Grass seeding conundrum.

[JD-Kid]

light spray top then toss on seed harrow the hell out of it do raindance
if you can't get bulk lime on lime pellets will work but need to be applyed each year as part of fert program
do soil tests for a start then work from there

 

[ollie989898]

Soil test before you do anything.

 

[Gordon Greenlaw]

Another option would be to feed grass seed and clover to the calves through a creep feeder in the late summer/ autumn. But get the ph and P and K right first and kill as much of the weeds. I would recommend forefront.

Forefront involves too much faffing with stewardship IMO and will kill any clover present AND probably harm any clover seedlings from the resending.
If weeds are a problem a cheap and cheerful MCPA or 24D +fluroxypyr mix will be more cost effective. Looking at the terrain though,its quad bike spraying territory.
Given your grazing pattern, it might be best to wait until late August /early September before spreading seed around. Seed that isn't covered much needs all the moisture it can get.

 

[Karliboy]

So I went out yesterday evening digging up some soil samples to send for testing

This was the worst example I feel I came across for matting on the surface.

After I get the results back I’ll let you guys know what they are.

What is most people’s opinion to try and break this down somewhat ? Or do I not need to?

 

[ladycrofter]

Following on to my post about throwing prilled lime and grass seed in to the dung spreader . . . WOW. It worked.

We have swathes of new grass. As a point of disappointing and surprising comparison, places where we put in a drain and dug out rabbit holes - so bare worked ground - didn't take in spite of being sown heavily and rolled well. The seed came up to about 1 inch high, but then burned off I think due to the intense sun and lack of rain.The dung bits also dried to a crisp but somehow the grass seed just sat there inside them waiting for rain.

Definitely be doing this again. And it saved having to harrow, then run around again with the fertiliser spreader, and then fiddle grass seed. And then harrow again. and then roll both ways. Would maybe make an interesting study for someone at ag college, since we all know from experience that throwing seed into an established field, not matter how well grazed it is, just doesn't work.

 

[hendrebc]

Following on to my post about throwing prilled lime and grass seed in to the dung spreader . . . WOW. It worked.

We have swathes of new grass. As a point of disappointing and surprising comparison, places where we put in a drain and dug out rabbit holes - so bare worked ground - didn't take in spite of being sown heavily and rolled well. The seed came up to about 1 inch high, but then burned off I think due to the intense sun and lack of rain.The dung bits also dried to a crisp but somehow the grass seed just sat there inside them waiting for rain.

Definitely be doing this again. And it saved having to harrow, then run around again with the fertiliser spreader, and then fiddle grass seed. And then harrow again. and then roll both ways. Would maybe make an interesting study for someone at ag college, since we all know from experience that throwing seed into an established field, not matter how well grazed it is, just doesn't work.

Pictures?

 

[Karliboy]

Right ppl
Here’s my results of testing the land above and some meadows
1-6 is the slightly better land that I mow etc
7-10 is the rough land pictured previous.
Ph doesn’t look a million miles out on good land but the tuffet land needs work
Looking at it I need mag free lime Am I correct ?
What’s the thinking on the other p and k scores ?
Cheers
Karl

 

[2wheels]

we took on our old farm in 1968 with worse ph's than that, not hill but arable although most of it was in grass at the time. took a lot of lime and phosphate to get it up. that howard rotaseeder looks like it would do the job with a bit of patience and care.

 

[ollie989898]

Prilled lime and grass seed in a muckspreader.. ive heard it all.

Grass might be there now tell me in 12 months time.

 

[betweenthelines]

If the grass is there now, whether it is there next year will be down to weather and management

 

[Matt]

Right ppl
Here’s my results of testing the land above and some meadows
1-6 is the slightly better land that I mow etc
7-10 is the rough land pictured previous.
Ph doesn’t look a million miles out on good land but the tuffet land needs work
Looking at it I need mag free lime Am I correct ?
What’s the thinking on the other p and k scores ?
Cheers
Karl

View attachment 684346 View attachment 684348 View attachment 684350 View attachment 684354

Looks like u need lime on it all. But concentrate on your worst first. Calcium levels?

 

[neilo]

Looks like u need lime on it all. But concentrate on your worst first. Calcium levels?

+1 Maybe slightly less urgent on the first two fields, but i’d Certainly be looking at lime on everything else ASAP, and before I thought about fertilising anything. Liming is much cheaper than fert, which would be half wasted without the pH being rectified. Correcting pH will also release a lot of P from the soil by making it available to the plant, rather than being locked up.

I was advised (& agree with) that you should try to maintain pp at pH 6 or above, to get a balance between rectifying acidity and cost. Anything in the fives is eating into growth & fertiliser utilisation rates (& making it hard for clover to thrive).

 

[Karliboy]

Had a walk around the above land this evening and although the ground is burning off a little/lot where I got all the muck on is much greener and just about growing.
What I have noticed is where the muck is really thick on it seems to have burnt the moss off completely and grasses are starting to come from the soil rather than the moss layer. and we have had no rain since I put it on.
I’m tempted to go and blather a load more on top this weekend while it’s still dry all on the low P land from above and try burn some more moss off
Would it do any harm?

Hopefully going to get some liming sorted out shortly as been busy with getting grass in and mega busy at work etc

 

[Karliboy]

And I’ve seen this for sale today 2m working width.
I like the idea of it being trailed for steep land.
Would it be any use for undulating land ?
Cheers

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Had a walk around the above land this evening and although the ground is burning off a little/lot where I got all the muck on is much greener and just about growing.
What I have noticed is where the muck is really thick on it seems to have burnt the moss off completely and grasses are starting to come from the soil rather than the moss layer. and we have had no rain since I put it on.
I’m tempted to go and blather a load more on top this weekend while it’s still dry all on the low P land from above and try burn some more moss off
Would it do any harm?

Hopefully going to get some liming sorted out shortly as been busy with getting grass in and mega busy at work etc

Go for it - no time like the present
The hot dry conditions may nuke most of the live biology in the muck (but most discount that anyway and just see it as organic matter)... better to seize the window of opportunity IMO

Agree with Neil the best and cheapest fert is lime, bit of a waste putting on fert to be locked up by acidic soil (and making it more acidic in the process) which is like putting new wheels on a car you don't have an engine for
unlock what is already there, unless you have a problematic tax bill

 

[Danllan]

Sadly don’t have any sheep and it’s not fit for them as to many Hawthorne and brambles

There must be someone with a flock of Easycare / Exlana shedders near you; many would jump at the chance to put last year's ewe-lambs on it. Mine have gone through worse than that in your pic's without any harm to them and have done the land a world of good. However, I guess that with things being as they are at the moment you might have to wait for a drop of rain first though...

 

[Karliboy]

What a difference less than a year can make from the early pics in the thread taken in May/june last year.

Lots of lime and muck added over last 10 months and a little over seeding in late September from @Great In Grass.

Oceans of grass growing already and it’s only March compared to last May

Clovers coming through nicely now

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Put the seed on then drive next doors sheep over it the more the better

 

[ollie989898]

Keep feeding that sward. P and K however you can get it.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

Pwllpeiran EHF discovered that any kind of sward would turn into a ryegrass/wwc pasture if the ph and phosphate was corrected, even if there was no ryegrass or wwc to be found before. Doesn't apply to swamps of course!