Food Plots & Pollinator Plantings
Attract Wildlife With an Eco-Friendly Food Plot
Create an Environment & Forage That Animals Love
Create an Environment & Forage That Animals Love
If you're wondering what to do with a recently cleared area of your property, want to attract a range of wildlife, or are looking to support pollinators in northern Virginia, let Riverbend Landscapes & Tree Service create a food plot for you!
Benefits of Food Plots
Food plots can benefit many types of wildlife, such as deer, turkeys, doves, and quail.
- A well-planned and maintained food plot can serve as a supplemental or emergency food supply during extreme cold or snow and can help wildlife get ready for winter.
- Food plots can also assure that wildlife species have adequate food supplies in the spring and summer months for reproduction and raising their young.
You can attract the wildlife you want to see on your land by choosing the food cover they favor as their habitat and for forage.
Serving residential and commercial property owners in and around Loudoun, Fauquier, and Clark counties, we provide all of the food plot services you need, customized to suit the unique needs of your property.
We offer several types of food plot packages, plus a variety of add-on options, so there's bound to be a combination that fits your unique needs. Whatever it takes to keep your crops and wildlife healthy, Riverbend can do it!
Ready to find out more?
Call us today at 703-402-9366 or click the button to contact us for a free quote!
Ready to find out more?
Call us today at 703-402-9366 or click the button to contact us for a free quote!
Food Plot Design
Creating a healthy food plot that supports the desired wildlife isn't simply a matter of cutting down trees and sowing seeds. It's important to design your food plot to ensure that there's enough food for wildlife throughout the year, as well as adequate cover, water, and travel corridors for larger animals.
Well-designed food plots can provide year-round, high-quality wildlife foods by including a variety of plant species. For instance, many wildlife species prefer green growing plants in the spring. But their preference changes to fruits and seeds in the fall and winter. Growing a mix of plants, or using multiple food plots with a variety of plant mixtures, will help ensure that there's always something growing that animals will love.
It's also important to carefully think about the location and spacing of food plots. Plan to you'll site your food plots in areas that aren't prone to erosion or flooding (you don't want freshly sown seed floating away after a rain!). Contour planting can help with this, as can minimizing tillage prior to seeding.
Clearing
Before your land can be used as an environmentally-friendly food plot, it needs to be cleared of all vegetation, including large trees, shrubs, and tree stumps. Riverbend has the heavy equipment and skilled tree care crews needed for this difficult work.
Food plots work well in or near protected grassland or woodland areas that offer good shelter and water but are lacking an adequate supply of food. That means that all land clearing work should be done in an eco-conscious way that preserves the surrounding landscape. Riverbend crews are careful not to disturb native vegetation or landscape features, keeping the surrounding area looking at natural as possible.
Clearing
Before your land can be used as an environmentally-friendly food plot, it needs to be cleared of all vegetation, including large trees, shrubs, and tree stumps. Riverbend has the heavy equipment and skilled tree care crews needed for this difficult work.
Food plots work well in or near protected grassland or woodland areas that offer good shelter and water but are lacking an adequate supply of food. That means that all land clearing work should be done in an eco-conscious way that preserves the surrounding landscape. Riverbend crews are careful not to disturb native vegetation or landscape features, keeping the surrounding area looking at natural as possible.
Land Preparation
- Pre-emergent and broadleaf weed control - These treatments control a broad range of weeds, including bittercress, chickweed, crabgrass, henbit, plantain, ground ivy, buttonweed, spotted spurge, and wild violets.
- Fertilization - Stimulate lawn health and vigor, improve soil fertility, and promote lush green grass.
- Addition of soil amendments - Turf grass sometimes needs a little help to stay healthy. By improving the condition of the soil (such as by adding lime to increase the soil's pH level), we create more favorable conditions for turf to germinate and thrive.
- Removal of invasive grasses - Several non-native species of grass find our northern Virginia climate to their liking - and they spread rapidly. Get rid of them before they take over your lawn.
All of our turf improvement treatments are customized for your property to ensure your lawn grows lush and green.
Installation
What we plant, and how we plant it, depends on how you want to use your food plot and which types of wildlife you want to attract.
Grain food plots Each year one-half of the grain food plots should be allowed to grow annual plants or be overseeded with a legume, while the other half is replanted to grains. Adequate vegetative cover must be developed and maintained to provide both wildlife and erosion control benefits.
Non-grain food plots may be composed of annual or perennial vegetation, such as grasses, legumes, or other flowering plants.
Installation
What we plant, and how we plant it, depends on how you want to use your food plot and which types of wildlife you want to attract.
Grain food plots Each year one-half of the grain food plots should be allowed to grow annual plants or be overseeded with a legume, while the other half is replanted to grains. Adequate vegetative cover must be developed and maintained to provide both wildlife and erosion control benefits.
Non-grain food plots may be composed of annual or perennial vegetation, such as grasses, legumes, or other flowering plants.
Food Plot Maintenance
We understand that your priority is the internal functions of your business. Allow us to handle your property with high-quality landscaping maintenance every season. From beautiful annual plantings to keeping your trees well groomed, we provide you with the precise services you need to keep your property professional and sleek.
Pollinator Plantings
One of the primary purposes of these types of food plots is to attract the insects needed by young birds in the summer. Non-grain food plots – including the traditional green browse food plots – can provide late fall or early winter green forage for wildlife grazing, in addition to attracting insects. Non-grain food plots can also include plantings of native forbs and legumes that, in addtion to attracting insects, can supply seeds for wildlife in the fall and winter.
It’s a good idea to establish a buffer strip of grasses, perennial weeds and/or fruiting woody shrubs between the browse plot and any nearby timber, especially if the food plot is not part of a larger wildlife planting. A mixed planting of forbs, legumes and grasses will produce a greater abundance of insects, which are critical during brood rearing time. Insects provide a protein rich diet for fast growing young birds as well as helping migratory species like wrens and bobolinks recover from their long return flights. Adding shrubs, especially those that fruit during summer months, add another food component for birds and browse for other wildlife. This increases diversity of wildlife, especially songbirds that will use the area. It is recommended that when establishing perennial food plots, that you never use introduced, non-native species when the surrounding cover is a native prairie planting. These introduced species will be a potential invader of the native planting. On areas planted to native prairie species, it is recommended that any perennial food plots be composed of entirely of native species with a high rate of native legumes. If you choose to use introduced species for food plots, limit them to annuals since these are less likely than perennials to adversely impact the surrounding native prairie plantings. To reduce competition and shading, it is recommended that the grass component be composed of upland sedges or short, bunch grasses like Little Bluestem or Sideoats Grama rather than the taller grasses like Big Bluestem, Indiangrass, or Switchgrass. Since some birds nest early and other species later in the summer or have multiple broods, it is recommended that you incorporate native forbs and legumes that bloom in the spring and early summer and also species that bloom later in the summer and fall to ensure there are insect throughout the nesting and brood rearing seasons. Both types of perennial food plots are designed to attract insects for brooding birds. Native food plots also supply seeds for fall while traditional green browse plots serve as a source of forage.
Why choose Riverbend to Create & Maintain Your Food Plot?
We’ve listened to our clients, heard their concerns about other companies they've hired, and taken that to heart. That's why we offer landscape maintenance in Fairfax and Loudoun counties with several key differences from our competitors:
Proactive Property Management - We don’t wait for a phone call or complaint to address issues with your landscape. Our teams are trained and empowered to observe and address any potential problems as proactively as possible.
High Standards - Our clients often say they’ve never had a company with our level of quality and service. Our crews are trained to perform to the highest industry standards and execute based on those details.
Experienced Crew Members
All work is performed by uniformed Riverbend crew members - we do not subcontract out the work
Locally-owned & operated
Founded, owned, and operated by a life-long Great Falls, VA resident
Customer-Focused & Responsive to Your Needs
We always keep you updated and deliver on YOUR needs
Licensed & Fully Insured
For your peace of mind and complete protection - as well as ours
Benefits of Regular Landscape Maintenance
With our routine northern Virginia landscape maintenance services, you'll experience the many benefits of a professionally maintained yard, including:
No matter the square footage of your lawn and whether you have flower beds, large or small trees, a garden, hardscaping, or other types of landscaping, you'll be thrilled with the results of our landscape maintenance services. Keeping plants, grass, shrubs, flowers, and trees properly maintained will keep your property looking vibrant and lush all year round.
Food Plots & Pollinator Plantings
Schedule an appointment with one of our landscape professionals for a free evaluation and estimate.
703-402-9366
Give us a call - we'd love to talk with you!
Food Plots & Pollinator Plantings
Schedule an appointment with one of our landscape professionals for a free evaluation and estimate.
703-402-9366
Give us a call - we'd love to talk with you!
Food Plots & Pollinator Plantings
Schedule an appointment with one of our landscape professionals for a free evaluation and estimate.
703-402-9366
Give us a call - we'd love to talk with you!