I want to plant something for a plot screen. I know there are some mixes that you can buy, but wanted to see if anyone has any experience with them or any other better ideas. one plot can be seen from the oil top road that I would like to block view from. the other plot can be seen from my house, which is nice to watch does and young bucks eat at from the porch, but I had a couple mature bucks that would use it almost exclusively at night. I feel like if I planted a barrier to block the view they would feel a little more comfortable to use it in daylight hours more often. I am in NETX. what say you GS?
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The best annual crop I have found for screens is Egyptian Wheat. Grows 10 + feet tall and thick...it will also hold up to high winds pretty well...much better than hay-grazer.
For a more permanent fix.... bicolor lespedeza or alamo switchgrass would work well but take a couple of years to establish and grow tall enough.
I have some switch grass planted to divide my plot in two and it should be much better and filled in this year. -
The past few years I have been using Sorghum Sudan as a screen on a plot that I grow behind my house. I also plant some strips leading into the plot for cover and the deer almost always use the cover to enter the field in the afternoon. It grows really well here in East Texas and the average height is about 8' on my place.Comment
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I've done the EW at two locations and a couple of seasons. This past yr I did a heavy seeding of Sunn Hemp in one location and found out it can make a nice screen, it grew to 6' before I mowed it down, I am not sure how tall it might have gotten if I had left it alone.Comment
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How hard is the Alamo switch grass to manage? Will it take over? Do you have to keep it at bay once established? I like the idea of a permanent fix.Comment
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Well since I haven't gotten it to that stage yet...I don't have any first hand knowledge of the mgmt side. I've read a ton on it though. It didn't spread quickly the first year on my place. The seeds have a very hard seed coat and sometimes it may take a year or two for them all to germinate. I got about 70% germination in my tests. Once it gets established burning is very good management tool for it after a few years.Originally posted by bowtechbandit View Post
To get it established takes some very specific steps. Fall soil prep....spraying and a very firm seed bed. Frost seeding works very well...broadcasting seeds on prepped bare soil in the winter and the freezing thawing action wears the seed coat down and the seed works its way into the soil perfectly. Then when it gets warm enough it germinates.
On my switchgrass stand I noticed lots of new shoots coming up that must germinated last fall before it got cold. So I'm anticipating a lot better stand of it this year.Comment
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So Sunn Hemp and Egyptian Wheat are both annuals?Comment
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good info guys thanks for the pointers.Comment
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Egyptian wheat screen from last summer:
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I've planted the Plot Screen from Frigid Forage. It's mostly Egyptian Wheat. It does very well, but when it headed out the hogs wallowed it down and destroyed it. I should have planted it a little later in the year I guess.Comment
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