Autumn Maintenance Fall 06

Thoughts on Autumn & Future Maintenance
 
Right around October, many food-plotters and habitat "maintainers" feel the urge to blast out some last minute maintenance before snow falls.  You can certainly justify minor brush cutting or grass mowing (and in many cases it's necessary).  But as far as clearing or tilling/plowing or any major construction goes, your time may be better spent reflecting on your year's work and thinking of next spring.  Recall that your efforts are for the benefit of the wildlife.  Let them have this time to reap what you've sown for them in preparation for winter.

Since the weather in New England is the major factor that dictates how our plots, crops or gardens grow, consider how it influenced your work.  We've had some extremely wet growing seasons for several years now.  Which seed blends or native browse items were most productive? Or which germinated best or retained its vertical structure in the pounding thunderstorms?  I know several folks that have 5 to 10 acre fields that were too saturated to plant entirely at one time.  However, noticing that some areas were plantable they broke the large field into smaller micro-plots and planted seed blends specific to those micro-sites.  In the end, the micro-solution to a large moisture problem allowed the property owner to have multiple plots with an unbelievably diverse array of annuals and perennials.  Almost like... well, whitetail gardens.  One could easily take this a step further and allow brush/browse/field to grow between your plots for cover. 

The majority of your maintenance may revolve around the size of your acreage and plots - 100 vs. 20 acres, for example.  Aside from weather related maintenance ideas, shade branches may need to be trimmed or cut and excessive leave litter may need to be removed (unless tilling/plowing and replanting next spring).  Autumn, just before snowfall is also a great time to add for-next-spring fertilizer and lime.  It should also be noted that each chunk of property is different, so it's difficult to generalize here and have it apply to everybody in the micro-plotting world.  All that read this should feel free do drop us a line - via email, phone, or the contact page - if you need some experienced, free advice.  And when you're out and about doin' your habitat chores, remember to do you best to be passive - there are no deadlines ore cell phones in critter time.
 
*** See Whitetail Gardening, Chapter 9: Plot Maintenance Over Time