Bermudagrass Pasture Rehab

[lenapesadie]

I’m fairly certain that the existing grass on my property is Bermudagrass. I’m guessing the “common” variety. Location NW FL. Small farmette w @ 2 acres of grass for horse paddocks. Fast approaching spring planting times so I need to get my act together!

No livestock has lived here in decades. Previously it was mowed aggressively to a very low height for @ the past 5 years. Getting a soil sample sent out is on my to do list. We are on a sandy red clay mix. The topsoil is quite thick, 8” plus in some areas and non existent in others. We have some bare spots, a bunch of weeds and some thin areas.

I’d like to improve the pasture, naturally, but a full on kill everything and re seed is not on the table. No till seed drill is out of the question; tiny space and tiny tractor. Pretty much same for sprigging.

Generally speaking I’m thinking, some sort of herbicide to kill weeds, rake/harrow/drag/scratch with teeth of box blade and broadcast spreading a more improved variety of Bermuda.

What kinds of herbicides have worked for you? How much dirt disturbing would you recommend? Favorite Bermudagrass variety to start from seed?

Pensacola Bahia is super popular here, so that’s an option as well. Though IME it gets awfully tall and tough right quick and my horse will ignore it in favor of eating the roots out of anything shorter. This could possibly be avoided by religious mowing. I’ve never seen that in action so I would love to hear your experiences with that!

My main goals are: avoid killing the existing grass and increase forage production.

My challenges may be: keeping horses off newly started grass until it’s established.

I do have the ability to section off bits of the area as needed. Will have a sacrifice area to utilize as needed.

Thanks for reading all this!

[Marla_100]

Maybe you could talk to your county extension office, some of them have a pasture specialist on board and that may help you before doing anything.
Here in Central Florida we only use Argentina Bahia for pastures and I’ve always been told horses like it much better than Pensacola which here is more of a cow forage. Argentina is finer, I believe.
Depending on how many horses you plan to have, 2 acres will be hard to improve and not be overcrowded and overgrazed unless you plan to hay all year and just use the pastures as
recreational grazing for a couple hours per day, and not their main forage source.

[lenapesadie]

@Marla_100

Argentina Bahia for pastures and I’ve always been told horses like it much better than Pensacola which here is more of a cow forage. Argentina is finer, I believe.

That’s good to know! Thank you!

I’ll have two horses and they won’t be turned out on the grass 24/7!

[Marla_100]

Also wanted to mention- I had a 5 acre pc. that I had planted with new seed (Argentina Bahia)
and the farmer/planter said not to spread seed till June when the almost daily rains came.
Otherwise the seed would dry out and not grow well. Just a thought.

Also in my past farms here, I scratched the surface sand, hand spread seed, raked it over just to cover it, then either sprinkled daily or had daily rains. As long as the horses were kept OFF it completely til it was up and sturdy, it should grow fine.
Also once weeds are gone, a good fertilizer will do wonders for any bermuda you have growing.
Maybe do an acre at a time and you could still use the other acre for grazing.

[ThreeWishes]

And Bahia is a fierce self seeder ! I agree most counties have ag agencies that are so willing to help.

[lenapesadie]

@Marla_100

Maybe do an acre at a time and you could still use the other acre for grazing.

That’s a good idea. The front acre is in the worst shape so it might be sensible to focus on that for now!

The horses aren’t here yet. I haven’t even bought the second horse yet lol. Based on my estimated time frame for barn and fence completion, I will have 4-6 weeks between planting and horses arriving (pending a mid March planting). Maybe even longer if there are more building delays. I can irrigate easily enough.

I am not sure I’m tough as you are. I’m not excited about hand raking. I have a cultivator and a York take for tractor I could use though

[lenapesadie]

I tried calling them last month and had a hard time getting in touch with them. I’ll try again!

[Ghazzu]

I definitely recommend getting in touch w/ local ag extension agent.
I’m 2 weeks into a pasture management class this semester, and already learning stuff that will be useful.

[ThreeWishes]

Definitely try calling again. Seriously in my experience it’s what they enjoy and are employed to do. I am in central Florida (Polk county) and have found them to be very helpful and know of friends who did also. When I moved to my farm 20 + years ago it was a pretty equal stand of coastal Bermuda and Bahia It was the Bahia that seemed to self seed and persist. Very drought tolerant and hardy. The coastal has declined to about 25% of my small acreage (3 1/2). It didn’t seem to weather freezes and frosts as well but your miles may vary depending on your soil and weather. They can soil test and make seeding recommendations based upon your area. Bermuda is a low growing spreading type grass. Bahia is a taller ( there are a bunch of varieties ) send a seed head up all summer type. I just mow like a MF’er (to a reasonable grazing height) when our summers dump rain. The grass overwhelms any weeds and thickens beautifully. Good luck !

[lenapesadie]

That sounds like a super fun class!

[lenapesadie]

@ThreeWishes

I just mow like a MF’er (to a reasonable grazing height) when our summers dump rain.

With good mowing, do you see the horses eating both varieties equally or do they seem to prefer one over the other? I ask bc my horse seems to actively avoid Bahia in his current paddock. But that maybe due to the fact that the boarding facility can’t keep up with the mowing. At one point over the summer the grass was taller than his knees (17.1 hh)! His paddock is only a half acre there and he goes in it every day so I was shocked by the volume of grass!

[ThreeWishes]

Yes equal desire but over time the Bahia self spread over the property. The Bermuda is tasty … it’s almost exclusively in my barnyard but it’s a low spreading type grass and not as proficient as the Bahia. I think most grass pastures will get less tasty when they get overly mature without mowing. In Fl when it’s raining in my experience mowing often at a desirable pasture height will produce grass your horses will devour. Let it get stemmy and weedy and over mature they will look for the more tender areas.

[ThreeWishes]

And for what it’s worth my crazy horse loves those daisy like flowered weeds more than anything. There’s no accounting for taste !

[lenapesadie]

Yes the Bermuda grass at my property is rather low looking. I presume the fancy Bermuda hybrids used for hay production grow a lot more volume.

That’s very comforting about regular mowing making the grass tastier. I’d hate to spend a ton of money and time planting grass the horse won’t eat lol! Mowing I can handle.

I was reading online that the Bahia crowds out weeds better so that’s an obvious perk.

My horse goes nuts for dandelions. Funny creatures!

[Ghazzu]

I think it will be. I’ll get to use my pastures for the case study project.
I have to say I’m enjoying the hell out of this program.

[SusanO]

Mine eat the bermuda in the pasture down to the ground so it doesn’t do as well. I try to reseed the bare spots with it but they don’t give it a chance to get growing good. They don’t like bahia grass as much but do like the seedheads. Both are really tough grasses, Bahia especially so.

[Where_sMyWhite]

@lenapesadie

Generally speaking I’m thinking, some sort of herbicide to kill weeds, rake/harrow/drag/scratch with teeth of box blade and broadcast spreading a more improved variety of Bermuda.

Remember that herbicides are not weed ‘selective’. Depending on the type of herbicide, most will kill most broadleaf plants… that includes bermudagrass. Herbicides don’t know what is a ‘weed’ and what isn’t… they’re all plants.

I can’t answer your questions as I’m in AZ, but bermudagrass is a very common summer turf grass. When someone wants to remove a bermudagrass lawn, we often recommend glyphosate. It’s a very effective removal herbicide when used properly.

Your local county ag agent should be able to answer your questions. Be persistent. I don’t know what Florida is like, but in AZ, our county extension still doesn’t have paid staff in the facility so most are working from home.

If you are considering an herbicide READ THE LABEL. It is a legal document and will tell you what it kills, when and how to apply it, any precautions, personal protection equipment, how to dispose of it. All pesticide labels have this information - not the big glossy label on the front of the container, but the small, multi-page label which you can also find online in much more readable format

[lenapesadie]

Thanks for sharing! I worry about having a situation like you described

[lenapesadie]

It looks like 2, 4-D is safe for Bermudagrass. But you’re absolutely right that I better make sure before applying anything.

It also looks like Bermuda needs a lot more fertilizer to be productive compared to the Bahia.

[Marla_100]

Those are Spanish Needles and I have them all over my farm because the seeds spread so easily. The butterflies love 'em and some birds eat the seeds. none mature in my pastures cause the horses keep 'em short.
Please don’t use any glycophosphates- like RoundUp as they now know it’s cancer causing and
once applied it never truly leaves the ground. Bad, Bad Advice.