If you wish to have perennials that last for years and years and will be very attractive to whitetails, turkey and other animals they need to be cared for properly. There are three main tasks we can do for the best perennial plots possible.
Mow your plots - Mowing perennials will help fight unwanted competition from grass and weeds and will promote new, more palatable growth and stolon production. How often and how frequent you should mow is more of an art than a science.
Fertilize - Fertilizing at least once per growing season is a must, but some choose to fertilize during the spring and the late summer or fall. Remember that legumes produce their own nitrogen, so use a fertilizer that DOES NOT contain nitrogen.
Treat with a grass herbicide when necessary - mowing will help keep broadleaf weeds at bay, and grasses to some extent, but grasses may still be a problem. Treating with one of the many brands of grass herbicides with the active ingredient of either clethodim or sethoxydim will keep grass out of your perennials.
It’s still not too late in many areas to plant annual legumes like LabLab. This blend is a vigorous, twining legume specially formulated for outstanding performance in food plots from spring well into autumn. It’s resistant to insects and disease, grows well even in rough or acidic soil, proves resilient under heavy browsing and produces an incredible amount of forage. Deer are strongly attracted to LabLab’s large, succulent leaves — an excellent source of protein and phosphorus for antler growth and development. LabLab can also be sprayed with the clethodim or sethoxydim grass herbicides mentioned above for a completely weed and grass free food plot.
