# best way to rejuvenate weedy over grazed pasture?



## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

i have about 6 acres in 3 separate pastures. also a 4th small area that is a sacrifice area.
AND my pasture really stinks this year. The weeds have taken over and of the 6 acres I bet I don't have 2 acres that is grass. I have 3 horses on it.
what would be best..pull them off and hay? fertilize ,Till and replant?
Poison it? Mow like a mowing crazy fool? I am sure it needs limed,,,in what order please do I do stuff?
can i kill with poison and then hand sow seeds on top?
what would you plant? I have mostly brome grass I think..which they will eat but not if it gets highly grown. I hand seeded a lil fescue on one pasture a year or so ago.
how do the rest of you maintain your pasture? thanks lori


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## Stonybrook (Sep 22, 2007)

Before it gets too hot you could put some of that 2-4-D on it to kill most of the weeds then reseed. Personally, if you get a no-till drill you can seed and give you pasture a breath of air at the same time. (lease from a co-op or something like that. Where are you? You could just pick up a pasture mix of grass seed at the feed store or coop. That is what I would do.


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## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

I am just north of nashville..close to kentucky border. Lil town called westmoreland. TSC have the no till rentals? Thanks:>)
would one poison. lime and fertilize then reseed in that order?


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## saanengirl (Apr 7, 2009)

Depending on the type of weeds, goats may be your solution. Get a few goats to keep with your horses. The goats will eat the weeds and the horses will eat the grass.


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## RideBarefoot (Jun 29, 2008)

call your county extension agent for recommendations of what to do in your area


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

What kind of weeds?

I'll just say I don't like the idea of using chems because they will kill a lot of beneficial plants that will provide nutrients and health to the animals on that pasture. Many herbs send down deep roots and bring up nutrition that would otherwise be unavailable. They also have healing chemical compounds. Grasses have shallow root systems and tend to have lower mineral content. Monocropping of fodder for livestock is a mistake IMO.

Rotational grazing, mowing, and yes goats all will help. With good management, pastures should get better over time. Goats will also help pick up some of the horse worms, acting as a dead end host which the horses will do for the goats as well.


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## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

saanengirl said:


> Depending on the type of weeds, goats may be your solution. Get a few goats to keep with your horses. The goats will eat the weeds and the horses will eat the grass.


What she said! :thumb:

When we moved here, the weeds had taken over the pastures. Now the pastures that the goats have access to are beautiful clover/grass. Not only do the goats eat the weeds but they _love_ the coarse grass that grows in the "roughs" where the horses drop their manure. The neighbour's pasture where the horses go but the goats don't (haven't goat-proofed those fences) is full of weeds.

I do have to chop down the bull-thistles and cockle-burrs but everything else is under control.


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## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

someday i would like to do goats again..but it won't work for now. the areas are not goat escape proof and i dont want to chase goats


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

Is your pasture over grazed or do you have a grass species that becomes root bound? If root bound is your problem, a lot of people use various methods to cut the roots (knives, discs etc.) and follow up with fertilizer. 

If it is truly over grazed you need a soil analysis before you start fertilizing or you could be wasting your money and they aren't that expensie. You're going to have to come up with someplace for the horses till the new grass is established and with some species that can take 2 years but if I were in your situation, I think I'd consider hiring someone to come in a custom seed it properly and I'd look at a grass seed that is suited to your location with a cover crop of something like fall ryegrass so you would have something to graze late the first year. The two grass species will essentially choke out your weeds so you shouldn't need to worry about them at all. 

After your grass is fully established, you may want to consider rotational grazing to protect your investment.


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## lamoncha lover (Mar 1, 2009)

thanks for the suggestions.
I guess it is overgrazed. I take the horses off in the winter and they graze usually april through October or November or until there doesn't look to be enough grass left to graze.
I rotate them through the 3 areas..usually in 2 week stints. Last year we did a pretty good job of bushhoging...would put the blade down really far where the weeds were. Didn't seem to help by the looks of the pasture this year. I was shocked when I went to open up their 3rd pasture..the one that befiore we bought it had grass so high it was higher then me on horse back..and all I could see were weeds.
I don't know what the weeds are..but can recogmize a TON of wild onion


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

When I renovate a pasture, I like to drag, disc, sweeten and then seed. But that's for my soil and plant types. I renovate when the soil gets badly compacted, I've overgrazed and/or there's a lot of moss.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

We've had good luck with the mow like a crazy person effort.

But it is a good idea to get a soil sample tested just so you can find out what's going on. 

Here's what we do and it has worked fairly well (although we know we need to lime also). Our pasture was very overgrazed when we got it because the prior owners kept their horses on it even in the spring/fall mud seasons.

But horses are off it when it's not frozen; then it's dragged and overseeded and left to rest. No horses go back on until it can be mowed at least once, and I actually use one section as a sacrifice pasture (it's still pasture but not quite as nice as the rest); they go there first and I try to mow the other parts a couple times before any grazing.

When you rotate, though, don't just move them. Move them, pick the manure from the old pasture. Then drag. Then rest and hopefully (if you get enough rain, etc.) you can let it grow until it can be mowed again before they go on it. If you have 3 or more rotational areas it's easier -- one is being grazed, one is being picked/cleaned up and left to grow, one is getting mowed. I was amazed at how the rotating helped. 

Except last year when we had an extremely dry summer. Not much you can do about that; the grass really didn't grow back up in the resting phase.


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## farmgal (Nov 12, 2005)

I brush hog mine. I hog some of mine 2 times a year. That is actually how you keep the weeds in check. Mow it soon and mow it every time you see weeds just before they seed. By next year you will have mostly grass. After a while, you will mow maybe once a year or just spot mow. I spot mow in a few of my sections.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

farmgal said:


> I brush hog mine. I hog some of mine 2 times a year. That is actually how you keep the weeds in check. Mow it soon and mow it every time you see weeds just before they seed. By next year you will have mostly grass. After a while, you will mow maybe once a year or just spot mow. I spot mow in a few of my sections.


At least where I live - once or twice a year won't do anything to keep the weeds in check. I probably mow each piece 2x month! Of course every time you mow it helps, but if I only mowed once or twice it would be weedy -- ragweed and buttercups in particular. (I use a brush hog, too).


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