Check out my pasture....

[JimCan]

I am no evangelist or work for any ag company ...or farm. I am just someone who likes to live outside of town in peace. We have 25ac with the front pasture left fallow but cut for our 20+ years. I have no plans 'to use it'. I started with a Furgeson 40 and cheap rotary mower .. graduated to a JD 1070 with the same cheap rotary and added a B.H. brand finish mower in an attempt to simply keep it clean looking.

Last year, I sold both rotary mowers and bought a 'flail' after reading other people's comments about them. I got caught between using a finish and a bushhog because I cannot give the pasture proper attention. I am gone from 7-6 and have plenty of other things I like to do ...so I don't tend this as well as I should. For years I was getting big-azz clumps the bushog was belching out or had to run the finish mower at .3mph. My pasture was full of gum seedlings and a mess of trashy weeds. It has been messy for years. I used the Flail about four/five times last year.

Every time I drive out in the morning, I groan because; "It's alive again!" ...o'C'hit... but, then something happened. Gee?! I looks half decent. Even my wife talked about how it 'waves' in the wind. (first nice thing she ever said about the pasture.) We had some "horse" people 2mi down the road - I offered them my pasture if they wanted to bail it. "No thanks - too many weeds." (these were the people who made national news with nearly 200 horses that were feral and not at all well cared for) So you can imagine. BUT... look at this year? I'm not an ag person. I have a simple linear mind: I attribute cause to the last action. All I can think is using a flail mower did something beyond what I got with rotary.

I'll cut this pretty soon - hopefully to get those seedheads to replant. In summary: a happy flailer here.

Jim

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

I've owned a flail and currently only a rotary cutter. I settled on the rotary because of lower maintenance issues. The area I cut doesn't require a clean look.

With that said, your field looks perfect for a flail. Glad it's working well for you. The field looks great.'

 

[EddieWalker]

Wonder if by letting the grass grow, it choked out the competing weeds?

 

[RPW]

My 2 cents worth. Cut it, get someone to spray it, then plant some good grass. It will look alot better and cut down on allergies.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Wonder if by letting the grass grow, it choked out the competing weeds?

Yep. (Former landscape biz owner here.) Regular (high) mowing will discourage weeds/encourage grass. In a couple of years you'll realize you have a lot more grass/less weeds w/o any additional work or cost. Ideally mow at least twice--in spring before the weed seed-heads mature, then in late summer same thing.

You can take it to the next step by applying some compost or organic fertilizer like Milorganite (cheap, and actually adds organic material to the soil, improving it over time, which grass likes/weeds don't). Late fall is best for this, as thaw/freeze cycles will help work it into the ground. But the regular mowing will put a lot of humous back into the soil too.

As to what caused the big change this year, I think the clue is you mowed "4 or 5 times last year" rather than irregular bush-hogging, if I'm understanding correctly. I suspect that did the trick.

My 2 cents worth. Cut it, get someone to spray it, then plant some good grass. It will look alot better and cut down on allergies.

JMHO, but the OP has made great progress so far, and the technique above would be starting all over again.

If OP wants to introduce other types of grass into his field, in late winter/early spring (before anything is regrowing) lightly scratch the soil and overseed. Can also be done in late fall with certain grass species. But the current grass looks nice and obviously does well with the existing soil/pH/water/climate conditions, creating a lot less need for constant maintenance.

 

[JimCan]

Thanks for the insights, all... I live on a marsh so what passes for 'grass' around the house is a full on mixture with some areas 80% moss. Grass doesn't much like our sandy soil. My wife does not like moss, but I would like to cultivate it. I tried along the base of the woods where the Sun is gone by 10am, but could not get it to take. That leadup was to say: we only drive by this pasture on the way to town. It's simply another buffer between the house and road.

Girl, I lived just south of Milwaukee and everybody used the big city's 'ahem' forwever. I still have the round, broadcast spreader my mother had in the 60s. It would be too expensive to spread 5ac worth. I'd rather buy another implement for the tractor. Cheers.

Jim

 

[Thomas]

Nice...you'll enjoy mowing the field no matter what cutter you pick.

 

[BrokenTrack]

You unknowingly used a technique to improve pastures known as "Chop and Drop" which builds soil and kills off weeds over time. The biggest thing was cutting it several times as weeds tend to go to seed long after the grass matures, so you kept them from thriving, while the grass did.

On new pastures that have been tilled and ready for sowing, the same trick can be done. Just plant the field with the grass species wanted (I like timothy and clover) then sow in ample amounts of oats or winter rye. The oats or rye sprouts quickly and discourages weeds from growing while the timothy and clover gets established. After the oats is about in boot stage, mow it and a great field will have been established.

Incidentally, amendments to the soil will also get you the grass varieties you want, and the weeds diminished without tilling. Smooth bedstraw for instance thrives in low PH soil, hit it with lime and it goes away. Milkweed thrives when soil is low on phosphorus, use some 05-13/41 and milkweed goes away as well. Knowing what types of weeds thrive on, or thrive without, will help get rid of them. But one word of caution, always get the PH right first as uptake without the proper PH means you are just wasting money on fertilizer if you don't.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

View attachment 554129

When we moved to Virginia the fields of our property hadn't been mowed for about 8 years. The weeds, trees, and briars were about 8ft tall and thick. I took the above photo right after bush hogging the one field. Fast forward five years with regular mowing, ( went from a bush hog, to a finish mower, and now use a zero turn ) and what I have is below. No lime or fertilizer or seed, yet...

View attachment 554130

 

[cphilip]

Check and adjust the pH of the soil to the grass you want to grow. The right pH can make a big difference.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

View attachment 554129

When we moved to Virginia the fields of our property hadn't been mowed for about 8 years. The weeds, trees, and briars were about 8ft tall and thick. I took the above photo right after bush hogging the one field. Fast forward five years with regular mowing, ( went from a bush hog, to a finish mower, and now use a zero turn ) and what I have is below. No lime or fertilizer or seed, yet...

View attachment 554130

You're in my neck of the woods. And I have a "before and after" that looks pretty much the same. "Just regular mowing" or like the other poster said "chop and drop" works wonders. Adds humus to the soil, discourages weeds. Seen it, done it, many times, and it works. Maybe folks think it's too simple.

Check and adjust the pH of the soil to the grass you want to grow. The right pH can make a big difference.

True, but the cost of lime for even a few acres is considerable (to actually make a difference). And then you have to repeat every year or so. Improving the quality of soil IMO is always well worth doing, but just altering pH in most conditions creates only a temporary benefit. Longer term, you're talking about things like increasing humus (organic matter) and controlling runoff and drainage (so all the good stuff doesn't wash away).

What can I say, I love dirt.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Thanks for the insights, all... I live on a marsh so what passes for 'grass' around the house is a full on mixture with some areas 80% moss. Grass doesn't much like our sandy soil. My wife does not like moss, but I would like to cultivate it. I tried along the base of the woods where the Sun is gone by 10am, but could not get it to take. That leadup was to say: we only drive by this pasture on the way to town. It's simply another buffer between the house and road.

Girl, I lived just south of Milwaukee and everybody used the big city's 'ahem' forwever. I still have the round, broadcast spreader my mother had in the 60s. It would be too expensive to spread 5ac worth. I'd rather buy another implement for the tractor. Cheers.

Jim

Hey Jim, I grew up in your 'hood (bit west of there now, but return twice a year to enjoy the water and gorge on crabs/shrimp/oysters--best in the world, no question, and I will go to the mat on that).

Yes, grass will never grow well where the sun is gone by 10 am. Plus your land is shall we say, a wee bit salty. Not to mention sandy. Personally I love moss, the look of it, though it can be slippery. Sounds like your wife is looking for a more suburban type landscape. I get it. When I first moved to Florida, I literally couldn't see the beauty. I was used to Virginia/W.Va deep forests of tall trees, rolling hills. It just looked bare, sandy and hot. Appreciation takes time. Why don't you take a trip to some of your local nature parks and see if there's anything she sees that she likes? Helped me a lot.

 

[cphilip]

You're in my neck of the woods. And I have a "before and after" that looks pretty much the same. "Just regular mowing" or like the other poster said "chop and drop" works wonders. Adds humus to the soil, discourages weeds. Seen it, done it, many times, and it works. Maybe folks think it's too simple.



True, but the cost of lime for even a few acres is considerable (to actually make a difference). And then you have to repeat every year or so. Improving the quality of soil IMO is always well worth doing, but just altering pH in most conditions creates only a temporary benefit. Longer term, you're talking about things like increasing humus (organic matter) and controlling runoff and drainage (so all the good stuff doesn't wash away).

What can I say, I love dirt.

Some of what you say is certainly true. But you should adjust your grass to your soil to some extent if you want to reclaim a pasture. lime, properly applied, is only a once ever three to five year application. In fact it takes almost 6 months to become available. And there are creative ways to do that as well. For instance waste water treatment plants will have to mix their solid waste half and half with lime before they are allowed to dispose of it as land application. Well... that gives you fertilizer AND lime so thats a good product to use. They sell that stuff. In the end, if you want certain pasture grasses to thrive so your just going to have to adjust the pH for those. No real other way around it unless you can find a grass that is more aggressive than your weeds and likes your acidic or alkaline soil.... and thats very hard but is an option. Might not be an ideal grass but might be a good compromise. I do this with my pastures. I let what can survive and what can't not. I don't lime much but then again I have average pasture. Fescue and later in summer Bermuda takes off too which coexist with the weeds. Its not ideal but it works for me too.

There is no substitute for regular mowing though. I agree. But my point is that taking control is much more easy if you give that selected grass a more favorable environment to win out from that care and attention. Maybe at least initially.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I am not a big fan of lime-sludge (human waste) but it does make the grass grow.

Lime though is a 3-5 year investment and is not that expensive. Here I can get mill-lime for $22 a ton.

Now that fuel prices are up, I am not sure what fertilizer prices are, but I need a few tons of 10-10-10 just to top off the fields. I suspect...HIGH!

 

[hawkeye08]

Our lawn around our house was a weed patch, we only seeded a small strip in the backyard (made a quick pipe with half dozen sprinklers, smoothed it out and planted some grass where the sprinklers got it wet. Kids had play area until the rest of the yard was done... I mowed weeds for months as the grass came in slowly in the summer heat. The next summer, my father in law thought we had put sod in because it looked so good.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

you should adjust your grass to your soil to some extent if you want to reclaim a pasture......

Yep, that's just common sense. Grass that's already pretty well adapted to native soil conditions will mean less work, money, and frustration.

....taking control is much more easy if you give that selected grass a more favorable environment to win out from that care and attention.

True also.

waste water treatment plants will have to mix their solid waste half and half with lime before they are allowed to dispose of it as land application. Well... that gives you fertilizer AND lime so thats a good product to use

:licking: Just kidding.

Lime makes more sense on flatter ground; here it costs more and washes away.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Our lawn around our house was a weed patch, we only seeded a small strip in the backyard (made a quick pipe with half dozen sprinklers, smoothed it out and planted some grass where the sprinklers got it wet. Kids had play area until the rest of the yard was done... I mowed weeds for months as the grass came in slowly in the summer heat. The next summer, my father in law thought we had put sod in because it looked so good.

Weeds don't like to be mowed; grass does. Watering also gives grass a big advantage.