The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: spandit on March 20, 2013, 01:06:18 pm
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As soon as I saw this grass I knew the ground is pretty wet but don't know what it's called:
(http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk76/richardspandit/Eco/03264a7d4b5f0b85b7f0bf001aebf943.jpg)
Can it be used to make hay or is it useless?
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I will probably be corrected but I think the tall bits are rushes as opposed to grass. Not sure if they can be used for anything but I think with a bit of drainage you would be able to get rid of them.
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Thanks, rush it is!
I'm hoping that once I plant some willow there they'll recede a bit, although I'm not too bothered if not
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Rushes, rashes, reshes - I think they can be cut and dried for winter bedding, but have a tendency to harbour ticks. The ground could do with being hard grazed before the rushes are cut, then drainage put in. Sheep mostly will only eat them as a very last resort (although someone is bound to say their sheep love them :D :D ) You could keep a quiet corner of your field au naturel for wildlife.
We have had three wet years here, each one worse than the one before and I see many previously clean pastures with rushes spreading through them :( They eventually end up with more rush than grass.
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It's going to be a bigger nature reserve than just a quiet corner!
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It's going to be a bigger nature reserve than just a quiet corner!
Oh good :thumbsup: What are your plans ?
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It's going to be a bigger nature reserve than just a quiet corner!
Oh good :thumbsup: What are your plans ?
Neglect mostly... :)
If we get the property I'm going to plant some willow in part of it, fruit trees in another and hopefully let someone keep sheep there to keep the grass under control and maybe give us some meat. My MIL wants to keep donkeys which is an option. Lovely dreams at the moment but we've got to sell our house first...
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Happy Days ;D With damp ground if you can leave a bit ungrazed you might get orchids appearing like magic.
Good luck with selling your house - been there, done that, felt the stress and pressure and come out the other side to a new life.
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I work full time but odd shifts so can't keep my own livestock but hoping we might find someone who wants some free land to put theirs on... :D
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If you were near me I'd bite your hand off and fill your freezer with lamb :thumbsup:
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Rushes they be, trouble is that if they flower and seed they spread like mad worse is if you cut them back and we have dry weather and you drain the land the seeds can lay dormant for anything up to 7 years.
However that will be ideal for your au natural field.
Tala
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If you were near me I'd bite your hand off and fill your freezer with lamb :thumbsup:
You don't know how big my freezer is :)
Sounds like we wouldn't have a problem finding someone to keep the grass low
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Rushes they be, trouble is that if they flower and seed they spread like mad worse is if you cut them back and we have dry weather and you drain the land the seeds can lay dormant for anything up to 7 years.
However that will be ideal for your au natural field.
Tala
As long as there's some grass left. I'm hoping the trees will take over in due course.
Got another viewing on our house this Saturday so hopefully soon!
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Start collecting tree protectors now if you get the chance. My sheep would demolish a new willow stand in a heart beat. I reckon they could make a serious dent in an established one in a couple of days ::)
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Start collecting tree protectors now if you get the chance. My sheep would demolish a new willow stand in a heart beat. I reckon they could make a serious dent in an established one in a couple of days ::)
I'll be investing in a load soon... Any recommended types?
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If you're putting sheep on there keep an eye out for fluke. Rushes are a sign of the type of soil that the fluke's snail likes.
Dans
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If you're putting sheep on there keep an eye out for fluke. Rushes are a sign of the type of soil that the fluke's snail likes.
Dans
How much of a responsibility would I have as a land owner even if I'm renting the land to someone else to keep their sheep on?
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It's the grazier's responsibility to take care of fluke in their own sheep, unless you have a rental agreement where you "look the sheep" too. In that case you certainly want to discuss fluke with the renter and agree a strategy.
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<blockquote><<Start collecting tree protectors now if you get the chance. My sheep would demolish a new willow stand in a heart beat. I reckon they could make a serious dent in an established one in a couple of days (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif)
</blockquote>
I'll be investing in a load soon... Any recommended types?>>
Sheep are amazingly tall when they stand on their back legs, so if you are protecting trees individually you really need to build a little pen around each one and make it maybe 5' tall. Probably best and simplest to fence off the whole willow area and have sheep grazing the rest.
Some sheep, I think Shropshires, don't eat trees, but most do :tree:
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Perhaps fencing off the entire area would be best, then... The two paddocks need a barrier between them anyway. I'll stock fence until I can get a hedge to grow!