Mulching and Affect on Grass Growth

hugo29

Lads and lassies, would anyone be worried about mulching rushes now and it affecting grass growth for 01st May Turnout

bbam

Would depend on the coverage of rushes. If the coverage is heavy enough to effect growth when mulched - it's probably heavy enough to effect the growth if left standing.

My advice is mulch them any chance you get. It's always better to do it than leave it.

It's a pity the mulchers aren't fitted with some sort of collection system. When mulched so small the volume is so much less.

hugo29

bbam wrote: »

Would depend on the coverage of rushes. If the coverage is heavy enough to effect growth when mulched - it's probably heavy enough to effect the growth if left standing.

My advice is mulch them any chance you get. It's always better to do it than leave it.

It's a pity the mulchers aren't fitted with some sort of collection system. When mulched so small the volume is so much less.

not heavy bbam, i was more worried about cutting it bare now, which the mulcher will do, might knock growth back

this yoke makes dust of them, going to do it weekend, hate the sight of the fcukers

bbam

Do it !

KerryCase

Hi Hugo. What type of mulcher do you have? I'm looking at buying a second hand one but I want to be sure it can do a good job on heavy rushes... you say your one makes dust of them. . I like the sound of that!

smokey-fitz

Mulching generally brings on growth. The cuttings rot down quicker and rushes apparently are a source of nitrogen. Also if you cut now you could spray the regrowth of rushes with mcpa. Mulching will thin out the rushes a lot and spraying the regrowth will really knock the sh!t out of them.

KerryCase

cheers smokey
any idea what type of mulcher is best
the agrimaster rmu flail mowers look a great job but they can't be got second hand

zetorman

Would mulching work on land that has been abandoned for " 2 Years". Its a sea of rushes about 3 to 4 feet high. My plan is to mulch, then lime and if weather permits lick the new green rushes when they emerge. I imagine they would start to appear again in about 3 weeks ? What about slurry ?? Will all this mulched stuff be gone by next spring ?

smokey-fitz

I've a major 8ft. Does a nice job. Only downside is the flails are €30 a piece. Never had any other make.

I flailed 17ac of 2-3 yr growth back in feb/March. I picked then because it was easier to cut as most of the stuff was dead. Last year I done heavy 4 or 5 year old rushes, it will mulch them but it's going to be a slower job. If it's really heavy you might be looking at 2-3kph at most. Cut right down to the base and spray or lick regrowth. Regrowth could be anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks.

All the mulchings will be gone before the winter. Maybe the odd lump here or there but nothing to talk about. Slurry and lime would help too.

KerryCase

thanks for the info smokey
what type of flails has it? I'm looking at a 7ft seppi, with "whale tail" flails
I've been told that the Y flail's do a better job on rushes

smokey-fitz

KerryCase wrote: »

thanks for the info smokey
what type of flails has it? I'm looking at a 7ft seppi, with "whale tail" flails
I've been told that the Y flail's do a better job on rushes

Hammer flails is what I have same as whale tale. Do a good job. Don't have to worry about hitting stones. Never used y flails but I'd imagine they won't like stones.

MickeyShtyles

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Hammer flails is what I have same as whale tale. Do a good job. Don't have to worry about hitting stones. Never used y flails but I'd imagine they won't like stones.

There's heavy duty flails ya can get. We have them on ours.
Ours flips up though and doubles as a hedgecutter so could be purpose built.

angusangus

Can these be used to clean scrub and out growing ditches ready to seed after?

smokey-fitz

MickeyShtyles wrote: »

There's heavy duty flails ya can get. We have them on ours.
Ours flips up though and doubles as a hedgecutter so could be purpose built.

Heavy duty Y flail's? I'm happy enough with the hammers. Just did a acre for a lad down the road today. There were tyres and all in it, the major sucked them up and spat them out. Didn't know what was going on when I hit the 1st one :P

Yea seen them before, serious machine. What power you using for it?

MickeyShtyles

smokey-fitz wrote: »

Heavy duty Y flail's? I'm happy enough with the hammers. Just did a acre for a lad down the road today. There were tyres and all in it, the major sucked them up and spat them out. Didn't know what was going on when I hit the 1st one :P

Yea seen them before, serious machine. What power you using for it?

80hp Landini on it. Does the job nicely.
I'll take a pic for ya when I'm back 2mora.
I'll try find a link for it.