Thats it! Bring out the ploughs, i'm going to plough it all up!

Q

QueenDee_

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The last few years my one field has been a total wasteland. Hasn't grown properly, just heaps of weeds, thistles etc even though we pulled them all out the year before.

Thinking we may plough it all and re-plant it... this means we could also take out the old ponds (left from dad's fish farm which has moved sites, so they are just empty tarpaulin-lined pools about 10mx20m, 5 of them) which would doucle the size of the field anyway...

Not to mention the fact I abused my poo-picking duties...badly..in that it'd take about 2months to clear it :o

Views on this, anyone else ploughed one? (my uncle would do it, being a farm and all ayee ;) ) but wondering whether to do it now...would it grow? Thinking if we waited till next spring it would all be too fresh for them and with one being lamanitic and the other being a crazy TB mare this isn't best...could we do it now and let it settle over autumn/winter?

Coffee and cake for replies! :D

-Elena
 
I think that it is best if you can improve without ploughing and reseeding,a newly seeded field can take several years to become established properly,ideally being used in the first season for hay or silage to allow the grass to thicken and get a good cover otherwise as soon as the horses go back on weeds can take hold again very quickly.
Resting,harrowing and regular topping will make a lot of difference and should soon reduce the weed population whilst allowing the better grasses a chance to grow.
 
Snap I've been thinking of ploughing up our 'moss field' however my daughters sec d has been out there all summer and looks really well on it as has to do alot of walking about for not too much grass I think if you have the seed drilled it takes much better although I know as soon as the temperature starts dropping below 10 degrees at night grass seed wont germinate also as your other reply I don't think it's really suitable for grazing until it's well established so will need topping as if it gets to long it can weaken the root this could be a load of rubbish but that's what my hay man told me when I asked him about it last week!
 
Get the soil tested for liming, this can be done any time but autumn is best to allow winter rains to wash it in. Dolomite ie magnesium limestone is best.
It might be possible to plough at the momnent, but as others have said you will lose use of the land for six to eight months, doing it in spring you will be able to graze by autumn.
I don't think drilling is used for grass, more for grain which needs to be deeper, grass is usully broadcast
I think new management is going to be easier.
Have a look at drainage, old ditches need cleaned out regularly, or new ones made, borrow some sheep and small cattle to graze as horses on their own are bad news.
Weeds are best targeted at the very small stage, using a selective weedkiller which leaves the grass species alone.
 
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If you reseed or oversees then really think what grass you sow. If you talk to a specialist grass supplier they will advise and you may be able to sow a low sugar grass (ideal for laminitics) that will cope with your soil.
 
My tip is make sure you spray it off with roundup first before ploughing. Otherwise if new grass has a slow start you weeds will just come straight back, it is also worth adding something for leatherjackets( daddylonglegs) to the spray as you are doing grass to grass. Plus do the other things people have surgested, lime ect. Grass seed is at an all time high at £50 an acre so may as well give it every chance to give you a long life.
 
I was in a similar situation to op, paddock over the last few years has been sub soiled, harrowed and grass seed put down, fertilised every year etc etc but dispite 2 horses on almost 4 acreas no grass - however several hundred (well it seems like that many!) well fed rabbits. Taught me a lesson as having done nowt bit moan to my brother who farms 2 thurs ago came home from work to find it ploughed!!!! Can confirm hobo is right grass seed is £50 per acre. This is where a lot of readers will throw their hands up in horror, since the field next door was being drilled with corn and some freebies going we undersowed it with corn in the hope this gives it a quicker turf mat. A week after drilling and rolling some seedlings are showing through and only had one night of rain. Just got to invest in some rabbit fenceing now - it's never endding!
 
If you're going to spend that kind of money to sort the field, I would get in a paddock specialist to assess what you need to do...will probably save you money in the long run.
 
Cheapest?
Pigs...... let them rotivate it for you :)

Otherwise, fill in ponds (ensure any linings are removed, or if they have drains as old clay ones often have these that these are removed 1st) & get them compacted properly.
Then top, harrow, spray & leave for a bit.
After 1st hard frost use as winter trash paddock.
Then in spring be prepared to once again harrow, roll - and spray.

Dont plough unless you can afford to have it out of use for horses for at least a couple of yrs ...... you also run the risk of ploughing in all the weed seeds unless you remove/spray them anyway.
 
quite honestly I would not plough it up - you'll have no decent grass for a good year if not more! it will be too easy for the weeds to get going again, and for the horses to just wreck the grass as soon as the ground gets damp.

we've been doing the below routine on 2 horse-sick paddocks and the grass in one now looks like it's never seen a pony! the other one may take another go as the ground is soooo compacted still that next to nothing is growing.

Get it sprayed off now for all your weeds, then once stuff has died back get it topped (or take a lawnmower to it if you have the patience as it cuts it back further), lime it and get an equestrian fertiliiser (can't for the life of me remember the one we used, but it's lower nitrogen value makes it suitable for paddocks) put on before the first frosts.

Then in the spring get a spiked roller over it a couple of times to aerate it so the grass gets going better, and keep on top of the poo-picking and weed spraying next summer, top again during summer if you get rough patches appearing, and you should see a massive difference by this time next year!

for a laminitic on improved pasture you'd be best to strip graze, which also makes poo-picking easier (smaller area) and makes them eat of the grass more evenly.
 
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I would do it!

We did it with two of our fields years ago, and the grass was much better afterwards. It would bring in the areas that are ponds too, which are dead areas at the moment.

You have to remember that the grass won't come through properly really for the first year - even less so if you have shod horses on it. So I would keep some of the land back to use in the next twelve months, seed the rest, and then swop them over next year..

Having your own place is a money pit isn't it!!
 
With grazing fields ploughing is always the last resort and something we never do. It seems like a good idea but honestly it isn't. The advice you've been given above by a few posters is sound. Weedkiller the lot, seed drill with a carefully chosen grass-mix and the root network should be well established by autumn next year. Make sure you take care of the new grass during late spring/early summer next year. Regularly topping it will help enormously.
 
I ploughed my 8 acre field this year. I thought long and hard about it, as it was old grass, but in the end went for it.

At the same time I had some more work done on the drains (have had various bits done in the past). Talking to the farmer who did it, we calculated that it hadn't been done in some 40+yrs!! So the grass had really had its time.

Ideally we wanted to start in April, so we could have had a cut of hay off it this year, but unfortunately due to weather and afore mentioned problem with drains, it wasn't done until nearly June. I know have a thick covering of grass, which was cut yesterday for the 1st time.
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Yes I won't be able to use it this winter which is a pain ( I normally rotate between 2 sets of field winter and summer) but next year I will grow it for haylage and hopefully get a really good crop off it. I will fence off about an acre to use for the horses in the spring whilst the 'winter' field gets sprayed and fertilized.

Getting it done now means the grass will have a little more time to establish itself over the winter. The field I am using now was sown in the September of the year I bought it, and I was able to use it late the following summer (was previously a crop field).
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Cheapest?
Pigs...... let them rotivate it for you :)

Otherwise, fill in ponds (ensure any linings are removed, or if they have drains as old clay ones often have these that these are removed 1st) & get them compacted properly.
Then top, harrow, spray & leave for a bit.
After 1st hard frost use as winter trash paddock.
Then in spring be prepared to once again harrow, roll - and spray.

Dont plough unless you can afford to have it out of use for horses for at least a couple of yrs ...... you also run the risk of ploughing in all the weed seeds unless you remove/spray them anyway.
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I thought about pigs as well, you can buy a few litters of Old Spotty Dotties and sell them off when they have done the job, just the fencing to worry about, and the horses who are scared silly.
 
JenHunt said:
quite honestly I would not plough it up - you'll have no decent grass for a good year if not more! it will be too easy for the weeds to get going again, and for the horses to just wreck the grass as soon as the ground gets damp.

we've been doing the below routine on 2 horse-sick paddocks and the grass in one now looks like it's never seen a pony! the other one may take another go as the ground is soooo compacted still that next to nothing is growing.

Get it sprayed off now for all your weeds, then once stuff has died back get it topped (or take a lawnmower to it if you have the patience as it cuts it back further), lime it and get an equestrian fertiliiser (can't for the life of me remember the one we used, but it's lower nitrogen value makes it suitable for paddocks) put on before the first frosts.

Then in the spring get a spiked roller over it a couple of times to aerate it so the grass gets going better, and keep on top of the poo-picking and weed spraying next summer, top again during summer if you get rough patches appearing, and you should see a massive difference by this time next year!

for a laminitic on improved pasture you'd be best to strip graze, which also makes poo-picking easier (smaller area) and makes them eat of the grass more evenly.
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the replies! Think I shall do something along the lines of the above ^ moving my yearling and the old granny to a field down the village tomorrow, went this evening to walk all the fences and pick any ragwort out, actually a much better field that I thought it was! So then i'll have the back field to re-do, then my gelding and my mare, who I may put together to rest the other field :rolleyes: Really has been one of the crappiest summers, nothing has grown! :eek:
 
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