BigJim
New member
As you can see in the attached "before" and "after" images, I've completed the first phase of my orchard restoration project. This roughly one-acre plot used to be an orchard 60 years ago, but had long suffered neglect to the point where it was nothing but thorn trees, mulberries and brush. About two month's worth of weekends with a JD 49 backhoe on a JD 5425 took care of that.
Anyway, after removing the trees, I was left with a hard packed mess of craters. Last weekend, I borrowed my neighbor's 10' disc harrow and drug it around for about 90 minutes to break up the packed clay and to smooth things out a little bit. The area is looking much nicer now, but I still have a little more work to do with a rear blade and the FEL in order to completely smooth out the high and low spots. I should be able to get that done this weekend; after that I plan to disc it once more.
What I'm worried about is the wind blowing all my dirt away during the hot, dry summer. It's too late in the year to plant cool-season pasture grasses, which is what I eventually want to do, but I would really like to find something that will grow quickly and hold the dirt in place until next spring.
Can anyone suggest something that I can plant that will come up right away and tolerate the heat and drought that summer is sure to bring? I'm hoping we'll get a few more rains between now and then, but come July, it's sure to be hot and dry. Any advice on what and how to plant would be greatly appreciated.
Anyway, after removing the trees, I was left with a hard packed mess of craters. Last weekend, I borrowed my neighbor's 10' disc harrow and drug it around for about 90 minutes to break up the packed clay and to smooth things out a little bit. The area is looking much nicer now, but I still have a little more work to do with a rear blade and the FEL in order to completely smooth out the high and low spots. I should be able to get that done this weekend; after that I plan to disc it once more.
What I'm worried about is the wind blowing all my dirt away during the hot, dry summer. It's too late in the year to plant cool-season pasture grasses, which is what I eventually want to do, but I would really like to find something that will grow quickly and hold the dirt in place until next spring.
Can anyone suggest something that I can plant that will come up right away and tolerate the heat and drought that summer is sure to bring? I'm hoping we'll get a few more rains between now and then, but come July, it's sure to be hot and dry. Any advice on what and how to plant would be greatly appreciated.
