Keeperchris Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 Hi all We are hopefully aquiring a new bit of ground this year for a new patch of game cover. It is going to be situated behind an existing woodland drive and will be used for holding and blanking birds to and fro. Problem is its currently rape and I have not had to use late sown cover crops before. Anyone got any experience of utopia kale/rape hybrids, mustard mixes etc before because that's looking like the only option at the moment. I am guessing on an early August drilling once the rape is off so any experience or advice welcome. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 mustard works well for us just broadcast onto the stubble gives a good level of cover for not a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 jonty can be sown late and will last through the season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted June 27, 2012 Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 I would be wary of flea beetle on an ex rape field (maybe not a problem later on in the summer?) i would go with mustard, a very under rated cover, with maybe one of the various kale rape hybrids to give it a little more resilience to weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeperchris Posted June 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Cheers guys that's the plan. We have got the luxury of being able to drill it so I think we will do that rather than broadcast it. I will have to have a bit of a mixture as it is going to be up to 8 acres!! A welcome addition I can tell you to a small shoot! Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 you'd be surprised with broadcasting how good a cover you can establish, if the crop is standing now you can even broadcast if from the sprayer and get it going a bit earlier, we've had up to 20 acre blocks simply because its gone onto land that was to be used for spring Barley. If you've any spring cropping you can gain effectively free cover and the farmer gets a form of "green manure" to plough in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeperchris Posted June 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 Al4x, If you have had up to 20 acre blocks of mustard, how does it fair for holding and driving cover? Have got experience with small strips etc just nothing in that big of an area. PM me if you would rather chat about it than type for hours Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 no probs, we have had issues with the person applying said mustard putting it in too large blocks and it growing almost too well, simply means you have to run a topper over it where you don't want it Best results are to alternate tramlines or a similar idea so you have gaps of stubble in between hold partridges and pheasants very well if you have birds about. then you can also place feeders strategically we have done both using it as individual drives and blanking it into adjacent woods and driving from there. Shame I have no pictures of it when its well grown as small strips it will provide a cover not up to the usual game cover as it is no where near the height or thickness but it does provide enough to hold birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Remembered this thread when out at the weekend and this is what our mustard is like at the moment, simply broadcast onto stubble after harvest it has established well, we mostly have partridges released on this area but it draws pheasants from a fair distance which is good though possibly embarrassing bearing in mind the 100 odd of the neighbors birds that were in it at the weekend. Usually its high enough to hide foxes and will be by the time we shoot it, then gets ploughed in when the area goes into spring cropping. Basically makes it as cheap a cover crop as you can get and being a bit patchy everything seems to love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 Good photo Al4x, one thing with mustard I have heard is that it won't last the season, and the first few frosts see it go backward very quickly, is this what you find? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 (edited) nope it usually does certainly into January. Being our partridge ground thats about all the time we need when it gets ploughed in so the ground has a bit of time to weather before spring drilling. Obviously it depends how thick and well you get it established but though it will look thinner it still stands up well most of the winter. I'll try and remember to update this as it goes but certainly its working well already and on stubble its pretty much free cover Edited October 2, 2012 by al4x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeperchris Posted October 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 Nice one al4x we went for a mustard and kale rape hybrid mixture. Not growing as quick as I would like but with the growing season we have had its no surprise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakloks Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Could you broadcast mustard in a hardwood as extra cover we have a bare wood that would be a cracking drive if it had winter cover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Depends how light it is, if nothing else grows I doubt mustard would. The only real answer is to thin or put some rides in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakloks Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Stuff grows but just not in the winter it's a sparse wood tree wise that's why the birds don't hold once the cover dies off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeperchris Posted October 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 I wud try and establish some shrubs etc in the wood mate. Will be beneficial for a much longer time. Plant them wherever there is some good light. Or thin the wood as described and plant in the clearings or allow natural regeneration to form a shrub layer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakloks Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 What kinda of shrubs would be good cover in the winter months? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeperchris Posted October 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 We have planted alot of lonicera it is a bit like box hedging, not a native but is great for holding birds. It will establish fairly quickly over a few years. Alternatively you could plant natives like thorns, holly, hazel and brambles. hope that helps bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakloks Posted October 14, 2012 Report Share Posted October 14, 2012 Yeah mate thanks! Ever planted any canary grass for cover? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 we have similar woods beech and ash with a load of sycamore very dark in the summer and winter no cover at all, the reason nothing grows on the floor is light and the only answer is to let light in. If you do its amazing how fast you get a decent bramble cover going. Planting anything under the canopy is a waste of time as it will be very slow to grow if it does at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakloks Posted October 15, 2012 Report Share Posted October 15, 2012 Stuff does grow 30 yard back from the wood edge but only in the summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 I may be reading your posts wrong Blakloks, but are you looking for plants that will actually grow sinificantly in the winter months. If that is the case then good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blakloks Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 No just something that provides cover during winter months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted October 18, 2012 Report Share Posted October 18, 2012 As teal says if its not growing anything over the summer in the wood then nothing will grow over the winter. The basics are a deciduous wood with little light has little cover in summer and even less in the winter. Cut some rides in let the light in and you will find brambles in the light patches within a year and a decent cover in year 2. Thats without planting anything the seeds will be there and the issue is purely light that is why you have a certain amount round the edges as the light can usually get in enough for stuff to grow. Once it gets colder and the leaves fall off everything stops growing so no cover is going to work if you broadcast seed about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted November 27, 2012 Report Share Posted November 27, 2012 (edited) coming back to this thread this is the height the mustard was last week and its certainly working very well as a drive, first week we had 20 head from this drive and the second outing about the same. Bearing in mind its well away from our release wood and we have only put down 300 birds we have a return of over a third on two of the 4 days. Its that thick you can't see the dog in a fair bit of it. Edited November 27, 2012 by al4x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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