Would you be concerned about moss on your land?

NewBeefFarmer

i notice in a few spots around the land, thinking obviously the wet year in 2012 has a lot to do with it, but will surely stunt grass growth in those places.. .

not too much of it, just enough id say to warrant a post about it.
ill keep an eye on it.

Richk2012

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

i notice in a few spots around the land, thinking obviously the wet year in 2012 has a lot to do with it, but will surely stunt grass growth in those places.. .

not too much of it, just enough id say to warrant a post about it.
ill keep an eye on it.

Break it with chain harrow when the place is someway dry and your sure you wont bury her to the axel .........which i feckin did on Thursday wit dung spreader
Would the land need lime ????

NewBeefFarmer

I was on DD there as pudsey mentioned chain harrow before to me,

see a few there, Geees there dear for what they are. .

i only drive a 2wd ford 2000, so im thinking 5-6ft wide?. . espically when id have slopes and hills. ..

if you get the ground at the correct time, id say it does a nice job. . some nice pics on DD. . .

i can see now why its better than rolling.

ABlur

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

I was on DD there as pudsey mentioned chain harrow before to me,

see a few there, Geees there dear for what they are. .

i only drive a 2wd ford 2000, so im thinking 5-6ft wide?. . espically when id have slopes and hills. ..

if you get the ground at the correct time, id say it does a nice job. . some nice pics on DD. . .

i can see now why its better than rolling.

Can' t see how they would work without a stack of pallets or some such on the back to weigh them down? What happens when the hooks are full of moss do you have to stop and clean them off or what?

Muckit

ABlur wrote: »

Can' t see how they would work without a stack of pallets or some such on the back to weigh them down? What happens when the hooks are full of moss do you have to stop and clean them off or what?

No it kinda hops up and down as you move along and moss and dead grass just drops off. The only thing that sometimes gets caught on them in the spring are bits of dead branches along by ditches and you'd have to hop down and pull them off alright.

@newbeeffarmer....Don't go buying anything less than width of tractor, so 8'. Great job for moss btw

I bought a 10' mat and bar to pull it along for 600 notes from Johnstons in Longford about 3 years ago (no frame, you won't need one if all your land is in one piece)

reps4

Muckit, is that a standard chain you got or a tine type grass harrow. any chance of a pic.

from looking at them, the chain type looks very coarse with odd spikes here and there whereas the tine type would give a better consistency (i think).

the bulk of the chain harrows on done deal are utimately steel rings flat on the ground. is this good enough.

Sam Kade

Lime will also sort the problem as moss grows on acid soils. I suppose all the rain last year washed a lot of nutrients out of the soil.

KatyMac

Sam Kade wrote: »

Lime will also sort the problem as moss grows on acid soils. I suppose all the rain last year washed a lot of nutrients out of the soil.

I have heavy land that I walked this morning. there is an awful lot of moss from last year. Would g-lime work?

Muckit

reps4 wrote: »

Muckit, is that a standard chain you got or a tine type grass harrow. any chance of a pic.

http://www.williamhackett.co.uk/pdfMaker/files/makePDF/makePDF.php?id=107301

This is the type I have. You can use the zoom function on the pdf file to get a better look at the tines

reps4 wrote: »

the bulk of the chain harrows on done deal are utimately steel rings flat on the ground. is this good enough.

http://www.arfonroberts.co.uk/Images/NewMach/Galv%20Ritchie%20Fold%20Harrow.JPG
This is a different type with heavier rings with spikes out of them. I don't know how good or bad they are, but I prefer the one I have


These a supposed to be the ultimate, not a chain harrow, a grass tine harrow
http://www.cthayton.com/item.php?i=1044
They're a couple of thousand. Different budget! I'm happy with my chain harrrow for now


It's gas, did you see the price of new rollers? Lads have no problem buying them over a chain harrow... I don't get it!

moy83

A buddy has one of them grass harrows but the tine are straight down instead of angled like the one in the picture , He was never happy with it but maybe if they can be set at an angle they would work better . I might get it cheap off him !

NewBeefFarmer

Muckit wrote: »

http://www.williamhackett.co.uk/pdfMaker/files/makePDF/makePDF.php?id=107301

This is the type I have. You can use the zoom function on the pdf file to get a better look at the tines

thanks Muckit,

your right, i have all my land connected, so actually no road work, and im sure if you need to move it yon could throw it in a trailer?

does that matt close in at all, you say its 10ft wide, how long is the mat then? and can you collapse it or anything, . . i quickly realise there is no reversing with this yoke.

Muckit

NewBeefFarmer wrote: »

thanks Muckit,

your right, i have all my land connected, so actually no road work, and im sure if you need to move it yon could throw it in a trailer?

does that matt close in at all, you say its 10ft wide, how long is the mat then? and can you collapse it or anything, . . i quickly realise there is no reversing with this yoke.

It comes rolled up, with bar separate. It is 7'6" long... it says it in the link I posted previously.

Here is the number for Johnstons in Longford..043 3346837, wait til tomorrow, then ring. They'I answer all the rest of your questions. sometimes there's no substitute for seeing something in the flesh

Marooned75

Got one from them a few years ago would nt be without now

PureBred

Not too sure but I have heard that Sulphur will kill out moss.

Would a fertilser with sulphur do the job?

Dunedin

PureBred wrote: »

Not too sure but I have heard that Sulphur will kill out moss.

Would a fertilser with sulphur do the job?

that will go a long way to solving your problem.

I always go for the fert with S as it only costs about a tenner extra and you can really see teh difference in the grass.

Conflats

Get a soil test done (its cheap) find out the lime requirement and after you know this break the surface with chain harrow etc basically raise the ph and aerate the ground

phragmities

Hi
In amenity grassland, ie lawns, sports pitches etc. iron sulphate (as an active ingredient in lawn sand) is what is normally used to kill off moss, available in 25 kg bags and possibly larger. If there is a very thick mat physical removal either before or after may be necessary. As several ppl have already mentioned the underlying cause should be tacked also if this is an ongoing problem caused by poor surface drainage or by shading. If it is due to the previous years wet weather it may just die off or reduce by itself not being able to compete with grass. Assuming that this year is any better!
Hope this helps?

Farmer Pudsey

KatyMac wrote: »

I have heavy land that I walked this morning. there is an awful lot of moss from last year. Would g-lime work?

G-lime works faster than ordinary lime I see figure that it is supposed to be 7 time stronger than ordinary lime 50kgs =350kgs ground lime, personally I think it is better than that

moy83 wrote: »

A buddy has one of them grass harrows but the tine are straight down instead of angled like the one in the picture , He was never happy with it but maybe if they can be set at an angle they would work better . I might get it cheap off him !

That is right helpful of you

Dunedin wrote: »

that will go a long way to solving your problem.

I always go for the fert with S as it only costs about a tenner extra and you can really see teh difference in the grass.

I pay about 6/ton extra for sulpha can

Conflats wrote: »

Get a soil test done (its cheap) find out the lime requirement and after you know this break the surface with chain harrow etc basically raise the ph and aerate the ground

I agree with soil test I also think that often wet soils can be low in P&K as thy leech out if wet land. I think that high phosphate also kills moss. Soil test cost less that 20/sample and that is for about 12 acres/sample you will not get much for 2 euro/acre

Conmaicne Mara

I heard gran lime doesn't increase soil PH near as much as ground lime, anyone know about that?

Conflats

gran lime is the short term solution i.e apply this year get the boost but if applying gran lime you should also apply ground lime as it takes about 18 months to work