, it might take 2-3 years before the grasses start to fluorish. This can be treated with a high nitrogen fertilizer to restore the nitrogen the chips deplete and lime to counteract the acidity of the rotting mulch. At least this is what I was instructed to do by my local Ag Ext agent.

[chep]

@southside

Thank you for your response. I know you are a knowledgeable and articulate human and I also find you quitehumorous. I think your short slightly snarky initial response struck me as not very helpful to the op. So I pointed that out. Your next response was very cool and shows how much knowledge and observation you have collected over the years. Thanks for the response! Sharing your knowledge is more helpful then sharing your sarcasm sometimes 




 

[Southside]

What makes you think I am human?  :D

[chep]

Well I guess you are from Maine originally. So more like an animal then a human 

[newoodguy78]

 :D :D Gotta keep an eye on those Maniacs dontcha know chep  :D :D

[newoodguy78]

treemuncher your suggestion on adding nitrogen to help expedite the decaying process of woody material is a good one.  I've had great results using manure as the nitrogen source. It's impressive to me watching the ground respond the manure. Nothing in soil building happens fast but it certainly speeds up the process.

[bluthum]

Our regions are too far apart for me to advise specifically but it seems to me our utility company r.o.w management is nuts, they throw money at it and pass it on. Often all they seem to do is make conditions perfect for the fastest growing problems like sweet gum. I think that's just ignorance, not intentional. Back in the day they cut problem trees by hand and that was nearly it, now it's more like a military operation that has to be seen to be believed. Cost effective? Ain' no way.
           
Fortunately I've only a couple hundred yards of r.o.w to  manage and I opt for native plants, wildflowers and grasses. Sometimes the wildflower display is epic. It seems the plants I introduce as seed do well just scattered on the ground even if a bit hit or miss, as long as they are very, very locally specific. Here abouts soil types may vary even with in a few acres and native species thrive accordingly. It ain't simple sometimes. 

I do bushhog it every few years but did fine with a chainsaw and loppers for decades, they have little to do here except drive huge machinery in every 4 year and incompetently wheel girdle the trees along my driveway coming in. More of the bigger is better philosophy of life as we know it, which I find counter productive.