Bought land, now what ?

[Ionel]

Hi there everyone.

Long time no see...
I've been busy buying some piece of land and i finally did it.
It's 6.4ha, south oriented, 10% slope, irregular shape and slope.
Plenty of grasses, wild spiny shrubs and roses growing around.
This is europe, zone 6 mainly.
Now, before i gather the money for a topographer i have some questions buzzing arround my head.
This will primarily be a food forest but it will take some time growing it.
Until the big works, i want to plant some ground cover first. That's mainly N-fixers + whatever perrenial flower and medicinal stuff i can get the seeds for.
The problem is how do i get these seeds to establish themselves on this land ?
I won't be living anywhere near the land and will visit maybe once a month so no supervision...
Also i have no tractors (chicken, pig or otherwise) to prepare the ground.
Can i just disperse the seeds old style, by hand, during the late autumn/early spring when the ground is wet and devoided of vegetation ?
Will the seeds to their thing ?
I'm reluctant on having any machinery churning up the topsoil ... but will do it if i have to.
I don't want to wait a year to find out if my seed dispersal worked ...

Any clues/experiences ?

[Pakanohida]

What now? Watch your property for a year. Learn where the sun comes up on the longest day and goes away. Same for the shortest day. Learn your microclimates, start mapping, etc. I wouldn't do a thing for the first year if possible, and longer to be honest since you should have a master plan of what you are doing.

[Ionel]

I won't do much for the first year and maybe the second except perhaps adding a windbreak for the reasons you mentioned (planning).
I know the sun's whereabouts for allmost any day of the year and the microclimates i'll keep an eye on them.
However, i do WANT soil building vegetation/green manure/ground cover out there before anything.
My question was how do you go about that ?
How do you plant that ground cover if you have the seeds and your bare hands ?
Has anyone done this before ?
I believe yes and i want to know about it.

[chook-in-eire]

I agree with Pakanohida. Observe for a year. See what's growing where - the existing vegetation will give you clues about micro-climates, moisture levels etc.
Can you expand on "late autumn/early spring when the ground is wet and devoided of vegetation"? The only way the land would be devoid of vegetation (temporarily) would be if it had been tillage ground but from what else you write that does not seem to be the case. What is the land's management history, what was it used for?
If there is an established grass-cover I think it would be very difficult to get anything except pioneer tree species to establish from seed, never mind any annuals. In natural vegetation you only get annual plants where there has been some kind of disturbance, for example a pig rooting around or deer scraping the ground with their hooves, waves hitting the edge of a pond or lake hard, prolonged flooding, squirrels burying seeds, recent landslide areas, wildfire, uprooted trees etc. After that it does not take long for perennials and woody species to move in and "heal the scars". Annuals are just nature's 'quick fix'.

[Ionel]

"late autumn/early spring when the ground is wet and devoided of vegetation"

Late autumn (ex. november) - the cold is here.
Deciduous plants lose the foliage. Grass loses it's aboveground part. You can see some of the bare ground.
Also the rains come and later snow cover.
If i disperse the seed now, rain and snow will drive them slowly into the soil easing germination. Also if some seed need cold treatment, they will get it.

Early spring (ex. march) - after winter, the snow is gone, freezes are gone but nothing grows because it's still too cold. The rains are here.
If i disperse the seed now, rain will drive them slowly into the soil easing germination.

The seeds would be clovers, bird'sfoot trefoil,lucerne, etc.

Basically it boils down to this:
Can i disperse these seeds and expect some germination without ground disturbance, just by doing it under the above conditions ?
Or i must have absolutely disturbed soil ?

I think the land has been wild for about 10 years and before it might have been either an orchard or pasture, i'm unsure though.

[permasculptor]

My situation is completely different than yours but may help. .My experience has been that to compete with existing grasses without tillage is a slow process involving only the most hardy competitive plants.see what is already growing on your land or nearby (and when) and nurture and extend those plants as well as testing new varieties.

[Grahame]

I think it's always worth starting a plant nursery very early in the process. It is amazing how many plants you need to really fill a space. Collect some seed, get some trees started in pots. This alone could save you at least a year of growth when you do finally get to spend more time on the property. If you get someone in to dig swales, then you already have a good collection of plants, trees, herbs, ground covers ready to go straight in at the right time.

[eco4560]

Can i disperse these seeds and expect some germination without ground disturbance, just by doing it under the above conditions ?

Yes. That's exactly what 'weed' seeds do after all. But you'll get a more reliable germination rate if you can loosen the soil up first. Spring would be best. It just depends on whether you want to spend money to turn the soil and kick start the growth ASAP, or you are happy to take a slower approach and risk losing a few $ on seed that didn't take as well as you hoped.

And I'm with Grahame on the nursery. And start making compost.

[Ionel]

I do intend to start a nursery, otherwise the perrenial/annual seed amount would make me bankrupt.
For the first year i would probably do just the nursery and use the seed for the following years.
However for me was vital to know if i can just disperse the seeds directly for another reason.
I will be unable for various reasons to obtain seeds for all species that are good greeen manure (comphrey for example) the first time. So these will have to be added later on.
Now, if an existing grassy cover or my own ground cover will allow for this is very inmportant.

[Dzionik]

I tried something this year but I do not know the result yet. I made seed balls with about thirty different species of plants. I threw them in early April, but later I could not find anything. I'll see later in the year if somewhat successfully emerged.