# Tilling and replanting late. Suggestions?



## SvdSinner (Nov 25, 2009)

I've got a half acre in my pasture that I need to disk up and replant. It was performing very poorly historically, and I used it as the location to keep all my cattle and the feed ring while I let the remainder of the pastures grow enough to begin rotational grazing.

In a perfect world, I would have tilled it up and replanted it 6 weeks ago, but since it will be happening next week, are there things I should be doing to make this work this late in the year? More fertilizer? Less fertilizer? Different fertilizer? Drill or broadcast? Weed killer? No weed killer? Seed heavier/lighter?

What is the best plan when starting to reseed an area this late?

FWIW, I'm planning on a mix of Red Clover, Smooth bromegrass, Orchardgrass and Tall Fescue recommended by the local university extension. But, that is open to discussion if there are reasons to change that up for better success this late in the year.


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

If you're worried about it getting late I'd do something like throw oats on it for weed control and cut it or graze it and then prepare for next spring's planting on time so you know you have a good start. Don't forget to soil sample the area to find out what might be keeping the area from performing poorly.


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## SvdSinner (Nov 25, 2009)

mulberrygrovefamilyfarm said:


> If you're worried about it getting late


Not so much worried, but out of my comfort zone. I've always (until now) made sure to do replanting early in the spring, but I know that every year I watch others plant and grow grass during the "not ideal" times of the year, and they somehow succeed. Just figure I'd consult experts before trying something I haven't done before.


mulberrygrovefamilyfarm said:


> Don't forget to soil sample the area to find out what might be keeping the area from performing poorly.


Thanks for the reminder. I'm 75% sure the problem is that this section hasn't been tilled up and replanted for 15+ years, and it just has a terrible group of grasses leftover. It's done OK in places I've patched in new seed over torn up spots, but the legacy grass there stinks.

However, I've never got a soil test that I didn't learn something useful from the results, even when I "thought" I didn't really need to do a test, because I "knew" what it would say.


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