The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: Roy633 on August 08, 2013, 11:44:06 pm
-
Hi, I'm really new at this. I have 16 acres spread over 4 fields, 2 are less than 1 acre each, 1 of about 2 acres with walnut trees and 1 of about 12 acres. The previous people kept horses (13) on the land with no hard standing. These animals were allowed to roam at will over the whole area for almost 9 months come rain or shine. The result of this is that everywhere you go you are falling into hoof prints. The whole area is a complete mess. What I would like to know is what would be the best method of levelling the fields to restore the grass/grazing.
-
Tricky this time of year as everything is so dry. If the horses had stayed on further into the year, they would probably have flattened it out fairly well as it dried.
When it's soft, you can roll it, but beware compacting it as it'll prevent drainage which is probably poor if that size area has got so badly poached in the first place. A bit drier and you can run a spike harrow over it to kock off the peaks into the hoofprints and then roll if you want it very flat. You may have to reseed some areas. Failing that, plough, but it's somewhat drastic and will take years to re-establish as good meadow. Putting stock on, such as sheep will slowly flatten it out once it softens but I think you may need to look at the drainage as it sounds as though it must get very wet in winter if it is that bad all over!
-
Picking up from the previous post, yes i agree about sorting out the drainage first then move onto looking at either over seeding we use an opico unit like this - http://www.opico.co.uk/opico-machines/grass-harrows/grass-harrow.php (http://www.opico.co.uk/opico-machines/grass-harrows/grass-harrow.php)
or to relay the seedbed and over seed at the same time in one pass - http://www.blec.co.uk/products/blecavator-heavy-duty-stoneburiers (http://www.blec.co.uk/products/blecavator-heavy-duty-stoneburiers)
other useful kit is a sward lifter also from opico.
The best thing to do is find a local contractor who has this kit.