Guest blog Horse & Habitat: all about sowing your pasture

Spring is a good time to start sowing. Sowing has several advantages. You can fill in bare spots with plants you want to have there, which inhibits the growth of unwanted plants such as ragwort. You can also improve the composition of your pasture by sowing grass species that are lower in sugar than English ryegrass.

When sowing, you naturally want the germination of your seed mixture to be as good as possible. You have invested money and time in the seed mixture and sowing. The success of the germination of a seeded grass mixture depends not only on the quality of the seeds. In fact, seeds must meet certain quality requirements and actually only deteriorate if stored for a long time (longer than a year). The success of the germination of a seed mixture mainly depends on the type and conditions of your soil. Choosing a specific seed mixture must match your soil to achieve good germination.

Different soil types

The conditions of the soil depend on:

• Soil type: the soil type depends on the location of the plot. You can have sand, clay, or loam as a base, or a combination of these. Some plants grow better in sand than in clay or vice versa.

• Rich or poor. This means that the soil contains a lot or a little minerals or trace elements. There is also a distinction to be made, for example, between rich in nitrogen, but poor in other minerals and trace elements. This is due to fertilization and grazing or haymaking.

• Alkaline or acidic. This refers to the PH. Soils usually tend to become more acidic, which can be caused by fertilization, location of the plot, or rain. Some plants grow better on acidic soil while others thrive on alkaline soil.

• Dry or wet. This is influenced by factors such as soil type (sand is drier than clay), the location of the plot, and the drainage around the area.

• Compacted or not. An ideal soil consists of 50% soil and 50% air and water channels. These air and water channels are created by soil organisms such as worms but also by plant roots. If heavy animals or machinery come on, the soil becomes compacted. You can see this because more water remains on the surface and the soil is more compact. Some plants grow well on compacted soil, while others do not.

Determining soil type

A plant has a preference for a specific type of soil, which you cannot change. However, you can change the soil by the way you use it and the fertilization. This is a slow process, but in a few years, you can go, for example, from a rich to a poorer soil or from a compacted to a non-compacted soil.

The suitable grass species for horses grow on a poor, slightly alkaline, non-compacted soil. It is therefore a waste of money and effort to sow a good horse mixture on a rich compacted soil. This will probably result in almost nothing growing, and if it does, it will quickly be overtaken by species that thrive on this type of soil.

Before you start considering a pasture mixture, it is important to first assess the condition of your soil and change it to the preference of a good horse mixture. You can determine the condition of your soil in various ways.

• You can have a soil sample taken. This way, you know exactly what type of soil you have, what the PH is, and whether you have a rich or poor soil. Based on this, you also know which minerals to supplement or avoid.

Or you can estimate this by determining a few things such as:

• These are plants that grow very specifically on a particular type of soil, such as nettles on nitrogen-rich soils, buttercups on compacted soils, and sheep sorrel on acidic soils.
• Determine the soil type. Soil type maps are often available through the municipality or can be found on the internet.
• Previous use and fertilization. This indicates whether your soil is likely to be poor or rich. Soil that has been fertilized for years with artificial fertilizers and slurry probably lacks certain minerals, trace elements, and organic matter but is rich in nitrogen and phosphate.
• How wet or dry the plot is. You can determine this by checking if a lot of water remains on your plot and if a lot of water from surrounding areas runs onto your plot. You can also determine if certain areas are compacted, such as where your horses often walk.

Modifying soil type

Once you have a good understanding of the soil type, you can determine what actions to take to modify the soil type for a good seed mixture. Actions you can take include:

• Making rich soils poorer by mowing and grazing
• Omitting fertilization for depletion
• Providing fertilization or soil improvers to replenish deficiencies in your soil
• Adjusting usage to solve and prevent compaction

These measures must be combined in the right way. There is a risk of overgrowth of a particular plant species if this is not the case.

Sowing grass and herb mixtures

Afterward, you can sow a suitable seed mixture for your situation. If you need to sow a mixture earlier because you have bare spots, for example, choose a basic horsegrass mixture with little English ryegrass. Herbs are more sensitive to soil conditions and temperature than grass and will not germinate as well if you do not have this in order. You can sow herbs at a later time when your soil is more suitable.

Tip: Download the digital product: the seed mixture decision aid. This document contains descriptions of over 40 grass mixtures, grass and herb mixtures, and herb mixtures intended for horse pastures. It also provides a lot of information on choosing a suitable mixture and sowing tips. For more information, see: Digital product: Seed mixture decision aid - Horse and Habitat (horse-en-habitat.myshopify.com)

Written by: Horse & Habitat