poorly looking fields... what to do??

[winchester]

Right its that time of year where the sun is shining and you look at the fields and they are in a right state – a little thin on the grass side (Although is starting to grow a little) the ground is all poached where they have been trampled all winter!!!

What do people do to get them back to normality?

 

[barbaraNcolin]

I will being harrowing, seeding and rolling after next weekend.

 

[Horseyscot]

Snap!! mine looks just the same, but to be honest, with two (very

) good doers I'm quite happy with the lack of grass!! Being in SW Scotland ours is still pretty wet, but when it dries up a bit (hopefully soon) will just to get OH to go over it with the roller and basically that's all I do. Being on a farm I have plenty grazing options, but as I said with good doers I'm happy for their field not to flourish too much. I do have the option though to rest it if I want, and may do for a short time, but I don't want the grass to get away from me when it does come. So basically, for me, all I do is roll it!

 

[oln]

the bad ones get harrowed, grass seed , slurry then rolled and rested. the others which are also looking a little sorry get seed spread on bare patches and rolled. in a few weeks there will be more than enough grass and laminitis prevention will be the problem. always the same healthy looking paddocks in the spring= fat horses but i cant stand looking at them in a real mess.

 

[scotsmare]

Mine will be rolled sometime in the next few weeks and that's about it really

 

[Gillb]

Mine have been rolled and harrowed, finished today. What a difference! They are really quite dry, amazingly, just ok for rolling. You don't want them too dry or the divots don't go down so well.

 

[louisevictoria]

as soon as I get my other field ready (hopefully in the next two weeks) my two winter paddocks will be harrowed, seeded and rolled and then rested for a while. As they are looking a bit sorry for themselves at the moment.

 

[Crystalbank_stud]

I section of the field into paddocks and then start one paddock at a time muck collecting, harrowing and rolling. I will re seed bare patches. I always pay special attention to the gated areas when I harrow to get the ground nice and level again.

 

[smirnoff_ice07]

Normally we just rest them, pick up the worst of the muck and then put sheep on, but this year we're getting a contractor in round April/May to harrow, seed and roll, will probs spray for weeds aswell.

 

[Crystalbank_stud]

As per smirnoff_ice07 sheep are excellent for your ground. They are not as wasteful as horses and so they do not leave soured areas.

I'm hoping to take on a few this year once I know my fencing will contain them. You will need a holding licence if you do choose to have sheep on your land though.