To mow or not to mow...need pasture maintenance advice.

[subk]

One of my 5 acre fields is resting at the moment. The horses have been off for almost 3 1/2 weeks. It was mowed the day they came off of it and then again a 2 weeks ago. The horses won't go back on it for another 2 weeks. We've had monsoonal rains here--5-6 inches so far in May so it is above my knees again.

So is it good or bad to let it get really high and for seed heads develop or is it healthier for the grass to keep it mowed? (I mow pretty high--probably 8" and the weeds are for the most part in check.)

[Jaegermonster]

I was told that once the grass goes to seed it stops growing because it thinks it's work is done, so to speak. So I do pretty much as you are doing, I let it get pretty high then mow back down to about 8" (or put the horses on it for a week or so, then drag and mow again).
We haven't had much rain, so lately it's growing slowly.
Around late July or early August I'm going to go ahead and let it go to seed, then mow again.

[LAZ]

My farmer friend John (source of much good information) says keep it mowed to about 8-10 inches. It establishes better root strength which is what you want in a pasture. It also keeps weeds knocked down so they can't crowd the grass out.

[ShotenStar]

I will third the 'keep mowed' recommendations.

When I was first building my place and establishing pasture, I had this same discussion with the County Extension Service. Their answer was that making seed heads uses up energy inefficiently, since most of those seeds will never make contact with the ground and will never grow. It is much better to keep the grass mowed, which encourages better root growth and spreading through rhizomes.

*star*

[deltawave]

I remember asking the VERY same question 4 years ago when we started making pasture. :)

Consensus: MOW. Once the grass goes to seed it just sort of fizzles out, and most grasses that are used for pasture don't self-seed anyway (genetically, pasture/grazing grasses are selected to HANG ON to their seed heads for haymaking, not to let the seeds fall) and an un-mowed pasture just gets sparse and then weedy.

Mowing is like psychotherapy for me--I definitely am glad when the "mowing every 5 days" phase (which is right now) is over, but LOVE the look of a freshly-mowed paddock and the time spent bouncing around on the tractor is good for the soul. :)

[RacetrackReject]

I'm glad someone else admitted the therapy of mowing. it's one of my favorite things.

[theoldgreymare]

Mowing is like psychotherapy for me--I definitely am glad when the "mowing every 5 days" phase (which is right now) is over, but LOVE the look of a freshly-mowed paddock and the time spent bouncing around on the tractor is good for the soul. :)


MY DH is the same way. He considers mowing time to be his time off. He says he gets a lot of contemplation done when mowing! I hate it so he gets plenty of contemplation time around here. OP-yes, keep mowing and don't let that grass go to seed.

[goodhors]

I would mow shorter than 8-10 inches. That is the height that I mow at, reducing the height to 5-6 inches. My mixed planting field has many short grasses, which would have gone to seed and dormant for the rest of the year if I let things stay that tall!

You should try to mow so you remove no more that 1/3 the leaf length at a time. This lets plant recover without going thru the shock that much leaf removal causes.

So for me, 8-10 inches is longest height allowed, remove 2-3 inches, is about 1/3, ending up with 5-6 inches, with no shock to the plants so they keep on producing for me.

Unfortunately, that may mean weekly mowing right now! Frequent mowing lets plants put lots of growth into roots and spread to feed the plant, to where leaves are not using the energy instead for their growing length. Still plenty of grazing for the horses. Mowing gives you really tough plants, able to withstand drought times and racing horses much better with all those great roots underneath.

Mow shorter but not down to the ground, mow often, even on resting fields if grass gets up to the 8 inch limit. Those short grasses will make seeds at 6-7 inches if not cut back. Then no more grass production from them this summer.

Gardening teaches you that almost ALL plants, shrubs, trees, do much better with judicious trimming, making a better plant, tree or shrub. Same with grass, cutting is good for it.

[jazzrider]

We have four summer rotation fields, and I mow them to six inches right after the horses rotate off (and drag, if need be too). Then it grows for three weeks, horses graze, then I mow again. I mowed two pastures last night (didn't have time to do the one last week), with a Smirnoff ice and my sunglasses. I spent all day at work looking forward to it. I love to mow. I do it during the week so hubby can't. :D

[JollyBadger]

I'm so glad you asked this! My boyfriend has a small farm and has one of the pastures closed off to the horses for the moment, to give it a chance to "grow out." He wasn't sure whether to mow it or let it seed.

I'll pass the information in this thread along to him.

Thanks!!

[GallopHer]

When my son was in high school, my husband wanted to pay our son to mow the grass. Husband is thinking...son earns some cash and the grass gets mowed. I replied - HECK NO!! I love to mow the grass. Give the dear son other chores for earning money such as mopping the kitchen or cleaning toilets - but stay away from my riding mower!!

[subk]

Second question---how long do I need to wait to turn horses out in a freshly mowed field? Can I mow in the morning and turn back out the same afternoon?

[deltawave]

I usually mow with the horses IN the pasture. :) No waiting required.

[Jaegermonster]

Me too. And I actually enjoy mowing too. It's very rewarding to see the difference when you're done and to have nice lush grass for your horses.
Although I would much rather be riding said horses, but with hubby deployed sometimes there is just too much to do.