Preparing My Deer Food Plot，Anyone Using a Landscape Rake?

[FogBuck]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been slowly getting a small deer food plot ready on the back of my property this spring. Nothing too big—just a small clearing where I plan to plant clover, and maybe a brassica mix later in the season. The area’s pretty rough, though: lots of small rocks, sticks, and leftover debris from when we cleared some trees last year.
I started cleaning up with just a shovel and a basic hand rake, but after a couple weekends, I realized it was gonna take forever. That’s when I started looking at a landscape rake behind the tractor to speed things up.

I’m running a small compact tractor (around 25hp), so I’m looking at a 5 or 6 ft rake. From what I’ve seen, they seem great for pulling rocks and roots, leveling the ground, and windrowing sticks and debris.

I’ve been doing some digging around, and the same big names keep coming up for implements: Land Pride, Everything Attachments, and Titan Attachments. All look solid on paper, but prices vary a lot depending on size and build quality. During my search, I also came across a Garvee landscape rake. I don’t have any firsthand experience with long-term durability yet, but the design looks straightforward and practical, and the price seems more reasonable compared to some of the heavier-duty premium brands.

That got me wondering: how much does brand really matter with a landscape rake? Is this one of those tools where splurging on a big name is worth it, or are most models pretty similar as long as the frame and tines are sturdy?
And just out of curiosity—has anyone here ever built their own landscape rake? The design looks simple enough, so I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you have gone the DIY route. Curious how that held up over time.

Here’s my rough plan right now:
Clear the big debris
Run a landscape rake to pull rocks and level
Light disc or drag
Seed clover and see what the deer think
It’s my first real food plot, so I’m still learning the ropes.How do you guys usually prep yours?Do you run a landscape rake first, or go straight to disc or drag?Any brands you’ve had good luck with?
Appreciate any tips before I drop money on the wrong implement.

 

[bucksnbears]

I've never used a landscape rake but I can see the upside of owning one.

 

[yoderjac]

A landscape rake can be a great food plotting tool for small plots. Tillage introduces oxygen into the soil and that burns OM at a very high rate. Just scratching the top of the soil is enough to get good seed/soil contact for a plot. Min-till and No-till techniques work great for most of the seed we plant for deer. As long as you are not planting large seeds like corn or soybeans, you don't need a drill or planter for no till.

If you do decide to disk, do it very lightly. You will want to set the gangs pretty straight. I occasionally us a disk. When I'm done disking, from a distance the field still looks green and you can't even tell I disked. When you get up close, you can see bits of soil.

As for your plan, I have some advice. Don't plant perennial clover in the spring. You will do much better planting it in the fall with a winter rye nurse crop. Perennial clover take time to put down deep roots before producing top growth. If you plant it in the spring, while it is putting down roots, warm season weeds will out compete much of it. You can plant annual clover in the spring as it produces top growth faster. You don't mention your location. I'm in zone 7a and this is very true here. It may me less of an issue further north, but planting perennial clover in the fall with a cereal grain nurse crop is the best practice.

My suggestion would be to plant buckwheat this spring. It likes warm soil temps so you will have plenty of time to deal with the new plot. While buckwheat will germinate with soil temps as low as 45 degrees, but I would not plant it until soil temps have reach a minimum of 65 degrees. The optimal soil temp is actually 80 degrees for buckwheat. Keep in mind, since you are just starting, soil temp are not air temps. You can get a cheap soil thermometer and test it. It is measured between 8am and 9am. Buckwheat is very sensitive to cold air temps. A frost will kill it.

Buckwheat is very fast to germinate and grow. It will out-compete many summer weeds and smother them. It will provide food value for deer for 60-90 days. You can leave it standing longer depending on when you want to plant your fall plot. It will continue to provide cover for small game and turkey just love the seed. Deer use buckwheat, but generally don't abuse it. Small plots can quickly get wiped out by deer if you plant an ice cream crop. Buckwheat generally holds up in a small plot.

You should burn down the plot with glyphosate before planting. I would wait for about 2 weeks after any tillage to let any weed seeds that you stirred up germinate and start growing. These young weeds will be very susceptible to gly. You will want to apply it at a rate of 2 quarts per acre. In the fall, you can evaluate the plot after the buckwheat dies. If you find weeds, especially cool season grasses, starting, you will want to spray again before planting your clover. I would plant about 10 lbs/ac of perennial clover and 80-100 lbs/ac of winter rye. You can add brassica at a low rate to this mix if you like. Purple Top Turnips (PTT) could be added but don't exceed 2 lbs/ac. Daikon radish could also be added but I'd keep it under 4 lbs/ac.

Deer will use the radish tops first as well as the winter rye when it is young. Those will be your fall attractants. You may get very little clover growth that fall. Much of the clover with just germinate. The turnip leaves will become attractive later in the season and the turnip bulbs will become attractive in the very late and after season.

The important thing is timely mowing of the clover next spring. Each time the winter rye hits about a foot or so, mow it back to 6"-8". Winter rye has a chemical effect on may weed seeds preventing them from germinating and it takes up space and resources that weed would otherwise use. This mowing plan will keep the winter rye alive and doing its job until it dies naturally. This gives the perennial clover time to fill in.

Keep in mind that perennial clover fixes N into the soil. It this is a new plot, you may want to buy inoculated clover or inoculate it yourself. Over time, it will become more and more attractive to N seeking weeds and grasses. That is normal. In my area Durana clover is a good choice. It is both persistent and drought resistant. You can buy it as just Durana seed. Most of the Buck on Bag (BOB) seed mix inexpensive annual clovers in with whatever perennial clover they use.

One word about weed tolerance. Over time on my journey I've become more and more weed tolerant when it comes to clover. Deer don't need magazine cover plots. Many of the weeds are as good or better deer food than what we plant. I typically get about 5 years out of a ladino clover plot and around 10 years out of a Durana plot before they become dominated by cool season grasses. At that point, it is time to rotate into an N-seeking crop like sorghum (milo) for a season before replanting clover.

Best of luck whatever you do.