Broadcasting Hystrix patula in a woodland

For a few years now I have been trying to seed a woodland area that I removed buckthorn and Japanese Honeysuckle from. I have been broadcasting with Bottlebrush Grass seed that I have been purchasing by the half pound. Seemed as if every time I seeded, the European Starlings and English House Sparrows magically appeared by the thousands to pick me clean of hundreds of dollars of seed. This has been going on for years. Very frustrating given I was putting down enough seed to theoretically blanket the understory floor. I learned a little trick last year and it helped me get about 100 plants going. Granted, it sould have been a thousand plants but a hundred is better than nothing. What I did was I waited to broadcast my seed until it began snowing heavily with a forecast of a few more inches on the way. These birds don't dig up the seed when it gets buried by an inch or so. Granted, you have to go outside and freeze your buns off but they won't be able to get it all in spring when the snow melts as some of the seed will have settled down into recesses. Today it started snowing heavily so I went outside and broadcast seed for about an hour. Doing so reminded me to share this little trick. It can help you get a few plants going in a recently disturbed understory that is very vulnerable.

You can cover the seeded areas with burlap cloth. http://www.outsidepride.com/store/catalog/Erosion-Control-p-16313.html for instance.
It will eventually disappear after the grass is well established.
It is cheaper in the long run, too.

Burlap can work very well in small areas and I have used it in the past. Most unfortunately, the area I was working was just over an acre. I;ve got some experience with geotextiles but mostly for use to control erosion. They're really neat products.