Hello all, new member has question?

[brent]

First of all I want say hello,
I have dropped in on this discussion board for a while and have read some wonderful post's.
Myself and my wife have bought 8 acres last summer, for our future home, it has 6 acres of mature hardwoods and 2 acres open field that will be our driveway, and is clay and has been the host of corn. My question this field had some weeds like i have never seen before, i could barley drive my truck thru them, it was plowed in the fall, and i would like to put some kind of grass or something, that we could maintain , and be able to walk or drive on when we visit, my concern is the clay, will any kind of grass grow in this? It did get kinda hard when dry.

I am a city boy so bear with me.

Thanks
brent

[egon]

Welcome:

Brown Thumb Egon is not good at growing gras but perhaps if you let us know what equipment you have to work with others can help.

Egon

[gsganzer]

Brent,
Welcome to CBN. What part of the country are you in?

[mysticokra]

I would suggest you get a soil sample to see what it needs.
If it was heavily farmed with NPK then you may need to mix lime, along with organic material in to get the microbial systems reestablished.

Plowing high weeds back into the ground is a good start.
Can you find any earth worms on it?

[brent]

Thanks for the warm response, I dont have any big tractor equip. but the person next door offered some help, I am in SW lower Michigan, the soil is clay, that is all i know, I do know it can get hard has cement, my son and i put some post in with a posthole digger [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] No worms i guess! The land i was told was treated for planting corn again last year but changed when the land was split, the yellow flowered weeds
( some kind of musturd plant) was out of control, but i could drive on the land after i knocked them down with my truck, 3-4 ft tall.

Thanks again

[twstanley]

We have a lot of clay here, ( I live in Clay County, Missouri, haha ) and grasses do just fine. You will need to help them get established by using some method of breaking up the surface a bit, sowing your seed, and covering the seed to give it a chance to get started.

I use a chain harrow with the tines down to break up the surface, then flip it over and drag it again to cover the seed.

This is a good time of year to get some seed down for most of the country, lots of moisture to help it get established before the heat of summer.

For the weeds, just keep them mowed and the grasses will get established and choke them out. It worked real well for my weedfilled pastures that I found when we moved in here.

For 10 acres you most likely will find you want/need a compact utility tractor to help you maintain it. Or an older classic tractor ( Ford 8n, etc ). Having the right tools makes it fun to keep the place up as opposed to a miserable chore.

www.tractorbynet.com is a good resource.

[wingnut]

if it's anything like we get here in mid-Michigan, sounds like it could be sweet clover .... stalks are tougher'n heck! You wanna knock them down before they bloom, obviously .... I brushhog them regularly and that serves to give the grass time to compete. Dry years mean more work since they thrive, seemingly, in the dry soil where they have little competition.
If corn was grown, it's not likely "pure clay" ... you should be able to plow or till everything under and put down most of the local grasses.

oh, btw ... welcome!

pete

[brent]

Thanks, It great to get so many ideas, I should be half way there , because the whole field was plowed under just before the first snowfall, so maybe i can get the neighbor to break it down some more and get some seed in. I would love to get a compact tractor to do this myself, but that would mean put a pole barn in and etc, all in the plans, but that will be another post I'm sure. Your all great!! [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Thanks
Brent

[DocHeb]

We just kept cutting our weeds, and after a while only short green plants grow (grass, clover, plantain, etc.) It looks green, and is OK for walking.