Help on some land matters...

[sim2kuk]

The first thing sheep will do is chew through the bushes and either escape or get tangled up. Maybe see if someone locally would temporary electric fence and stock it to see how you like the sheep and if they do the job you want before investing in permanent stock fencing?
It's worth paying to have the land cultivated and starting with a clean slate in my view, it will level any rough areas and make mowing 10x easier. Unfortunately it will need spraying in the first year or two for weeds like docks after reseeding, it's the only practical way to eradicate them

Ok, thanks - probably makes sense. In relation to spraying, is this a once a year thing or ongoing throughout the year?

 

[sim2kuk]

MF 135

Thanks - I'll have a look.

 

[Goweresque]

Regardless of whether you reseed it (not a great idea IMO, all you'll end up with is more weeds) or run sheep over it to tidy it up and improve the sward (far better) you have to consider the longer term. Grass 'parkland' only looks nice because something is grazing it on a regular basis. If you just leave your grass field to its own devices it will eventually end up a weedy mess of tussocky grass. Grassland only looks 'nice' if its managed, either by grazing, regular mowing or a combination of both. Managing a grass field is no more a file and forget activity than managing a lawn is.

 

[sim2kuk]

Cheers all for being so helpful - seems like there's quite a few options available here!

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Ok, thanks - probably makes sense. In relation to spraying, is this a once a year thing or ongoing throughout the year?

Send a picture if you can , no one can really say unless they can see what's there

 

[sim2kuk]

Regardless of whether you reseed it (not a great idea IMO, all you'll end up with is more weeds) or run sheep over it to tidy it up and improve the sward (far better) you have to consider the longer term. Grass 'parkland' only looks nice because something is grazing it on a regular basis. If you just leave your grass field to its own devices it will eventually end up a weedy mess of tussocky grass. Grassland only looks 'nice' if its managed, either by grazing, regular mowing or a combination of both. Managing a grass field is no more a file and forget activity than managing a lawn is.

And I would look to mow regularly to ensure that.

 

[sim2kuk]

Send a picture if you can , no one can really say unless they can see what's there

I'll try to get hold of one - I agree it's obviously very difficult to judge when the land hasn't been seen!

 

[Highland Mule]

Thanks - I'll have a look.

Any of that era and style would be my advice - you'll have a shed of some sort if there were stables there. But I don't think you'll need a tractor at all, for a good while if ever.

My advice, get the perimeter sorted and find someone to put sheep on it. If you have ability to divide, even better. Sheep in when grass is height of a beercan standing up, out when height of can on side. Mob hard and then rest - 2 or 3 times this summer if you can. Don't waste environmental resources on mowing, but let the animals do that for you. After a couple of cycles it will look lush green, and the sheep will give you something nice to look at.

 

[sim2kuk]

 

[sim2kuk]

Land looks much worse at the moment (although it is Winter and there's been a load of rain) than in the 2nd photo. Paddock to the left is a bit marshy but is around 2-2.5 acres (have been told putting a pond in may help this).

 

[Smith31]

Remove any litter and large stones, go around with weed killer, then add some sheep and 2 goats onto the land, they will clear it.

 

[Goweresque]

And don't forget that if you plan to buy any goats/sheep of your own you have to register with DEFRA as a keeper of animals and keep movement records etc, as they come under farm livestock legislation. Far better to allow a neighbouring livestock farmer to graze it for free. You get it tidied up, he gets free grazing. Unfortunately one suspects in the area you're moving to the number of actual farmers is getting less and less and there are more and more people buying 'country properties' who want their small grass paddocks managed, so finding someone who wants to bother with 5 acres of poor grass may not be easy. If its not livestock fenced and watered you'll have no chance.

 

[delilah]

How effective is feeding seed vs spinning some on and what time of year would you feed it?

Dunno never done it have heard of folks doing it though. Just trying to find ways to stop the OP spending money, I find it immoral that so much money and resources goes into unproductive land, that's just me being weird though, each to their own .

 

[GeorgeK]

Ok, thanks - probably makes sense. In relation to spraying, is this a once a year thing or ongoing throughout the year?

Usually farmers would spray the area with glyphosphate to kill everything off. The field is then cultivated and seeded with grass. Weeds will germinate from seeds in the soil, these are sprayed with a selective weedkiller that doesn't harm the grass when they are small and easy to kill. Depending on how many weed seeds are in the soil this may suffice. Monitor the situation, some weeds are easily killed by grazing and mowing, if you see docks or creeping thistles appearing it's best to spray them.
Having seen your pics it looks a lovely plot and quite tidy. Weeds could probably be sorted with a quad bike sprayer and just do the patches rather than the whole field. You can buy herbicides like Grazon on ebay that kill the weeds and leave the grass. Once the weeds are gone the grass will naturally take over no need for reseeding or cultivating. Occasional flat rolling would keep it nice and smooth

 

[sim2kuk]

And don't forget that if you plan to buy any goats/sheep of your own you have to register with DEFRA as a keeper of animals and keep movement records etc, as they come under farm livestock legislation. Far better to allow a neighbouring livestock farmer to graze it for free. You get it tidied up, he gets free grazing. Unfortunately one suspects in the area you're moving to the number of actual farmers is getting less and less and there are more and more people buying 'country properties' who want their small grass paddocks managed, so finding someone who wants to bother with 5 acres of poor grass may not be easy. If its not livestock fenced and watered you'll have no chance.

Ha - I won't be doing that - I know my limitations!

It is watered, and if we need to get t livestock fenced we'll do that.

 

[sim2kuk]

Usually farmers would spray the area with glyphosphate to kill everything off. The field is then cultivated and seeded with grass. Weeds will germinate from seeds in the soil, these are sprayed with a selective weedkiller that doesn't harm the grass when they are small and easy to kill. Depending on how many weed seeds are in the soil this may suffice. Monitor the situation, some weeds are easily killed by grazing and mowing, if you see docks or creeping thistles appearing it's best to spray them.
Having seen your pics it looks a lovely plot and quite tidy. Weeds could probably be sorted with a quad bike sprayer and just do the patches rather than the whole field. You can buy herbicides like Grazon on ebay that kill the weeds and leave the grass. Once the weeds are gone the grass will naturally take over no need for reseeding or cultivating. Occasional flat rolling would keep it nice and smooth

Thanks George!

 

[Derrick Hughes]

View attachment 941886View attachment 941887

If you want the straight answer no waffle . Burn it off with roundup and direct drill some new seed . But first get the soil tested

 

[steveR]

and, if I were going to buy a tractor, I would definitely not buy a compact tractor, rather a small little (agricultural size) tractor, I know everyone here will say don't bother buying one, but I think it's nice to own a tractor, you could put a log splitter on it too

I would disagree with the Hon. Member.

There is nothing wrong with compact tractor, just avoid Chinese cheapies... Dunno what your budget, but if you can find a low hours 30hp Kubota or Kioti, you will not go far wrong. Even better get a front end loader on it, and you will constantly find uses for it, even if a lot of the work is as a motorised barrow!

Loads of cheap attachments about to do small tasks, mowing, harrowing etc that will be quite adequate for your 5-6ac.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[milkloss]

What are you going to do with that ménage? Grading the landscape would be best done before you consider reseeding or grazing.

 

[sim2kuk]

What are you going to do with that ménage? Grading the landscape would be best done before you consider reseeding or grazing.

We're going to incorporate it into the garden of the house which is very small - there is a retaining wall between the house garden and the manege so we'll put steps down to it, put soil in and seed it. Here is a picture of the manege: