How long??

Anonymous-0 · Apr 30, 2010

I know there are a thousand variables but..............
Have a small pasture that has some weak grass in half of it. Well fertilized because I spread horse manure on it regularly (feed store and a local said I should use some nitrogen on it though).

Anyway, getting ready to take the mare and foal off it and was thinking to run my chain harrow over it and overseed with a good pasture mix.
Question/s

when (if at all) should I do the nitrogen in relation to the seed?

and, when could I let a horse or two back on?

Asked a couple local farmers about a soil test and they told me it wasn't worth it because everything around the area is fine. Said mine should be better and blamed it a little on nitrogen and a lot on type of grass.

Any ideas is appreciated.

Dave

msb · Apr 30, 2010

Chain harrow will give your grass a boost and seeding it is probably a good idea. I would wait for about 3 or 4 weeks before applying the nitrogen. That will give the new grass seed time to get established. Probably would hold off pasturing the same amount of time.

Sid · Apr 30, 2010

Go with the local wisdom.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 30, 2010

If your pasture is not as good as the rest of the neighborhood, the chemistry of your soil may be out of balance. I'd do the soil test.

Lime is good for grass. I'd put lime down in addition to nitrogen.

MSS3020 · Apr 30, 2010

Dave, I have "converted all my alf into grass pastures for haying and for grazing. When I planted I planted in the fall and didn't graze till the following summer..late summer ...after I took the hay off first. I was told and it makes since that if you graze to soon after seeding they will just pull the newly seeded grass right out of the ground..I also spread horse poo on my fields along with my neighbors goat poo.. My understanding that goat pooo is awesome fertilizer and willlast longer in the ground than granular.. GOOD LUCK

Nancy Howell · Apr 30, 2010

There"s a reason why the grass in that area is not as strong. You need to find out what it is and correct it.

We always do a soil test before fertilizing.

If possible, I would keep the horses off for a year. The new grass will not have a strong enough root system to survive horses grazing. I have seen horses pull even established grass up by the roots.

Anonymous-0 · Apr 30, 2010

Guess I"ll do it in fall then.....Unless I can fence off another piece close by I can't really afford to do without that one piece... We'll see. Have toharrow it anyway, maybe I'll just try fertilizer first.

Thanks, Dave

CLTX · Apr 30, 2010

Soil test! Not much plant food value in manure if you have a serious deficiency.

JD Seller · Apr 30, 2010

I would go with a soil test. You may need fertilizer and lime. You are just guessing without knowing what your base lines are. You can't go by what your neighbor's is. I bought a farm several years ago that was split into five different pastures. I soil tested each separately and had ph run from 4 to 9. So some needed lime and some needed fertilizer. Also aren't you in Germany??? Don't they have tough laws on fertilizer usage??? If you have current grass then getting the fertility correct plus the inter seeding you should be able to perk it up fast.

How long??

Anonymous-0

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msb

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Sid

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Anonymous-0

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MSS3020

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Nancy Howell

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Anonymous-0

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CLTX

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JD Seller

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