Grass reseed

[Battler86]

Hi all,

Got an old 30+ yr old ley in need of a reseed. I'd prefer not to plough as the ground is on the edge of low lying wet woodland and is riddled with roots. The chap that last ploughed it 3 decades ago said it was the worst day of his life!

It was sprayed off in September, roughly failed, and left over Winter with the idea of minimal tillage and a direct drill.

The problem now is that it has a thick carpet of dead grass that needs either burying or removing. I've run the dutch harrows over it lightly to agitate and help the ground beneath dry out. Pictures below are what I'm left with. Any recommendations on how to get rid of the trash? I was thinking maybe an intensive flail run, followed by chain harrows, pan buster and rolling to firm up. Even thought of running the rake over it and mulching the swathes.

Also needs some lime before direct drilling.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Hi all,

Got an old 30+ yr old ley in need of a reseed. I'd prefer not to plough as the ground is on the edge of low lying wet woodland and is riddled with roots. The chap that last ploughed it 3 decades ago said it was the worst day of his life!

It was sprayed off in September, roughly failed, and left over Winter with the idea of minimal tillage and a direct drill.

The problem now is that it has a thick carpet of dead grass that needs either burying or removing. I've run the dutch harrows over it lightly to agitate and help the ground beneath dry out. Pictures below are what I'm left with. Any recommendations on how to get rid of the trash? I was thinking maybe an intensive flail run, followed by chain harrows, pan buster and rolling to firm up. Even thought of running the rake over it and mulching the swathes.

Also needs some lime before direct drilling.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

I would probably give it a shallow run with a power harrow then roll it hard and reseed

 

[milkloss]

All that rot thatch might not be doing the ph much good and/or might suppress the new seeds from growing. Lime might be a good option just before seeding.

 

[gwi1890]

Possibly dd roots rape or stubble turnips end of april beginning of may, then disk it in august and reseed , been doing that for a few years here and gets rid of that thick carpet on old pp

 

[Great In Grass]

@gwi1890 has made an excellent suggestion particularly following a long term ley where high Wireworm infestation could be a problem.

 

[hally]

Possibly dd roots rape or stubble turnips end of april beginning of may, then disk it in august and reseed , been doing that for a few years here and gets rid of that thick carpet on old pp

That’s what I would do, rape or rape/ hybrid, graze off and reseed properly later in the season . Direct drilling does not like much trash at all.

 

[hally]

That’s what I would do, rape or rape/ hybrid, graze off and reseed properly later in the season . Direct drilling does not like much trash at all.

Just to add, modern closed spaced drills will not handle that amount of trash, unless well consolidated prior to drilling the drill will just bulldoze it all to one end of the field

 

[Battler86]

All that rot thatch might not be doing the ph much good and/or might suppress the new seeds from growing. Lime might be a good option just before seeding.

That was my thinking. I don't want to suffocate the new seedlings with the remaining trash. Tested the PH and as expected it needs lime. Interesting suggestion re the stubble turnips. Given the amount of trash, it would probably make sense to broadcast these in and roll rather than direct drill?

I'm going to try running the flail through it slowly, getting as close to the ground as possible. I'll do a strip to start with and see how it goes. If it's pointless I'll knock it on the head, saves needing a new set of flails after.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

That was my thinking. I don't want to suffocate the new seedlings with the remaining trash. Tested the PH and as expected it needs lime. Interesting suggestion re the stubble turnips. Given the amount of trash, it would probably make sense to broadcast these in and roll rather than direct drill?

I'm going to try running the flail through it slowly, getting as close to the ground as possible. I'll do a strip to start with and see how it goes. If it's pointless I'll knock it on the head, saves needing a new set of flails after.

It might not be as bad as the picture shows . That harrow of yours has dragged everything to the surface

 

[Fendt820]

Rape then spray off again. Wire worm big problem as no/little chemistry now to sort out. Then vredo drill to put grass in of u can get one close to you. Then roll

 

[gwi1890]

That was my thinking. I don't want to suffocate the new seedlings with the remaining trash. Tested the PH and as expected it needs lime. Interesting suggestion re the stubble turnips. Given the amount of trash, it would probably make sense to broadcast these in and roll rather than direct drill?

Possibly regarding broadcasting, either way it’s a cheap way to break that field down a little for rotovation or disk later on, £7 acre in seeds even if parts of it fail it not a lot of money to burn , fatten a few lambs off ir or whatever and grass seeds later better job reseeding grass in the later summer imo.

 

[Kevtherev]

I’d disc it then as mentioned either stubble turnips or rape then reseed at a later date.
Also doing that gives you chance to get rid of soil pests plus 2 windows of BLW control so you get a nice clean new ley after.
Test for lime as well.

 

[Kevtherev]

I would probably give it a shallow run with a power harrow then roll it hard and reseed

Have you priced diesel lately?

 

[DB67]

Possibly dd roots rape or stubble turnips end of april beginning of may, then disk it in august and reseed , been doing that for a few years here and gets rid of that thick carpet on old pp

Good idea! Do you ever graze it before disking? Last back end we DD into a thick sward and I was nervous but it worked absolutely fine!!

 

[gwi1890]

Good idea! Do you ever graze it before disking? Last back end we DD into a thick sward and I was nervous but it worked absolutely fine!!

I graze the forage crop before disking yes to fatten lambs after weaning or run ewes/cattle over winter, I spread muck heavily on a field last year and it came through fine so I imagine that would be similar to seeds trying to pop out of that thick sward.

 

[tim@marford]

I’d disc it then as mentioned either stubble turnips or rape then reseed at a later date.
Also doing that gives you chance to get rid of soil pests plus 2 windows of BLW control so you get a nice clean new ley after.
Test for lime as well.

Umm. How does a one year break crop fit in with a 30 year, permanent grass, RPA claim?
Curious because we have just done a grass re-seed after 14 years and struggled with soil pests and possibly Frit Fly:-(

 

[steveR]

@gwi1890 has made an excellent suggestion particularly following a long term ley where high Wireworm infestation could be a problem.

Screwed up on a reseed many years ago and was shocked at the devastation caused by wireworm. Bring on the GammaCol!!

Have tended to use a break between reseeds now. Once bitten....

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

This was drilled with a Guttler on the 1st September last year. Just sprayed with Roundup, grazed hard with ewes, aerated and harrowed a few times. Also dressed with granulated lime and rolled. The first picture is the day it was drilled the second last week.

 

[steveR]

This was drilled with a Guttler on the 1st September last year. Just sprayed with Roundup, grazed hard with ewes, aerated and harrowed a few times. Also dressed with granulated lime and rolled. The first picture is the day it was drilled the second last week.

Pleasing outcome there...

Proper tractor too

 

[Derrick Hughes]

35 acres sprayed off for my seed testing