Anyone drilled grass (orchard/KBG) midwinter?

[Dadnatron]

In KY, we had the wettest year on record by about 5". We had the 2nd most rainfall in the USA outside of somewhere in WA.

I also put in about 60ac of pasture, which has done abysmally. Some areas did fine, but some areas are so sparse that its hard to tell I did anything at all.

I tried to baby it through last summer, hoping that the grass would come in and take over, but I'd like to do something to help it along. In some areas, I probably have only 20% of the stand I put in. Kind of like thinning hair... its there, but might as well not be.

Anyway, I had the usual weeds last year and did not spray. I tried to keep them down by mowing, hoping the grass would come in. So I will have to contend with weed pressure this spring and likely not a lot of residual seed. The issue then becomes, do I spray then seed or do I seed then spray.

Obviously, getting the weed pressure down will help the grass. And getting the grass will help with weed pressure. But I can't spray within 30days or so of seeding. This means, that given the weather, I might have to wait to spray for spring weeds until April, which means putting in Grass in May. OR vice versa, planting in April, but waiting til May or later to spray. Neither one is a good scenario.

I guess I could always just Roundup the mess, and plant completely new directly into the poor pasture areas. That might actually turn out to be the best option, now that I think about it. Just give up the residual grass that is there, and drill into it again.

Obviously, it has to either freeze hard enough to drive on the field or dry out. Neither of which has occurred adequately thus far this year. But if we get a hard freeze between now and early March, and I can get on the pastures, it 'seems' like I should be able to put out the grass seed and it would act like it fell off the plant and is simply germinating when conditions permit. Similar to 'frost seeding' clover, but actually drilling grass seed. I think our local Extension drill would do the job, and since I am just trying to scratch the ground, I don't think it would have any issues putting the seed in nor would it be harmful to the drill.

What is your opinion?

 

[joeu235]

Not exactly what you are talking about, but I no-tilled clover last winter on Jiggs bermuda. I thought it was a total waste because nothing happened, and then it came up in April. My NOT expert opinion is that it should work.

I feel your pain. 2018 was a miserable year for hay/pasture around here as well. No rain up to September and then it didn't stop.

 

[Ford850]

I've had good success doing some seeding in unconventional ways, just following common sense and working around the weather. Sometimes you're better off doing something today to get good results rather than waiting for perfect conditions hoping to get great results. If it were me I would try it.
I'd be cautious when getting the seed out of season since it could be out of date. You might be able to get some with borderline dates at a good price though, and apply it heavy.

 

[DJ54]

Frost seeding works exceptionally well. In fact, I'm going use a broadcast seeder to top dress my tiny pastures tomorrow, and the rest will go on a section of hay field that the clover, and alfalfa have dwindled to zilch, so no problems with autotoxicity. We finally broke the all time record for precipitation in December. Everything has been soggy most of the winter, even when the Polar Vortex came though, as there was a good 3"- 4" of snow on the ground, when it came through. Haven't been able to spread manure since Sept. right after last cutting hay. I'll just have to compost it until next Fall.

Temps. down to 19º tonight, with no snow on the ground. It didn't get as warm as they predicted here today, due to being overcast, with flurries. Should be enough light crust I can spread the seed with my little Farmall Super C, and not make ruts. Supposed to be sunny, and 34º. Usually that means it will be getting smeary around 10:30 in the morning. So need to get chores done, and get on with the project. The dirt is honeycombed a bit from last nights freeze, but only got in the mid 20's for a short period early this morning, and just didn't tighten up enough to suit me, due to all of the moisture, and pretty much saturated ground.

The great thing is, they're predicting 2"-4" of wet snow late tomorrow night, so that should take the seed right on in. Then warm up into the 40's later in the week. That should heal the honeycomb over real well.

 

[DJ54]

Perfect day to frost seed. Ground was hard enough, it was hard to see my wheel tracks to keep things spaced out right. 2" to 4" of wet snow overnight, then warming tomorrow with rain. Should put the grass seed to bed, until it's time for it to come up.

 

[mjw357]

My recommendation would be to broadcast orchard grass and/or clover now. I don’t think the drill would penetrate the hard frozen ground.
Bluegrass is not a good candidate for frost seeding, I would drill that in mid September-late October.