Services available
For horse owners and smallholders alike, it is vital to look after your grassland in order to offer a healthy and pleasant environment for horses, and other grazing livestock and wildlife. Well maintained weed free grassland is also more visually attractive.
The services offered by Fresh Pastures will help you to keep your grassland in top condition, and correct management of grassland will help reduce feed costs.
We can offer a yearly management plan or alternatively one off visits to suit your own requirements.
Please contact us for a quote.
Chain Harrowing
Chain harrowing is usually carried out in spring and/or autumn. Harrowing removes dead grass and shallow rooted weeds, as well as aerating the soil refreshing the ground for the new season’s growth. Harrowing also levels uneven ground.
Rolling
Rolling is usually done at the same time as Chain Harrowing and helps to flatten out areas that have been poached during wet periods, improving the visual impact of grassland. Rolling is especially important for meadow ground where the grass is going to be cut later in the season for hay. Rolling will also offer horses an improved grazing area.
Spraying
Spraying should be done whilst weeds are actively growing. Control of weeds is essential to allow grass to grow more productively with less competition for the vital nutrients available in the soil. Spraying will kill unsightly weeds such as Docks, Thistles, Nettles and Buttercups, and keep paddocks looking fresh and healthy. Operators are fully certificated in pesticide application, holding PA1 PA2A and PA6A.
Pasture topping
Pasture topping should be done throughout the growing season keeping the sward between 5-7cm, also reducing the spread of weeds and keeping the sward fresh and stopping the grass from growing stalky and going to seed. Keeping grass short keeps it fresh and nutritious.
Fertiliser spreading
Fertiliser can be applied at any point during the growing season to help freshen grassland. Many horse paddocks can become deprived of vital nutrients due to the fact that horses graze the grass very short but the natural fertiliser (manure) is generally removed from the paddocks leaving paddocks malnourished.
Fresh Pastures acts as an agent for Suregrow equine fertiliser which, unlike agricultural fertilisers has a very low nitrogen content so it puts goodness into the roots without creating a flush of rich grass.
Aerating
Many horse paddocks suffer from compaction due to horses constant grazing & trampling the surface causing the top layer of soil to become sealed resulting in poor drainage & a lack of nutrients getting to the grass roots.
Aerating puts small slits into the surface improving drainage & allowing oxygen & vital nutrients to get though to the roots. We recently bought an aerator for the farm & have noticed tremendous results!
Aerating can be done at any time of year but the best results are acheived late summer throughout autumn & early winter.
I am always keen to expand the services on offer and welcome enquiries for other work required in order to offer a fuller service meeting your demands and helping you to get the maximum benefit from your grassland. Fencing, hedge laying and general field boundary maintenance work can also be done, please contact me for further details.