tommyyboyy05

Howdy everyone!

I had just bulldozed in a trail system on my property (in Wisconsin) and I was wondering what and if i should plant something on the trails. Would some type of grass seed be sufficient enough? I know some people plant things like clover on the trails, but would that be a bad idea as far as spooking deer since we'd be walking the same trails more often? I have 3 food plots totaling about 3 acres already so food isn't the biggest concern for the deer.

Thanks everyone

Semisane

I would not plant anything that's attractive to deer. How wide and long are your trails? If it's manageable as to size, one approach is to buy a bunch of low quality hay bales and spread hay over the exposed soil to stabilize it and let nature take its course with native grasses.

MudderChuck

Trails seem to be a favorite of ground feeding birds, Dove, Quail, Pheasant etc.

Used to be I could get bags of Quail mix, which was predominantly a weed mix. I haven't seen it recently. In fact the State (Calif.) was giving it away at one time. A lot of Poppy seed in that mix, which made for a really pretty trail in the springtime.

Low growing weeds and grasses tend to do well on trails. The center and the edges.

While you are out wheeling you might want to establish some water points for the birds. A few years of good habitat and you may have some good bird hunting.

mrbb

rye grass gets my vote, as it might do OK, with some lime and fertilizer added
but the issue with doing trails is, come spring time , leaves fill tree's and shade out the trails and what ever you have doesn't grow well
if there shaded a bunch, adding HAY might just cause them to hold more moisture and stay muddy under it longer!
rye grass will help them dry faster IF it takes root
but shade will be your enemy on many levels!

tommyyboyy05

Yeah I was thinking of going with rye grass..I just want to get something down so when it rains there is more than just mud throughout the trails. The trail goes around an 80 acre parcel and they are wide enough to drive a car through. Just wanted to see what everyone else's opinions were before going through with it and to see if maybe clover would be a better option or not.

mrbb

clover will need more lime to get ph going, and will cost a ton more in seed, and the shade will cause any grass to quickly out grow it
clover would be a better food source
but won't take that well

if you don't care about costs
you can fur sure plant a vetch , will grow like a weed and super for soil erision
but it can take over an area too
its an invasive plant in many places
but critters get a LOT of good out of it at same time
seeds are not that cheap
but it will re seed like mad ate take off!
grows tall too, so unless you ride on it often, you will loose your road LOL

tommyyboyy05

Yeah I'm not trying to spend too much money on the trail planting. Will rye grass spread like crazy as well? I don't want to plant something I have to maintain too much besides just mowing them a couple times a month.

Oldtimr

Vetch is way too invasive to use on a trail. Perhaps on a hillside where you have erosion problems but it has a bad habit of taking over. Some of the white clovers do well on poor soil and will take compaction from vehicles and bounce back and are shade tolerant. Clover also attracts a lot of insects which is a good things for turkey in the spring and deer love it. http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/...s/White-Clover

tommyyboyy05

Well two of my three plots have clover in them so I'm concerned they might not be as predictable then as far as where they are eating? Also, does deer feeding on the trails concern you as far as walking them and coming into contact with more deer walking to your stand and spooking them?

Oldtimr

That wouldn't concern me any more than any other plant that may be a food source for wildlife, and there is not much purpose in planting anything that doesn't benefit wildlife on a trail.