March 21, 2001

Spring Fever

As you read this, memories of two feet of snow over your lawns and horse pastures will be just that, a memory. Pastures and fields of hay were well protected during the winter with a thick blanket of snow. Something happens to Minnesota residents after the white blanket of snow leaves and the flood waters start to head to the Gulf of Mexico, they want all that area to turn to a perfect green.

If the lawn or pasture isn't perfect, we feel obligated to fix it right away. We also forget our childhood when we use to make mud pies in the garden or in the driveway. What happens to black dirt when you mix it with water and set it out in the sun? Mine use to get as hard as a rock. If yours did, can you now imagine mixing some grass seed with that mud and expecting it to grow out of that hard black rock you just made?

If you still plant a garden, you know that you want soft, dry, mellow soil to put those small seeds into. After you have completed the seeding of the garden, you hope for a warm soft gently rain or you speed the process up with a good drink from you sprinkler. The same is true of grass seeds. After your blanket of snow leaves, the soil is cold and wet.

After these seeds start to grow, we hope that they continue to get moisture to sustain plant life. Some plants grow faster than others and develop large deep roots that will go looking for moisture if mother nature doesn't cooperate. Grass seed is not one of these. It develops very slowly and has a very shallow root system. Therefore in the early weeks of life it needs a regular supply of moisture or it will shrivel and die.

For these and other reasons, if you get a bad case of spring fever and feel compelled to plant or replant a pasture or lawn, take something for it. It is my opinion that the best time to plant grasses is in the late summer or early fall or next best is to dormant seed it in late October or just before the ground freezes. If you plant in late summer you will have less competition from weeds that are now going into dormancy for winter. These weeds will then not compete for soil moisture from the delicate grass seeds that are developing. If you have a normal year the spring mud pie will also have to endure a hot dry June and July before any regular fall rains come to the rescue.

Late summer seeded grass will look forward to fall rains. Winter snows will follow as will spring rains before the scorching heat of summer. By this time the grass seed will have established a better root system and will have had time to store up nutrients in the roots to sustain a dry dormancy.

If you are planting a new pasture or lawn, it is important that the soil be prepared properly during the late spring and early summer. It must be worked to a soft powder while it is dry. You must also test the soil to be sure that the proper soil nutrients are available when the grass starts to grow. A local fertilizer supplier should be able to assist in testing the soil.

As I have mentioned in "Out to Pasture", you should choose a grass mixture that will have plants that will mature at different times and are nutritious for your horse. Some grasses will do better in dry conditions and others do better if it is wet. Most seed recommendations will have a minimum of 4 types of grass seed.

There are many ways to plant the grass seed. Keep in mind that grass seed is small and must be planted very shallow, less than one half inch deep. For the seed to germinate there must be good soil to seed contact with moisture. This is why you must not have soil with big chunks (mud pies). To ensure soil to seed contact, some will pull a roller or compactor over the top of the seed bed. A common grass seeder for large pasture areas is a Brillion Seeder. Late summer seeded grasses will usually not need a cover or nurse crop.

Seldom is there a need to cut the grass that is seeded in late summer of the seeding year. If you intend to pasture the area, animals should not be allowed on the field until late spring (June) the next year. This is to ensure that a good root system has a chance to develop before the animals start walking on these new plants.

Future care of these pastures will depend on the type of plants and uses. You should remember that grasses need adequate supplies of nitrogen to perform well. Pure manure can be used as a source of fertilization but tests should still be run to ensure that all the needed nutrients are at adequate levels. I do not recommend the spreading of saw dust on new pastures or pastures that are not receiving additional sources of nitrogen for proper plant growth and decomposition of the wood products.

If you have an existing pasture that you believe needs to be renovated please explore all your options before plowing it over. I will discuss the renovation of pastures in a future article.

Spring Fever is a very contagious disease. It is an air borne disease. The first sign is the smell of fresh dirt in the spring air. This is then followed by the sighting of the neighbor out in the field. This results in an almost total loss of all senses. Most of the good intentions developed over the winter are over shadowed by Spring Fever . We will all be exposed to this condition but the question will be, is your immune system healthy enough to resist the planting of grasses in the mud pies of old?