The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: BenBhoy on September 26, 2011, 10:45:35 am
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hey all,
one of my fields is being taken over by moss and patches of dead grass. firstly the moss, it is in two big patches, really thick and spongy. i've raked out alot of it but i know there must be something wrong so want to stop it returning. the ground is pretty wet there, but is also on a slope, so any ideas to improve the draingage? any other ideas? the only livestock that have been on it are the ewes so wouldn't have thought they would have damaged it underneath.
aslo in the same field there are numerous patches of dead grass which you can just lift up by hand with minimal effort, the roots are dead and leaves patches of bare earth? any ideas? there are lots of earthworms there which i thought would have been a good sign, but also some white maggoty type creatures, i dont think they are leatherjackets, too small and all white with a brownish red head? any advice appreciated
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Too wet.. You need to look at the drainage.
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Lime should deal with the moss. And the dead grass does sound like leatherjackets but I'm not sure if the colour is necessarily consistent.
How long have you known this field? The reason I ask is because Im suspicious that some mole drains may have collapsed and affected the drainage.
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If there have been horses or ponies in the field it could be dung beetle larvae, don't know the latin names but I have found some in dung and underground. They shouldn't kill the grass just live on the goodness that the beetles and worms take down.
As for moss others can probably answer that as I don't suffer with wetter patches but the exact opposite my land is too dry most of the time
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thanks for replies people.
have had the field for almost 3 years now, but this is the first time had either of these problems. it is wet but not excessively, i think a problem may be the shade from the mature trees in hedgeline.
after some searching i'm farily sure now that the grubs are chafer grubs, have lifted the dead grass now and the crows are having a feeding frenzy on them.