Clearing land and planting grass, suggestions welcome!

[pretendfarmer]

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!

 

[Ed of all trades]

Here in Va all we have to do is keep it bush hogged a couple times a year and the grass will win out.

 

[Capricious]

Here in Va all we have to do is keep it bush hogged a couple times a year and the grass will win out.

The same here in Missouri.

I cleared off about an acre and a half in the summer of 2013 that had not been cut in a few years, and have been keeping it cut, and at the moment it looks like a fairly decent suburban lawn. No seeding/planting, nothing. Just keeping it cut short.

 

[jeff9366]

After so much work, be sure to get a soil test and apply nutrients, including micro-nutrients, as recommended.

New, hybridized, pasture grasses are 50% more productive than standard pasture grasses, but hybrids have to be fertilized to reach that level of productivity.

You can use some form of 2,4-D herbicide on the most persistent Blackberries and Scotch Broom; which will kill both pests but leave the grass undamaged. There are multiple forms of 2,4-D herbicides in different strengths. Check out the inventory at Tractor Supply Company, Rural King or whatever your local ag store is. Buy a gallon of concentrate.

Though considerably more expensive, 'Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus' is a superior product.

Bush Hogging regularly will control MOST of the Blackberries and Scotch Broom.

I would improvise a drag to pull behind the Yanmar, rather than rake it in by hand.
Usually, some old chain link fence with a couple tires on it for weight, or just 4-6 old tires chained together.

 

[pretendfarmer]

Thanks for the replies. I was sidetracked almost immediately after posting this. A large stick came up under the tractor and broke the brake linkage and tore out some wiring. I will repair it then get back to work in the next day or so.

 

[oosik]

I'm over on the dry side of WA. I ground up about 3/4 acre with a plow then disk harrow then land plane grading scraper. I hand broadcast meadow/pasture grass seed and drug an old bed spring behind my ATV. Did it late in the fall and only had to water a couple weeks.

It came up nicely before snow/freezing and next spring I let it go to seed before mowing. I mow it high with my riding mower and it looks like a real nice tall lawn. I've never put any fertilizer on it - I fertilize my lawn and the result is, I have to mow more frequently.

 

[pretendfarmer]

The area isn't flat, but rather kind of rolling. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to level it or just leave it as is. There's a lot of debris still. I don't have a plow, but I have a ripper which has like 6 spikes which I can use to loosen up the ground. I also have a landscape rake which I can then run over it, and then finish with the blade. Not sure how this will work out. There are still tiny blackberries and smaller vegetation poking up from the dirt.

 

[dave1949]

The ripper sounds good. That should pull up a lot of the residual roots of the blackberries and scotch broom. Followed by the rake to gather them for disposal.

I think that would give you a good bit of loose soil on the surface for smoothing if you drag something like a fence or hog panel around.

 

[EddieWalker]

You will either have to poison what you don't want, or keep mowing it. It will never go away on its own and pulling it out rarely accomplishes anything because there is always part of the root left in the ground. I'm a big fan of anything with 2,4-D in it. Here it's controlled if you buy it in bulk or high concentrate, but you can get it at Lowes or Home Depot in quart bottles that is about 7 % for under $8. Four bottles will do an acre. With blackberries, I would also mix roundup or something stronger and spray onto the leaves of the plant once it starts growing again. It might take several applications.

Eddie

 

[MacLawn]

Well, this is the first time I'll disagree with old Eddie. That boy knows his stuff. But, my experience has been once ye get ye ground to mow able status, just keep'er cut, ye grass will win out over ye blackberries, etc. Plus, I just love mowing, bush hogging, etc.! Think about it. Riding on ye tractor letting ye cutter do all the work, smelling the great outdoor air scented by fresh cut green stuff, maybe seeing the occasional crit, man, that's the life! Eddie, get back to building them TEXAS (ye must say and write that word in all caps) houses.

 

[knibloe]

I'm with MacLawn. If you have it cleared, mowing should be enough to keep the blackberries at bay. The grass will come in on it's own, but you will definitely speed things up with seeding. You shouldn't need the roundup.

 

[dave1949]

With all the blackberries I hear about in WA, that ground will be well stocked with berry seeds. Plus birds, coyotes, foxes, etc. will always be reseeding/spreading seeds from nearby berries in their poops.

Even if you spray kill everything that is there now, you would still need to mow it. I'm guessing it will have to be mowed close and frequently for a year or two to stay ahead of the root sprouts. Since you will be mowing anyways, the spraying is redundant, although I would think it would get you quicker results in suppressing the existing root re-growth.

I prefer patience over chemicals when given the choice.

 

[farmer2009]

You can use some form of 2,4-D herbicide on the most persistent Blackberries and Scotch Broom; which will kill both pests but leave the grass undamaged. There are multiple forms of 2,4-D herbicides in different strengths. Check out the inventory at Tractor Supply Company, Rural King or whatever your local ag store is. Buy a gallon of concentrate.

Though considerably more expensive, 'Bayer Advanced Brush Killer Plus' is a superior product.

Bush Hogging regularly will control MOST of the Blackberries and Scotch

The Bayer product if you read the label is Triclopyr. If you will go with Crossbow it's Triclopyr and 2,4-D. And not $35 a quart. Bet you can buy a gallon of crossbow for less than that. Just read the label on rates.

I must also disagree with Eddie. Using glyphosate or roundup now would be fine but after the grass is established it will kill the grass also. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide. Both products in crossbow are selective herbicides and won't damage most grasses.

 

[sdef]

As far as leveling humps and bumps are concerned, if you do not mind breaking up the soil somewhat, running a box blade's shanks through the ground and following up with a landscape rake can make things nice and even. In your case I would run the shanks through there to rip up anything I could anyway.

 

[EddieWalker]

Well, this is the first time I'll disagree with old Eddie. That boy knows his stuff. But, my experience has been once ye get ye ground to mow able status, just keep'er cut, ye grass will win out over ye blackberries, etc. Plus, I just love mowing, bush hogging, etc.! Think about it. Riding on ye tractor letting ye cutter do all the work, smelling the great outdoor air scented by fresh cut green stuff, maybe seeing the occasional crit, man, that's the life! Eddie, get back to building them TEXAS (ye must say and write that word in all caps) houses.

In my area, if you mow blackberry bushed down to the ground and keep them mowed, you will have black berries growing all over the ground at the same height as the grass. It does make them easier to pick, but it doesn't do anything to get rid of them.

Eddie

 

[KiotiJason]

In my area, if you mow blackberry bushed down to the ground and keep them mowed, you will have black berries growing all over the ground at the same height as the grass. It does make them easier to pick, but it doesn't do anything to get rid of them.

Eddie

Yep it's the same with me here Eddie, best advice is to spray the blackberrys. I have one paddock that I haven't And whilst I slash it the Blackberry just grow along the ground. It keeps them low but the get long and leggy. I'd just spot spray and when they die off just drop some hay around the killed off area and the grass will sow.

 

[farmer2009]

Yep it's the same with me here Eddie, best advice is to spray the blackberrys. I have one paddock that I haven't And whilst I slash it the Blackberry just grow along the ground. It keeps them low but the get long and leggy. I'd just spot spray and when they die off just drop some hay around the killed off area and the grass will sow.

Just goes to show what works in different areas of the country. Bushhoging works around here for the most part in blackberry. Spiny amaranth is a totally different cat though. Tough to kill with spray and will grow low is mowed.

 

[fishheadbob]

My place was a berry farm in the 30s and 40s; berries can be mighty persistent. I converted a former berry field which had gone mostly brush of viburnum and goldenrod into a timothy / birdsfoot /red clover meadow. We plowed and disced the daylights out of the land before seeding and boosted the ph quite a bit, berries prefer an acidic soil, but the berries staged a comeback. With some help from roundup (2 4 d is heavily controlled here in grape country) we got the canes out but still get a very light dusting of June strawberries. The very light amounts of strawberry don't seem to bother the hay quality and I'd always stop to munch a few while mowing.