Rejuvenating old pasture

[skyline]

We're located in NE Texas and I've just fenced a new pasture across the creek. It's been hard to get to and only had rough hay cut off of it twice in the last 5 years. No grazing because it hasn't been fenced until now. It has a thin base of bahia grass with some kind of clump grass, briars, pine seedlings, and a few cactus thrown in for fun. We cut rough hay off of it this fall simply because it's all we had left. (Some of the worst hay you've ever seen.) I plan to start grazing it this spring. My plan is to fertilize it in the spring and spray it shortly thereafter to knock back the undesirables and give the bahia a chance to thicken up. Any other ideas or does that sounds like a decent plan?

 

[Nowland Farms]

Soil Test to see what it needs.

 

[novatech]

Ditto on that soil test.
You might want to run a renovator over it or maybe light disk.
I would do this before I spray as renovateing may bring up some weed seed.

 

[skyline]

10-4 on the soil test. I expect we'll need to add lime. Any idea how long it takes a lime treatment to raise the ph of the soil (rule of thumb)? Most folks around here apply lime in the fall. Will I get the benefits of the lime within about 3 months of the application assuming normal rain this spring?

 

[BC]

If you use the superfine lime, it should go to work within 45 to 60 days. Regular ag lime takes about 3 months to start to work.

 

[skyline]

Thanks BC. I'll get the tests started!