Check out my pasture....

[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.