Does anyone have any success stories with frost seeding?
I live in SWPA where weather is downright volatile and mud might as well be soil type. We’ve also moved a ton of earth around our house in an effort to make everything more accessible and efficient. We have a smaller farmette and run off is inevitable. Would trying to frost seed just be a waste of money? I don’t have the option to split pasture right now and I don’t really want to wait until fall to seed.
Are the horses on it now?
I mean, the answer is - yes, sort of. Frost seeding is an acceptable way to overseed a pasture and/or lawn. But if the horses are on it now and/or will be put on it soon, it won’t really do much.
If you can leave it empty long enough to mow at least once it has a chance.
I will be closing my pasture off soon and leaving the horses in the sacrifice lot and dry lot. I was just thinking I should overseed soon, but I typically don’t let them back on it until it has been mowed.
yes, i’ve done this for years to my hay fields. Three of the hay fields are also pasture (but not during growth season Apr-July when we cut hay)
I broadcast seed rather than drilling it btw.
Legumes are particularly adaptable to frost seeding. I’ve had particularly good luck with korean lespedeza. It is not a favorite grazing forage for any of my sheep/cattle or horses but they love-love-love it in hay. So that might work well in your situation.
As far as grass seeding goes, the very structure of a grass seed makes it kinda hit-n-miss for broadcasting. They are light and drift…also about half of the seeds get caught in existing grass and never make it to the ground to germinate. MUCH more effective to drill them. Esp those larger warm season grass seeds like orchardgrass etc.
Thanks for your feedback. Part of the pasture is closed off, the other half the horses are on.
Definitely depends on your goals and also your ability to keep it from being trampled or eaten as it establishes itself.
I don’t typically overseed the entire pasture as there isn’t any need, but also as eightpond says - a lot won’t reach the ground anyway.
I tend to seed the areas that are really bare or overgrazed, and if possible, throw some hay chaff or old hay on top to give them a little more protection from birds, etc. I don’t bother with gate areas, because they will never hold up to the foot traffic. And, I also leave it ungrazed for several months. If I’m smart I’ll get out there this weekend and seed the bare areas so they have a good 3 months to get going.
We frost seed 3 year red clover into our hay fields and existing cow pastures ( horses don’t need any more calories from their pasture) with excellent success.
I wouldn’t do it on bare ground our fields and pastures are well established.
Just got my order of korean lespedeza seed in today. 100 pounds 2.03/lb
They stop eating it when it gets hot out and it just grows and grows and then becomes their very most desirable hay. Kinda a win/win.
Has anyone had success with broadcast seeding fescue/orchard grass and then going over it with a cultipacker? If doing that where the seed gets pushed down into the soil, how important is it that it rains right after? We’re trying to establish a newly cleared (last fall) field that also doesn’t drain very well, it’s getting impossible to pick a time where it’s dry enough to drive it on it and the clock is ticking timewise for spring seeding. (We’re in NC). I just know we’ll have a window where it’s dry enough but then it won’t rain again. I should have done it end of February but we missed the ball on that.
i just broadcast seeded about 50 acres with Korean Lespideza yesterday. It was raining lightly today. When the ground is dry i’ll be brushhogging. That should help settle those seeds down in some more. These seeds are kinda like flax seeds, but not quite as large. So many will have been lodged in grass and won’t ever touch the soil, they may yet be knocked down into the dirt.
Thanks all for your input! I’ll admit that pasture management has gone by the wayside as we’ve developed the rest of the property to be more suitable. We ended up overseeding the part of the pasture we bought to expand our pasture last year. Our dry lot is a priority before fall, so once that’s in, we’re going to divide our pastures so we can reestablish some of our pasture.
I have never heard of Korean Lespideza. I’m going to have to look into that! Sweet other half wanted to use Contractor’s Seed and ended up getting a lecture, so now I have to provide suggestions 
I wonder if Contractor’s seed is mostly fescue. i have some fescue in some of my pastures, but none in my hayfields (that become grazing after we hay it. we only take one cutting). I’ve veered away from cool season grasses and now we have MOSTLY native, warm season grasses. Little bluestem does really well here. And is at the peak of it’s nutrition and has good volume at the time our hay guy FINAALLLLY makes it to our place.
It’s 50% fescue - not terrible, but i am determined to clean this place up so i want to put down a more nutritional mix then supplement with the contractors mix.
around here, given opportunity, fescue will take over. It’s not a bad grass for winter grazing, as it will actually grow (here) as soon as the weather warms up even a little. Then go dormant when frigid, then grow…all winter long. And since it’s a hot grass, it warms up the animals grazing upon it. But it is invasive. I have two pastures that are predominately fescue, and it’s grazed hard year round and holds up, even on the hillsides. I do have a ‘thing’ about fescue…a prejudice against it.
I’m thinking of using this to seed this spring:
https://www.naturesseed.com/pasture-seed/horse-pastures/mid-west-mid-atlantic-horse-forage-mix/
I’m also contemplating mixing in some clover and possibly some crabgrass so that I have better cover during the hot summer months when the normal grass is struggling – I’m in MA. Is this crazy? Has anyone intentionally planted crabgrass and if so, what kind?
I don’t plan to seed until around mid-April.
crab grass…is what exactly?
ANY grass that volunteers in a pasture is probably helpful to an extent. And if say…annual rye, takes over a high dry spot that nothing else is growing on…GREAT!!! To my way of thinking, variation, a choice, of grasses and forbs is optimal. Plants have different values and palatability at different times and when there is a vast selection, the grazers can pick an choose. Like a refrigerator full of groceries right after you go to the store…
i LOVE it when dandelions appear, but…around here, they don’t get a chance to propagate because they get gobbled up. A lot lot lot of ‘weeds’ are highly nutritious… And coincidently, don’t hardly get a finger-hold in a pasture here.
When I think of crabgrass, I think of the broadleaf stuff that likes to take over the other grass in our lawn. The stuff we spend money on to remove from the lawn.
This will only be my second summer on this property so I’m still figuring things out. But last summer there were definitely some weeds and grasses that they just wouldn’t touch, so I want to try to get rid of those and fill in with some more variety, as you say.
Crabgrass is an OK plant that withstands hard use in my Michigan paddocks. Grows low to the ground, spreads by seeding and runners. Horses will nibble on it, keeps the dirt covered to prevent erosion, water sheeting off in heavy rains. Seems to come back yearly no matter how torn up the ground gets! I know I have seen seed for sale, just can’t remember where. You could probably locate plants in the neighborhood, get them free for the digging! Mine never gets very tall, 4-5 inches at the most. I do mow off the tip ends and any taller weed seeds that sprout in the paddocks.
The mix looks OK, but not designed for MA the State. Maybe I am getting abbreviations mixed up? So many in use or localized that they are unclear (to me). I consider Mid-Atlantic area to be further south. Can you check your local seed MA State sources to find a similar mix designed to grow in your area? I say this because not all bluegrass or the other seeds, are suitable for all growing areas. There are lots of varieties within each grass catagory. Some will do better in colder locations, while others do better in warmer areas. Yet they are all still “bluegrass, rye, alfalfa.” You want seed that is designed for your growing location.
You did well picking perennial seed, not annual seeds. I personally would reduce the perennial rye percentage a bit, down to 10%. Something in my reading said rye was not that helpful in horse feed/hay. I will try to remember what. Buy seed that is labeled for planting THIS year. Older seed can be reduced cost, but seed viability is reduced with age. Poor storage (heat) in that long time can further affect seed fertility in a bad way.
I would NOT plant any clover. Horses and clovers “have issues” if there is much to be grazed. Red clover can cause slobbers. Alsike can cause photosensitivity on horses with white trim, AKA “clover poisoning.”
You will likely get some volunteer clover seeding itself in the fields, it just happens. That will probably be all the clover you will want or need to add a bit of Nitrogen to the soil. I mow pastures regularly, so any red clover is short, never gets the fungus going.
If your dirt is clay, you might consider planting Birdsfoot Trefoil, a form of alfalfa. It is not nearly as touchy as alfalfa, “grows well with others” by not killing plants around it, as alfalfa does. Handles the wetter ground of clay soils well, better than straight alfalfa will. Same benefit of adding nitrogen to the soils. Our horses like to graze it and it will spread seed for more plants, yet not take over the fields. It is a perennial.
If you can get seed spread, rolling the ground with a cultipacker helps seeds get soil contact for better germination rates. Spreading on damp ground should help. You will get seed washed away if it rains very much after spreading without the cultipacker. I have used a chain harrow when broadcast (3pt cone shaped broadcast seeder) seeding on dry, turned soil. This let me only drive on the land one time, seeding and dragging to cover the seeds. I do not have a cultipacker, so dragging was better than doing nothing. I got a pretty good germination rate on the new field.
Good luck!
i’ve spent probably 2k on birdsfoot trefoil over the years, and have not gotten good results. Time of year/viability of seed/terrain/soil/poor seeding management?? who knows. But i gave up. Put some vetch into a few slopes with success, but i’m rather addicted to korean lespediza…it grows very well here, volunteers even. And makes palatable/desireable hay. Not good for grazing though, they (horses, sheep, cattle) don’t like it to graze, only in hay.
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