# Overgrown pasture, need advice



## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

Hello,

So I bought a house with 3.3 acres for dirt cheap, it has a barn and a lot of fences, and some large pastures. Problem is it has been sitting empty since 2008, and the grass has been growing unabated since then. I do plan to get some goats, and eventually some pasture pigs, but there is a lot of work to do before then. So anyway I was wondering if anybody had a suggestion of what I should do with the 3.5 feet tall this summer that is now all folded over. I can barely walk through it, and I am a healthy active guy. So I am looking for suggestions and have a few questions.

Would somebody like to have their horse eat this grass? (a neighbor down the street who I have never met has a horse) Should I brush hog it? Should I buy a bunch of scythes and have a party? Should I leave it and then once I get goats they will eat all of it? Burning is out of the question, it is in a city. I have a riding lawn mower and a weedeater, some rakes and shovels but that is about it. 
Thanks. 

BTW this is my first post, look forward to learning from the wisdom of others on here. have a nice day.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

I'd say bushhog it.
Grass that tall loses most of it's nutritional value, and if it's laid down and wet underneath it could be moldy


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## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

So once it is brush hogged what can I do with the cut grass? I don't need 3 acres of compost. Can it be turned into hay?


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

welcome Ted, a general idea of where you are at can help with the answers you get. it will not be hay, compost at best.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> So once it is brush hogged what can I do with the cut grass? I don't need 3 acres of compost. Can it be turned into hay?


I'd just leave it there 
It will break down fairly quickly
It's worthless for anything other than returning those nutrients to the soil.

You can overseed it, or just wait and see what grows on it's own


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## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

cool thanks


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

If whatever it is grew 3Â½ feet tall this year, and hasn't been cut for 5 years, could be a lot of dry stuff accumulated underneath it. If it were surrounded by anything but pasture, a "carelessly discarded cigarette" by some anonymous person would be the quickest.

Martin


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

sever good suggestions here id opt for hogging w/o work since08 probally lot of thach hog will chop that up see what happens nest spring live stock probally wont do much


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## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

It is surrounded by other houses and a county park, I wish burning was an option, it is not. i did find a place to rent a brush hog close to my house for about $100 a day, need to wait for the days to get longer before it would be worth it, also warmer. thanks again.


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## Bob Huntress (Dec 17, 2012)

The grass is not good for hay, but I use that stuff to bed the animals. There are things you can use the cuttings for. If you get it Bush Hogged now, in the spring it should be broke down if you simply leave it where it lies.


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## harvestmoonfarm (Nov 24, 2012)

I'd bush hog and let it lay. You'll be amazed at how much good it will do the pastures in the long run. You'll also want to get some chickens and guineas in there pretty quickly. When we moved here, the house hadn't been occupied for over a year. The pastures and yard were overgrown and we had a HORRIBLE time with aggressive house spiders (called "aggressive" because they actively hunt), and would find them in the house constantly (not just one at a time, but several). We had to get an exterminator in to remedy the situation; they were that bad! 

Since we've been here for over a year now, and my chickens have had time to help clean things up, we don't have much of a problem with the spiders any more, though we do still see an occasional one (I can deal with one every now and then).


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Brush hog and then buy 6-8 sheep. They love weeds that no other animal will touch. We turned overgrown acres into good pasture with sheep. Cows/horses/goats waste alot of pasture...pick certain areas to graze and leave others alone for some reason known only to them! If you can run temporary electric you can manage your growth better. Plus animals instinctly don't graze near manure piles so what looks ok to you doesn't to them. Might I recommend Greg Judy on YouTube for interesting video on pasture management? Worth a watch.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

Before you figure burning is out, talk to the local fire warden.
What you have is a mess. Who knows what sort of weeds and their associated seeds that have been lurking since left to their own devices. 
Brush hogging and tilling in is an option for sure, but so is fighting 5 years worth of burdock, thistle, and creeping Jenny seeds...
Get it burned off and when spring hits get a good idea of what you actually have growing.


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## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

Awesome, great advice from real experience, that is difficult to find on the internet. I look forward to more. We do plan to get chickens, not sure about sheep, haven't done a bit of research on them but have done a ton on goats and pastured pigs, both which I plan to get, eventually. 

And the house has been empty since then too, all the windows are broken and have been for a while. But I remodel homes for a living and have several other friends who do the same, it's just the farming part I need the advice on, and from what I have read I think I have found the right place. thanks again.

Forgot I had one more question, once I brush hog will I eventually be able to mow with my riding lawnmower or will it still be too tall and thick, and I will have to get animals before the grass starts growing this spring?


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## dkhern (Nov 30, 2012)

aactually id suggest getting animals after the grass has grown some if they are eating at first green up they can keep up w/growth for a good while depending on how many. should take less than 2 hr to hog 3a re lawn mower depends on how rough bushes stumps rocks ect how often mowed probally main thing


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Mow as soon as you can and figure on again in the spring to chop everything up good so good grass can grow. If there is a lot of material the mower will kind of windrow it and makes it hard for good grass to grow evenly. Cut it as low as you can the second time. Then pasture it....James


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

The mention of using fire was no tongue-in-cheek thing. Fire departments are often looking for such a small area for a controlled burn as training for larger ones. They'll do it only when conditions are just right. Parks are often all they have to train on. That's the cheapest way unless you've got enough stock to move on right after you cut it.

Martin


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## frankva (May 21, 2009)

sammyd said:


> Before you figure burning is out, talk to the local fire warden.
> What you have is a mess. Who knows what sort of weeds and their associated seeds that have been lurking since left to their own devices.
> Brush hogging and tilling in is an option for sure, but so is fighting 5 years worth of burdock, thistle, and creeping Jenny seeds...
> Get it burned off and when spring hits get a good idea of what you actually have growing.





Paquebot said:


> The mention of using fire was no tongue-in-cheek thing. Fire departments are often looking for such a small area for a controlled burn as training for larger ones. They'll do it only when conditions are just right. Parks are often all they have to train on. That's the cheapest way unless you've got enough stock to move on right after you cut it.
> 
> Martin


Dept here is always looking for training spots. Old houses grass field etc. Worth a stop by and talk, if nothing more than to get your face seen.

Captain might have a "cousin billy bob" that would chop that up for gas and a pan of brownies... Never know. Could have a new toy and be looking to use it on something.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

*BEFORE* you Bushhog, *WALK over the ENTIRE area* to make sure there are no "surpises".

You do NOT want to drive a rented Bushhog over cinder blocks, old fence wire, etc


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

just another good reason to burn it first...


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

or an old well!


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## maddy (Oct 30, 2010)

I have been dealing with something similar for the past two years. Brushhogging is about all you can do (short of burning) when the grass is that high. You won't get a very aesthetic result. You'll get large swaths of grass that the tractor tires simply knock over, and the denser areas won't cut completely. 

After I brushhogged for the first time, I (naively) got out there and hand-raked about an acre of cut grass into "haystacks" which I figured would rot and turn to compost. It was a misguided idea, not only because it took me weeks to do, but because the "haystacks" remained too dry to break down, shedding whatever water I put on them. Over the next year, I used those piles to fill ruts in the pasture (which actually worked out quite well). If I had it to do again, I would have just left the grass where it fell after the brush hog came through. Pasture grass is tough and somehow manages to push up through all that mess. When it does, you can begin mowing. Keep in mind that pasture grasses require some height to do well. Unlike "lawn" grasses, their growth zone is much higher, so you should find out what kinds of grasses you have and cut them to the recommended height.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

When we moved to our current place, it hadn't been occupied in 2 years and hadn't been mowed for 3 years before that. We got here in March and hired someone to mow part of it with a belly mower as soon as the weather permitted. Within a month you couldn't tell what part had been mowed and which had not. I have a good stiff winter and snow cover to usually mash the grass down and see that it decomposes well enough before haying season the next year. If you're not producing hay, it really won't matter - or wouldn't in my climate. It managed to grow back to3 feet without your help this year, it will probably manage it again next year. If you want to see what it looks like underneath there or get to fences - then brush hog it.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

When I first started, I fell all over myself to get a 9N with all the goodies, including a bush hog. And basically, I just used the bush hog to spruce up the walking trails in the little woods--and to increase the size of the garden each year. If you bush hog the entire acreage, I think you will find yourself making just one more job on an already crowded to-do list, especially if you have to remodel the house. You will feel the need to mow it about four times a summer, 'cuz that stuff will just grow even more if you mow it.......or else you'll be right back where you started, with grass three to five feet high at the end of the summer......

Unless you have undesirable trees, bushes, and thorns where you don't want them, I would just let them alone, but maybe use the lawnmower you have to make some walking trails and fence row locations---and concentrate on the yard surrounding the house.....You can whack away at each pass, enlarging it and letting the dry stuff rot gradually...

And here's why: my original 'suburban' lawnmower was too small anyway, so I wore it out pretty fast--THEN I got a lawnmower that could handle it---I just sold the bush hog this summer--it had been sitting in the weeds out back for about fifteen years.........

And if you intend to get animals, they will take care of the rest.

geo


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## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

will check with the local fire dept, they are only about two blocks away.


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## farmerted (Dec 21, 2012)

I asked the said "we do not do that" directly from the fire cheif. Guess I will be brush hogging, but now there is about an inch of snow on everything, uhg.


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

that inch of snow is slow release moisture!! even if it is hampering your progress for the moment, a very important component!


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