pretendfarmer
Silver Member
I've just about cleared close to 2 acres of nasty scotch broom and blackberries. It was a good 15' tall in many areas, and dense. It has been an epic battle, but the little Yanmar and I have just about won. No flat tires yet, knock on wood, and only a few close calls with sticks coming up and trying to wreak havoc on the tractor (and me). I've never planted seed before, and I am thinking of just putting in a pasture mix. I'm kind of in a hurry to do this because the next couple weeks is my best window of opportunity. After that, I run the risk of not having it take very well. All I am doing is removing all vegetation, and will be left with a dry, loose soil which I am sure has plenty of weed seeds. The good news is that a lot of the seeds are actually grass of some sort, but the bad news is that it's certainly loaded with blackberries, etc. My plan is to just broadcast the seed with a hand spreader, or by hand, and then get out there with a hand rake and kind of rake it in. I have irrigation and will start watering. The rains will be here before long, and I don't imagine having to water much except for in the beginning. My hope is that the grass will take off well, and crowd out all of the other weeds. I am in Western WA where it is very wet and green. The reason I am planting this is so I never have to deal with blackberries or scotch broom again. I can just mow, and also not have mud during the rainy season. I am tired of cleaning my dog's feet half a dozen times per day. Also, would like to keep my options open for a mini-horse or some other fun farm animal down the road, which would be able to feed there. I will post pictures of the area later. All suggestions welcome!