Overseed clover in February?

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triplejbarnes

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Has anyone broadcast clover seed in February and let the frost work seed into the ground? I am thinking of overseeding white clover in my pasture this February. What do you think? Any success stories?
 
Works well in places that have freeze and thaw weather. Not so well in places that don't. ;-) Also helps to have moisture.
 
It works really well if the conditions are right. The right conditions are very short grass or bare dirt, freeze and thaw cycles, and enough moisture in the soil so that it will heave when it's frozen. It's the frost heaving that works the clover below the surface and gives it a good soil contact.
If the grass is fairly tall you can get by with broadcasting it in Dec. or Jan. if your are having rain. The rain will wash the seeds down to the soil. The catch is that it doesn't get as much seed to the ground as if the grass is short or the dirt is bare. So you end up needingt about twice the seed you would normally use.
 
I am in an area with moist conditions, freeze/thaw cycles and expensive clover seed. Tried frost seeding about three different times and have given up. Rent or hire a no till drill with a small seed attachment and do it right would be my suggestion. Also check the soil pH before you seed. Most NRCS offices have a drill to rent or a local implement dealer or hire a neighbor to do it. Mixing clover with some pasture mix (locally adapted grazing grasses) and drilling about now (at least up north) will give you a good head start next spring. jmho. Good luck. Jim

You may need to use the regular drill box (not the small seed attachment) for the grasses. But this gives you max benefit from a pass with a drill.
 
since your in the south id plant the clover in oct.an you should get some fall grazing off it.as well as lush spring grazing.
 
Triplejbarnes, I am going to save you some valuble time, so you will indeed prosper in 2010. You can thank me in February, when you will be cashing in on great grazing, not to mention an increase in soil Nirtogen. Do youself a favor and get some Apache Arrowleaf Clover from Athens Seed in Watkinsville, GA.
It comes in 50 lb bags for $105 and it is pre-innoculated and ready to plant. PLANT in OCT!

Planting rate is 10 lbs per acre and I would recommend you used a no-till drill with a small seed box and a big box and plant a Nursecrop of Oats at 10+ lbs per acre along with your clover at 10lbs per acre.

For information about Apache Arrowleaf don't depend on Athens Seed to help you, as they know very little about the product, but instead go to the source; which is East Texas Seed Company, Tyler, Texas. They have an 800 number, so just call them. Like I said you can thank me another day.

Ed
 
Here in the frigid northland(KY), Feb is a great time to broadcast/overseed red/white/ladino clover and annual lespedeza - I'll never ever use a no-till drill for planting small clover seed like red or white again - plants it too deep; works OK for crimson clover, but I'll opt for broadcast seeding with red/white from here on out, if I ever need to thicken my stand(red usually peters out after 2-3 years).
That said, while I'm not a disciple of Allan Nations and his SGF hokum, I'll agree with edrsimms on this one - if I were in SC, I'd be planting arrowleaf clover this fall - anytime between now and early Oct.
 
triplejbarnes":2r1u4auz said:
Has anyone broadcast clover seed in February and let the frost work seed into the ground? Any success stories?

Hard to have success with any interseeding method if you have strong sod and some residual. Depth control varies between no till seeders brands... Some folks drag after spinning on seed to get better soil to seed contact, but you may still only get a good catch one year out of five w/o doing some seed bed preparation.
Best success I have had is feeding a little hay on pasture while grazing it down to the dirt, seeding a red clover based mix with a Herd spinner on an ATV, and then praying for rain. This should work one year out of two.
 
edrsimms":l65edtu8 said:
Triplejbarnes, I am going to save you some valuble time, so you will indeed prosper in 2010. You can thank me in February, when you will be cashing in on great grazing, not to mention an increase in soil Nirtogen. Do youself a favor and get some Apache Arrowleaf Clover from Athens Seed in Watkinsville, GA.
It comes in 50 lb bags for $105 and it is pre-innoculated and ready to plant. PLANT in OCT!

Planting rate is 10 lbs per acre and I would recommend you used a no-till drill with a small seed box and a big box and plant a Nursecrop of Oats at 10+ lbs per acre along with your clover at 10lbs per acre.

For information about Apache Arrowleaf don't depend on Athens Seed to help you, as they know very little about the product, but instead go to the source; which is East Texas Seed Company, Tyler, Texas. They have an 800 number, so just call them. Like I said you can thank me another day.

Ed
Ok I will bite. Arrowleaf is an annual that will either need to be reseeded every year or managed for reseeding. The advantage is low bloat potential and reseeds well.
Now the original questing was overseeding an existing pasture. One would normally like a perennial like Durana for the South Carolina I would assume depending on the location. The further north and west the better.
So the question is why to you prefer the annual over the perennial.
 

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