Frost heaving covering clover ?

Bigeight

Active Member
I put in a 4 acre Durana plot last fall with winter rye. Unfortunately I got it in much later than I hoped. After germination i was dangerously close to that 30 day mark before our first frost/freeze.
Checking the plot last week it was REALLY soft from snow melt/rain, etc. I looked the plot over and didnt find that much clover compared to how thick it was a few weeks after germination.
Do you think the clover froze out ? Or could it be that the frost heaving covered up those tiny sprouts ?
I'm debating on waiting and seeing what happens, or should I take action and frost seed more while I still can.

Thanks in advance
 
I’m not a Durana expert but I planted some too last fall. While I do see a decent amount of Durana, it’s pretty small and not impress at least right now. From what I read, fall planted Durana takes off pretty good the first following spring and even better again in the fall.

I’m skeptical right now though and if I don’t see it grow pretty good in the next couple of months, I’ll try to keep the grasses and broad leaf weeds at bay and may seed buckwheat in the bare spots and throw and mow medium red or crimson clover in the fall
 
I put in a 4 acre Durana plot last fall with winter rye. Unfortunately I got it in much later than I hoped. After germination i was dangerously close to that 30 day mark before our first frost/freeze.
Checking the plot last week it was REALLY soft from snow melt/rain, etc. I looked the plot over and didnt find that much clover compared to how thick it was a few weeks after germination.
Do you think the clover froze out ? Or could it be that the frost heaving covered up those tiny sprouts ?
I'm debating on waiting and seeing what happens, or should I take action and frost seed more while I still can.

Thanks in advance
Since you are further north freezing out is going to be a greater possibility, especially since it was not established well, which leaves it very vulnerable. I'd frost seed some more, you won't be able to really tell if it's gone until the other clover in your neighborhood starts growing, but a midwinter clover patch usually still has clover leaves that look pale, limp and wilted, but are still visible. Get ahead of the game and add some more seed. Seeding clover too heavy, while not ideal, isn't quite as much of a concern as some other crops, and is better to establish than too light.
 
Thanks for the replies. I'll add some more in a week or so just to be safe. It looked good in November, and now I see about half that much.
I did find a shed in that field and it was sunk down about 3/4" into the mud just from the heaving/weight. I was thinking the softness might have swallowed up thos little sprouts as well....better safe than sorry, i guess :)
 
Since there is at least "some" Durana that looks like it made it, would you throw more Durana on it ? Or add a Jumbo Ladino at this point ?
 
Your clover didn't get swallowed up, it froze. Mature clover has amazing roots that go below the frost depth to enable the plant to survive winters in the north, and can be found growing all the way to the arctic circle. here is a quote from the Soil and Health Library; "White sweet clover rapidly develops a deep fleshy taproot. This was found to reach a depth of 2.5 feet at the end of 7 weeks and about 6 feet after 4 months of growth. Mature plants have roots 1 to 1.5 inches in diameter and 5 to 8 feet deep" (I think the 1.5" in diameter they are talking about the size of the clump, the individual root fibers are thin.) Your newly planted clover didn't have the root depth needed, and also, exposed wet types of soil freeze much harder and deeper than soil with an established crop growing that has a thicker vegetative cover before the cold weather hits. In my climate zone, with pine needles and leaf cover to insulate the ground there is actually very little frost depth in the soil in the woods, and the same goes for lawns and fields with thicker cover crops, or a thick stand of clover in the fall. However, exposed hard packed wet soil can freeze to 36" depth, and frost to 48" is a possibility under driveways and streets. Usually in colder climes clover is often started in the spring for this reason, and in warmer climates it's started in the fall because spring seedings may not survive the hot dry summers. Clover will not freeze out nearly as quickly as alfalfa once established.
 
Since there is at least "some" Durana that looks like it made it, would you throw more Durana on it ? Or add a Jumbo Ladino at this point ?
Durana is an intermediate white clover that has smaller, more abundant leaves than jumbo ladino clover. Durana comes from Georgia and does well in the south where they have trouble growing taller white clovers. I like the bigger varieties for Pennsylvania, I've been planting Regal Graze, probably mostly because that's what my supplier has and that's what has done well for me. I suggest doing a test area where you do the one variety mostly on one side and the other variety on the other side with them mixing in the middle, to see what does well in your soil. this pic is Regal Graze, it stands up to heavy grazing, you can see the heavy deer traffic on the lower right where it's trampled from all the deer coming into the field right here, and the field edge is in the rear.WP_20180708_08_13_38_Pro.jpg
 
Durana is an intermediate white clover that has smaller, more abundant leaves than jumbo ladino clover. Durana comes from Georgia and does well in the south where they have trouble growing taller white clovers. I like the bigger varieties for Pennsylvania, I've been planting Regal Graze, probably mostly because that's what my supplier has and that's what has done well for me. I suggest doing a test area where you do the one variety mostly on one side and the other variety on the other side with them mixing in the middle, to see what does well in your soil. this pic is Regal Graze, it stands up to heavy grazing, you can see the heavy deer traffic on the lower right where it's trampled from all the deer coming into the field right here, and the field edge is in the rear.View attachment 15177
That’s an awesome looking clover patch. I may give regal graze a try
 
I think you might jst need be patient a while longer and bet the clover comes forth. Nothing wrong w frost seeding now which I do each year to expired brassica plots an perennial clovers.
Just overseeded today w rain and snow coming in next couple days. Noticed in my brassica plot that the clovers planted last year were just beginning to show where it looked as nothing a few wks ago. You can see the new clovers just coming on in the pic. Had 25 deer in the adjacent half ac clover plot that was just starting to grew up.
7c3e40008c86a41c6be6cb7f4beaefbc.jpg



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I’m not a Durana expert but I planted some too last fall. While I do see a decent amount of Durana, it’s pretty small and not impress at least right now. From what I read, fall planted Durana takes off pretty good the first following spring and even better again in the fall.

I’m skeptical right now though and if I don’t see it grow pretty good in the next couple of months, I’ll try to keep the grasses and broad leaf weeds at bay and may seed buckwheat in the bare spots and throw and mow medium red or crimson clover in the fall

I'll 2nd CCs experience w/ Durana. I planted a sm. plot w/ it last year & it came up decent but the deer hammered it this Winter & it's been almost non-existent for a few months now. Supposedly it does better the 2nd & 3rd years b/c of it's tuberous root system so we'll see. Prob. going to rake the plot heavy this weekend if I can get the tractor to it (we're getting boatloads of rain now) & plant more clover...
 
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