1982vett
Well-known member
Well, after last weeks almost 8 inches of rain. I took the chisel plow to 30 acres of "dead pasture". It was planted to coastal about 40 years ago with little management other than spraying for weeds. I is now (was) a mixture of coastal, common bermuda, bahia, and KR Bluestem. In the winter and early spring it naturally grows Texas Winter Grass, Gulfcoast Ryegrass, Persian clover, Bur Clover, Little Barley among others.
The soil ranges from a sandy loam to a clay based sand. 50 years ago about half of this was farmed and the other half was Post Oak woods.
What I did was chisel plowed once about 6-7 inches deep. Made a pass with a disc harrow. Threw out some fertilizer and cut it in dragging a section harrow behind the disc. I figured one more pass with the disc and harrow but it is looking pretty good now. I guess that will depend on when I get around to planting oats in a few days or weeks. Probably will mix in some winter peas or vetch. Would put some clover in it except for what I'm expecting next spring/summer. I'm expecting a forest of weeds so the need of early weed control will delay the clovers till next year.
The reason I'm asking about Klein Grass is I'm thinking of using it to reseed in the spring if the Coastal and Bermuda grass doesn't come back. I'm not really looking for that to be a problem. I did the same to 10 acres this past spring and the Coastal and Bermuda wasn't killed out, even in the drought we had. Sure their will probably be spots where their isn't any, mostly because their isn't any their now. Those spots are where the Bahia and KR Bluestem are.
Kind of looking for options. I could reseed or sprig these areas back to bermuda. I could let Mother Nature put back what she wants. Or I could spray it all out and start completely over. What I'm leaning to is spray out the Bahia and weeds and seed back Klein and let the bermuda do what it wants. I just don't have much knowledge about Klein. The reason I'm thinking Klein - drought tolerance, good nutritional value, and lower fertilization requirements. Old World Bluestem is another thought since the KR Bluestem is already here.
The soil ranges from a sandy loam to a clay based sand. 50 years ago about half of this was farmed and the other half was Post Oak woods.
What I did was chisel plowed once about 6-7 inches deep. Made a pass with a disc harrow. Threw out some fertilizer and cut it in dragging a section harrow behind the disc. I figured one more pass with the disc and harrow but it is looking pretty good now. I guess that will depend on when I get around to planting oats in a few days or weeks. Probably will mix in some winter peas or vetch. Would put some clover in it except for what I'm expecting next spring/summer. I'm expecting a forest of weeds so the need of early weed control will delay the clovers till next year.
The reason I'm asking about Klein Grass is I'm thinking of using it to reseed in the spring if the Coastal and Bermuda grass doesn't come back. I'm not really looking for that to be a problem. I did the same to 10 acres this past spring and the Coastal and Bermuda wasn't killed out, even in the drought we had. Sure their will probably be spots where their isn't any, mostly because their isn't any their now. Those spots are where the Bahia and KR Bluestem are.
Kind of looking for options. I could reseed or sprig these areas back to bermuda. I could let Mother Nature put back what she wants. Or I could spray it all out and start completely over. What I'm leaning to is spray out the Bahia and weeds and seed back Klein and let the bermuda do what it wants. I just don't have much knowledge about Klein. The reason I'm thinking Klein - drought tolerance, good nutritional value, and lower fertilization requirements. Old World Bluestem is another thought since the KR Bluestem is already here.