Seed Sowing in previous woods/forest

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We are currently in the middle of having some folks come in to clear about 20ish acres of pretty thick woods and overgrown saplings on our place that hasn't been pastured in several years, if ever. I'm estimating that they have about 2.5 weeks left of work. We are in North Central Arkansas and I am looking to turn this into pasture. Part of it is on a pretty good hillside with a few rocks and the other part would be considered pretty flat for the terrain around here. As soon as they move their excavators out, I'll be starting to roll out hay in this area to help as much as possible, but what type of grass seed would do best for me to plant around the first few weeks of February/in to March for a pasture long term and to help soon keep the dirt from washing out and about what ratio or lbs/acre should I sow? Any help or suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!
 
Soil test first. If you cannot fully smooth now, use temporary seeds until you get it ready for permanent planting. If an excavator is digging and pulling up trees you will have sinking spots in a year or less. There was a thread about a heavy drag on here a month or so ago. Look into that.
 
Soil test first. If you cannot fully smooth now, use temporary seeds until you get it ready for permanent planting. If an excavator is digging and pulling up trees you will have sinking spots in a year or less. There was a thread about a heavy drag on here a month or so ago. Look into that.
Thanks for the information! I'll look into that. Any recommendations for temporary seeds?
 
We just finished clearing heavy timbered area. Used a D8 with KD to roll out the stumps. Ky Fescue and Rye was planted after 1 ton per acre of lime and chicken poop.
 

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Thank you! I'll look into that! They are using excavators.
What are you doing to smooth up all the rough areas from the excavation work? I cleared some acreage a few years ago with an excavator, mostly gum, cedar and briars, I burned all the piles and used the ash and dirt that was left in the root wads to backfill the stump holes. I had part of mine cleared using a mulcher on the front of a skid steer because the gum saplings were too thick to do much good with the excavator. The places I back filled I sowed some Bermuda in during the spring, easy to get Bermuda started in that loose soil with the ash in it. As you probably already know, Bermuda and fescue along with a little byhalia and clovers is what works best here in NC Arkansas
 
We just finished clearing heavy timbered area. Used a D8 with KD to roll out the stumps. Ky Fescue and Rye was planted after 1 ton per acre of lime and chicken poop.
The only concern there is if applied fairly close together in time, the full benefits of the lime is lost. But one ton of lime on new ground in the SE USA is not going to bump up the pH much anyway.
 
What are you doing to smooth up all the rough areas from the excavation work? I cleared some acreage a few years ago with an excavator, mostly gum, cedar and briars, I burned all the piles and used the ash and dirt that was left in the root wads to backfill the stump holes. I had part of mine cleared using a mulcher on the front of a skid steer because the gum saplings were too thick to do much good with the excavator. The places I back filled I sowed some Bermuda in during the spring, easy to get Bermuda started in that loose soil with the ash in it. As you probably already know, Bermuda and fescue along with a little byhalia and clovers is what works best here in NC Arkansas
They are supposed to go behind and smooth it out after clearing and bushhogging. Thanks for the information! That sounds like a good combination for around here. We are located just a bit north of Bald Knob. We aren't far from you!
 
They are supposed to go behind and smooth it out after clearing and bushhogging. Thanks for the information! That sounds like a good combination for around here. We are located just a bit north of Bald Knob. We aren't far from you!
You shouldn't be as rocky as us, I cringe at the thought of breaking ground and all the rocks.
 
You shouldn't be as rocky as us, I cringe at the thought of breaking ground and all the rocks.
We are pretty rocky, maybe not quite as bad as y'all, but I have several piles of huge rocks/boulders that I have had to move to be able to bushhog. You wouldn't know of anyone in our area who buys rocks/boulders for landscaping or anything else, would you?
 

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