Planting pasture grass on 3 acres

[slibrar]

Good morning and thank you in advance for your time.

I have about 3 acres that I would like to plant pasture grass. I am somewhat new to tractors and I don't know the best implement to do this. I have a Kubota BX23s and the following implements: rippers, landscape rake, mm-mower, and blade. I also have FEL and backhoe.

I don't plan on growing any gardens for now, but we recently completely cleared the property of weeds, coyote bush, and poison oak. I even dug out all the roots. My goal is to plant something beneficial for the land that will choke out the unwanted (weeds, poison oak, and coyote bush), and to help keep the land from erosion. Also, whatever I plant I would like it to help enrich the soil over time. I do have free range chickens as well.

What would be the easiest way to plant all this seed? I had someone recommend a harrow to me once. Also, thoughts on pasture grass vs soil builder or something else? I am in planting zone 9B. I would like to do it in the next few weeks.

Also, I should note that I plan on ripping all the land to remove any leftover roots down in the soil, as well as soften the topsoil since its decently hard. After that I plan on running the landscape rake over the ripped earth.

Thanks for the help!

 

[EddieWalker]

Huge difference in what to plant for your area compared to the rest of the country. Of course, we need to know where you are in the country, and even what country you are in?

Here in East Texas, coastal bermuda is the pasture grass of choice. High protein for making hay, drought tolerant so it doesn't die off it there isn't any rain for a month, and it spreads out with runners to cover all of the ground. It does require maintenance to keep out the weeds and bugs, but mostly if you just keep it mowed, it looks great. Planting it by seed is expensive and slow, but eventually it will work. The preferred method is to sprig it.

 

[jaxs]

If you plan to graze or cut hay, Coastal Bermuda is perfect for zone 9B but it can't be established with seed. Have soil tested before planting and hire someone to use their sprigger for planting. In the absence of grazing and haying,Common Bermuda is preferred over Coastal. Common can be established with seed but sprigging is far better. You can sprig right now but seed will do better in spring. If you decide to wait for spring,plant a mix of Annual Rye,Hairy Vetch,Singletary Peas and clover now and plow it under before planting Bermuda in spring. In a pinch and absence of a sprigger,get soil loose,scatter sprigs by hand then run a disk harrow over it to cover sprigs.

 

[slibrar]

Thanks for the replies. I have updated my profile with my location. I am located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California

 

[CADplans]

Twice this year I planted areas that were about 2-3 acres,,
The rough land was run over with a landscape rake,,,

The grass seed was spread with a $150 spreader,

The area was raked again with the landscape rake,,
then the areas were rolled with a DIY roller,,,

This is the second area that was done a month later,,,

In both cases, the results were tremendous,,, :thumbsup:

 

[sw99]

Twice this year I planted areas that were about 2-3 acres,,
The rough land was run over with a landscape rake,,,

The grass seed was spread with a $150 spreader,

The area was raked again with the landscape rake,,
then the areas were rolled with a DIY roller,,,

This is the second area that was done a month later,,,

In both cases, the results were tremendous,,, :thumbsup:

Pics?

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks for the replies. I have updated my profile with my location. I am located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California

I'm from Hayward and I learned to surf at Santa Cruz. This time of the year, just about anything will grow there. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and see what they have the most of, because that's what everyone else is buying. It will probably be a type of Fescue that does best in your area. The bag will have directions, but from what I remember, you just broadcast it over the dirt and water the heck out of it.