Re-seeding & fertalising

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kassieg

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My winter field has decent grass but it isn't very dense so I am considering re-seeding it.

I have a huge summer field to use but I would like to rotate onto the winter at some point throughout summer depending on if my big mare sells early.

How long would you leave a field after re-seeding before grazing it ? & what is the best time of year to re-seed?

Also fertilising, when is the best time to fertilise my summer field?

& would you fertilise the re-seeded field after re-seeding?

thank you for help in advance !! its my first year of managing my own land so a bit of a novice despite having owned horses most of my life !!
 
Since we don't know where you are, it is impossible to advise! When I was a farm student in Devon we once had grass fit to cut for silage on the 14th February. Now I am in the Scottish Highlands I don't expect much growth for another month at least and won't be putting on any fertiliser until late April/May.

Frost will kill young grass and heavy rain will wash all that expensive fertiliser into your drains.

Do you not have any farming neighbours who can advise you? Far better than guesswork from a forum! Also, the best thing to do with young grass is to graze it with sheep the first year, so maybe you could borrow some? It sounds like you need a lot of advice.
 
I'm in north yorkshire

I have a farmer down the road from me who supplies my hay & hayledge & is going to come to roll & harrow that I could ask.
 
Yes the farmer will have his equipment out at the right time, and the seed needs to be down before the rolling as this helps the seed germinate. For horses you don't want ryegrass seeds which is what he may use for his cattle fields.
Neither do you want to use Nitrogen rich fertiliser designed for cattle fields, and silage, something like a potato fertiliser is better, and not a lot.
If you don't have many animals you may not need fertiliser, as others have said, the farmer is probably the best to advise, but emphasise that horses do not require masses of sweet lush grass.. If you need fertiliser/grass you are looking for an old fashioned meadow with a mix of grass species, not a rygrass monoculture.
I see Mole valey suggest adding herb seeds, I think this is a good idea, again they wont like a heavily fertilised field.
 
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thanks very much :)

I was looking at the seed at mole valley so that is really useful.

He has horses also so he should be able to give me a hand with the right way to do things :)
 
I see you are considering re seeding, I think you really would normally be better top dressing with seed and fertiliser rather than ploughing and starting from scratch as re-seeded land is going to need management for a year or more before hard grazing.
 
See if you can find someone locally who has a machine that can overseed it for you - a drill that cuts a tiny slit and drops the seed into it, in an existing sward. I had mine done last autumn and am intending leaving grazing it until after I have taken a haylage crop and it has regrown a bit. If you graze it too soon the grass will get pulled out, it needs time for the roots to establish. Completely reseeded needs 18 months ideally, overseeded you can get away with about half that.
Autumn is really best, the ground is warm and then the first rains will make it moist enough - spring is difficult because the ground is still warming up and by the time it has it might not get any more rain for a while.
The Grass Seed Store are good, they offer a variety of mixes, including some specifically for overseeding if you can go that route http://www.thegrassseedstore.co.uk/?gclid=CKizuOqJ6cMCFcsBwwod4wYAlA
 
I don't think you need to fertilise unless you have very poor soil, the best thing you can do is harrow and roll and get some other stock on every couple of years to help the ground. We get sheep in if we have too much grass, and they help by eating different things, and mixing stock on the land is good management. Horses do not need rich grass, best to just have a good coverage of a mixed variety with different grasses than fertilising it and thereby encouraging only a strongly competitive sward like rye, and then havign to manage your horses turnout and muzzle etc because they are getting ill from too rich grass :)
 
The first thing to do is to get a soil test done to check if there are any deficiencies in your soil.
Are there a lot of weeds?
Does the ground require drainage?
You can either go for an over-seed or a complete re-seed (but this will require the ground to be cultivated).
If you re-seed then my advice would be not to put horses on it for 3 years so that to get the grass's root structure well established.
If an over-seed then leave horses off it until the new grass has become established. At least a year without horses on it.
I never fertilise established grass land.
 
Weeds are unwanted plants: for horse owners number one enemy is ragwort, but the wildlife enthusiast who wants to encourage Cinnabar moths will like them!
Farmers tend to want different things from horse keepers, who might sow herbs and tolerate thistles.
Horses are selective grazers, so if the land is overgrazed the field may fill up with plants they don't like eg docks, but management is the key rather than indiscriminate use of herbicides.
 
Ok I am totally wrong here !! I want to by the sounds of things overseed

I have good grass its just a bit sparse so would like to thicken it a bit in one of the fields.

I'm lucky I have no rag & very little weeds.

thanks everyone. I have a lot to learn by the sounds of things !
 
I would leave it for this year. Grass is amazingly good at recovering by itself, as soon as the soil warms up. I wouldn't fence it off, as you don't want a patchwork of tall grass and bald bits. Instead, let it be grazed but not over-grazed or trampled incessantly: that might take a bit of careful managing for a few months, perhaps limited grazing on the area. If you take care of it from March to May, it will look totally different by the summer. The rolling and harrowing is a very good idea and is probably all that you need to do, apart from dealing with weeds as they appear.
 
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