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Pasture Renovation
and Management
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With more horses to
graze through the summer (and more hay required in the winter), 2002
is going to be the year I get SERIOUS about pasture management.
We have about 45 acres of grazing, of varying qualities - a lot of it
reclaimed from woodland (so the basic soil was bad.) It's clay
ground, and pretty rocky underneath. When we came, all the rocks
were on the surface in most fields!
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This is part of the far
field. It's about 8 acres, and for the past few years it's been
'on loan' to a local farmer whose idea of good pasture management was
to get his outliers off HIS land in wet weather! As a result, it
became badly poached. It has also had no muck or fertiliser and
so fertility is somewhat lacking. But the main problem is the
rushes. (Picture taken late April.)
First step was to mow the
rushes.
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The grass between the rushes isn't
bad - the brown patches are the base of the rushes already
mown.
More
pasture management
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The pictures below
illustrate some of the other problems I have to tackle (or have been
working on.) The field at the side of the house adjoins our
woodland and the combination of falling trees, bracken and
blackberries have played havoc with what was a badly erected
fence. (Anyone who nails wire to trees should be SHOT! At
very least, the fence gets further and further from the ground - but
it will ultimately kill the tree.)
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First step was to kill off the
blackberries.
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This tree had wire nailed to it - it died and pulled the fence down
with it.
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This beautiful tree has wire imbedded in the bark too deeply to
remove, so the fence has to be cut and moved in.
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The field slopes sharply and stock grazing too close have eroded the
bank - making electric fencing essential to stop horses getting onto
unsafe ground and to prevent further erosion. We don't want to
move the fence further in, the problem would just be repeated, so will
be repairing the fence and using branches in the gap between the main
fence and the electric fence to try and 'trap' soil run-off - as well
as avoiding this field in very wet weather!
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More Fencing
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[ Up ] [ Outdoor Manege ] [ Pasture Management ] [ Drainage ] [ Fencing ] [ Renovations ] [ Renovations-1 ] [ Renovations-2 ] [ Renovations-3 ] [ Renovations-4 ]
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HELP-MAIL: If you
can't find the answer and need help urgently, please e-mail:
help@saddle-up.org.uk
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