Monday, June 24, 2013

Pasture report

Grass is getting tall again.  Lush on the parts where it hasn´t been completely torn up, then compacted by various vehicles.


And I´m wondering if I shouldn´t sow something on the abused, compacted half of the pasture - mustard or daikon or maybe just a clover pasture mix to give some competition to the docks and break up the soil.  Or wait until fall.



Dandelions?  The foliage didn´t seem right.



The Viper's bugloss propagated, as I was warned.  Last year there was one plant, covered in bees so I left it, this year there were fifty. I bought a sickle at a local hardware store and chopped down all the ones in flower, as well as quite a few thistles, leaving anything that looked like grass.  Also got smacked in the face with a stinging nettle for my trouble.  Felt like a proper peasant.

Found some new hedge roses.

Rosa canina?  Gallica?  Oak & Rose - good pub name.

This one is struggling to get to the light between an apple tree and the hedge.  Lovely scent.




And this one is just tiny and growing next to the electrical pole.




The ruts made by the machinery to clean up the vegetation two years ago are still making it hazardous to wander around the property.  I had hoped that the freeze thaw cycle might reduce them at least a little, but no luck.  You can actually see them from the Google earth view.  So now I´m wondering if I can choose two and fill in with clean spoil and gravel from the house, of which there is plenty.  I´d like to leave access for a small tractor, should we ever need to use one.

4 comments:

  1. The true roses in your photos are very easy to take cuttings from, I think Aug. is the best month to do it, we took cuttings of the small one and the darker one and now having them growing here. How about sowing some phacelia on you bare patches, bees and butterfly's love it and it self seeds in Spain.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you! I had to google phacelia - and thus found http://www.greenmanure.co.uk/ which is a good resource. How about lupins, too?

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you plan to make any beds, skim the turf off and use that plus any old soil to fill the ruts. It is meadow quality land by the looks of it so you are never going to have a lawn. We filled ruts with soil then collected seeds of local wildflowers and such and scattered them. It takes time but you'll get there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Ian. A lawn isn´t very high on my priority list - although I have fond memories of cocktail-fueled afternoons at friends´ houses whacking croquet balls about. Plenty of soil around to fill with.

    I´m thinking about the Greenmanure winter mix with some phacelia mixed in. They even ship to Spain.

    ReplyDelete