Is this land a no go?

[Bones]

Yes I think digging a couple holes is a great idea, we are just waiting on the estate agent reopening so we can arrange a viewing and get permission to enter the land.

just be care full, I don't know about Scotland but it's been dry here for a couple of months and even very wet ground looks and feels dry as a bone,

 

[ollie989898]

A field that looks like that would strike me as being one to hang quite wet. The rushes can be got rid of but if it hangs wet it will need draining or at least have somewhere for the water to drain away to.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Depends what you can afford and want . Land that grows rushes with never be as good as clean well drained land, in 20 years time you will still be batleling with rushes as you never get rid of them completely
By well drained ,I mean naturally drained

 

[brigadoon]

As others have said - the important thing is the potential for drainage - if it can be drained take it - if it cannot be drained leave it alone - its a money pit.

If you can get it drained a bit of TLC will take care of the rushes, I would tend to mow then weedwipe the regrowth, it will surely want a good dose of lime as well.

But only if it can be drained

 

[Skintagain]

Go have a walk across it ASAP.

If it’s still very wet now it’s a bloody wet piece. As it looks now probably looks at it’s worst so you can only make it better.

When lockdown ends things are likely going to take a tumble. By the backend you might be able to buy it for very reasonable money indeed.

 

[roscoe erf]

lot of hard work there but doable

 

[Dry Rot]

Take someone who knows what they are doing with you. Maybe an agricultural adviser or agronomist. Experience (in this case, someone else's) is always cheap, whatever you pay for it. Advice here is all very good but it is tempered with a lot of 'ifs" and 'buts" as no one but you has seen the land or knows how much you want it.

I had plenty of rushes here 35 years ago but horses love them. The only rushes here now are outside the fences. I don't know anything about alpacas, but maybe they like roughage too?

 

[clod hopper]

From what I have seen/read topping rushes followed by weedwiping with glyphosphate when they start to grow again is a good way to get rid of them. But presumably better drainage and lime will be required to prevent them coming back.

Correct! We had few years back not many, put lime on by hand and cleared it up

 

[Danllan]

Hello, I am looking at purchasing a small holding, where I am from they are few and far between so choice is restricted. One has come up locally however the paddocks are infested with rushes. I would intend to use this land for stocking alpacas. All I know about rushes are what I have managed to google in the last hour, do you think this land would be impossible to use as a paddock?

Looks like wall to wall rushes, not great but it can be fixed. Glyphosate the lot, wiping ideally, reseed it and it will be fine, you might need to see off a few the next season, but they'll hardly be noticeable as you go along. Take good local advice about what grass seed mix to use.

Depends what you can afford and want . Land that grows rushes with never be as good as clean well drained land, in 20 years time you will still be batleling with rushes as you never get rid of them completely
By well drained ,I mean naturally drained

We have.

 

[Wilber32]

Bought land like this in March last year with not a blade of grass. Gave it Full reseed and lime. Hoping to to 3-4 cuts this year. But I knew the potential it had. Can’t advise too much as I don’t know the history or structure of soil. But I’m sure you could improve it a lot from what it is.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Looks like wall to wall rushes, not great but it can be fixed. Glyphosate the lot, wiping ideally, reseed it and it will be fine, you might need to see off a few the next season, but they'll hardly be noticeable as you go along. Take good local advice about what grass seed mix to use.


We have.

To be honest I have but it will never be as good as my free draining land that grows 4 ton of wheat and is dry all winter , improvable land is ok if it's cheap, but it's often no cheaper than clean land

 

[lloyd]

data.gov.uk land classification and soil types and general information.
See if it is listed similar to the improved land in the locality.

 

[OAG]

Thank you everyone for your advice, sounds like the rushes could be treated but it wont be easy and my priority is to find out whether it is a bog or not.

Contacted the estate agent today and they have closed down completely for viewings so we have a few weeks to think about it as it looks like Scotland is in another 3 week lockdown.

I am wondering with the current climate if the value will drop, it is a fixer upper inside and with it being 119 years old there is some more serious insulation work required too so we shall see.

 

[OAG]

Hi just an update if anyone is interested. Managed to get personal contact details for the owner and they told us there is drainage, a burn and the land has never been prone to flooding. Apparently it was used as a fully worked small holding for years but in the last 10 their parents got older and stopped working it hence the rushes. They also sent pictures of the land from years back when it was worked showing it was viable land.

 

[Gordon Greenlaw]

There is a very steep hill to the left of this land which is owned by a farmer which he uses for sheep. This land is at the bottom of that hill.
Not any that I could see but due to the current covid situation I was not able to enter the land to get a good look however I do not think so, it is 8 acres.

If that's the case then you are receiving your neighbour's run off. A ditch between you and them would be a good start .
When you get chance to look round , look for evidence of where water leaves the field and if it can be improved . Culverts get blocked by neglect.
As everyone else says , rushes can be cured with weed wiping and lime.

 

[Ysgythan]

Young farmer to old farmer: “What’s the best thing to do if you have a lot of rushes?”

old farmer: “move farm”

 

[ollie989898]

You can get rid of them.

Get them/it topped down tight, get a man and digger in to short the ditches, trim back hedges etc and then get ready to spray the rushes off when they come back green and nasty.

 

[toquark]

We're in SW Scotland and most land round here will revert to looking something like that if left for 10 years. Its not long before the nutrients leach, ph drops and rushes appear. Not a massive job to get it back, just some time and effort required. As above, start by topping the rushes, then focus on getting the water moving (there will almost certainly be existing drains in a field like this). Then, once workable, you can lime until the ph is right then you can look at reseeding or growing potatoes or something...

Seriously though, we had 17ac like that which we sorted by topping the rush in early summer then again in September then just applied FYM twice per year, whilst grazing it hard during the summer with the neighbour's cattle then our sheep. In 3 years it wasn't comparable, I just wish I'd taken photos! It didn't cost the earth to rejuvenate either, patience was the main ingredient.

I reckon the first photo makes it look a lots worse than it actually is. Its probably always going to be a damp field but not useless.