What To Plant No-Till

[tlh2865]

So the biggest project I have undertaken on my land thus far was to clear about an acre to serve as an orchard. The presence of stumps in this orchard makes it impossible to till, but I still want to plant food on it, hopefully to get a nice, weed-free floor for my apple trees. Im thinking I might be able to take a drag across the field in order to rough up the surface, but tilling is not an option. What should I plant in this space?

 

[Drycreek]

Too many stumps to dig up ? That's what I normally do. I own a backhoe and have dug many myself, but I've also hired an excavator when I had lots of them. Unless they're really large, a backhoe can dig up a bunch in one day.

Other than that, my only suggestion would be to spray it dead, then seed with clover, then drag it.

 

[Semisane]

Probably your best bet for now tlh would be to broadcast a heavy application of some variety of white/ladino clover, with a moderate application of wheat. With any luck the wheat will nurse the clover into early Spring. Then you can terminate the wheat and hope for a good blanket of clover that you can mow now and then to keep the weeds out.

Stumps rot eventually. If you have neither the equipment or need to remove them let nature take its course.

 

[Crimson n' Camo]

White clover is a good choice for orchards.........

 

[swat1018]

Most timber settings need a bunch of lime before clover will do well. Have you done a soil test? If flying blind, I'd do rye.