Planting Imperial Whitetail Clover
April 24th
Food Plot Update

We are now ready to plant the Imperial Whitetail Clover in the garden food plot. The last two food plot updates detailed the lime and fertilizer applications and the initial disking in preparation for planting. I had been hoping for dry weather in the days prior to the final disking and planting, but often we have to accept what we can get when it comes to the weather. It had rained a good bit in the last week including Friday and was still pretty damp come Saturday morning. Due to a 10:00 AM soccer game we didn’t get started until after 1:00 PM, which allowed for the ground to dry some under the nice sunny skies. We were blessed with a sunny day with a high in the lower 70’s. The top layer of soil was dry but just under the surface was still damp, so I decided to disk a pass over the entire plot and then let the plot set and let the sun do it’s magic while I did other activities (mow grass, fill the feeders etc.).

At about 5:00 PM after four spaced out disking passes it was time to plant. Since the forecast was calling for more rain over the next 24 hours and I was limited on time, I decided to smooth the plot by running the ATV on it, sow the seed and then just run the four wheeler over the seed to give it some ground contact. As usual I seeded the plot a little heavier than the directions for the Imperial Whitetail Clover call for since our plots get used heavily.

The rain has fallen over night and the next day, so the seed should be ready to take off over the next couple of weeks. It will be fun to watch it through the spring. The garden food plot is near the house where we can watch it from the porch. In the past, does and fawns generally use this plot heavily throughout the summer and early fall.

The remaining four plots are having varying degrees of success. The plot at the old house looks the best with nice thick clover returning to most of the plot. The Imperial Whitetail Clover that was sown in the bare spot has started to pop up and should fill in well. When I arrived in the evening to take a couple of pictures a rabbit was having a clover snack and while I was looking at the mineral lick, two more rabbits came out of the woods to feed. This is one of the largest plots at about ½ of an acre and is also one of the most secluded.

Close-up of clover in oldhouse food plot.

Rabbit in clover at oldhouse food plot.

The old corn patch food plot also looks pretty good with a lot of growth but weed competition could become a problem. This plot probably could have been mowed and most likely will be in the next couple of weeks.

The middle clearing plot and the whippoorwill plots are both marginal at this point. Both of these plots are each under ¼ acre and situated next to the woods. The whippoorwill plot is very green but most of the green is not clover. The middle clearing plot is lagging behind spring the most and hasn’t seemed to begin greening up as much as the other plots. Hopefully the overseeding with Imperial Whitetail Clover in each of the plots that I did two weeks ago will thicken the clover up as spring progresses. I did see some tiny young clover starting up in a few places in each of the plots.

In the fall I will probably disk and re-plant one of these plots. Even though the Imperial Clover is a perennial it sometimes gets overgrazed and doesn’t last as long as it would if the plots were a lot larger. I think that in the fall I’ll try one of the perennial products from another company to add a little variety and compare it to the Imperial Whitetail Clover. In the past I have had good success planting in either the spring or fall.

Close-up of clover in best area of whippoorwill food plot.

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