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Post by lancslass on Jun 23, 2007 17:54:08 GMT -1
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Post by NFK Dumpling on Jun 25, 2007 10:38:27 GMT -1
 Clover contains cyanide! It says white clover, its pink around us, any idea if this is less likely to be toxic? OH mentioned the other day that the clover is taking over from the grass and just thought "Oh well that'll add a bit of variety"!!!!!!!!!!! Doh!
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Post by The Moo on Jun 25, 2007 13:06:16 GMT -1
A friend of mine lost her fell pony to grass sickness and the most likely cause was short frosty grass that contained a lot of clover.
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Post by Debbie on Jun 25, 2007 14:43:09 GMT -1
 Well I'm definitely adding clover to the 'to be weeded' list. Its been slow going, but I've been removing the stuffs by hand. Slow in part because Blossom watches me handweeding, and then decides the weeds must be edible, somehow.  Takes a bit of convincing that I haven't found grass. Well, actually I have under all those wretched weeds! 
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Post by sweetpea on Jun 26, 2007 10:47:44 GMT -1
Well, I've been advised to harrow the field to death then remove all the loose stuff before drill seeding with fine grass mix and rolling . Sounds ok but I don't know if that'll cure the clover as we have sooooo much ! Also, if I do it now and then it gets hot the seed won't germinate will it ? P and Sonny are fed up and keep looking sadly over the electric tape at the lovely lushness of it all and I feel really mean but they've been better since I got them off the clover so there they will have to stay until all the nasty stuff has gone . Could be a long job though !
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Post by Debbie on Jun 26, 2007 13:44:42 GMT -1
That's the same delima I'm in. It's all ready too hot for any seeds to germinate here. I'll have to wait for any form of reseeding later in the fall, as it cools off again. I know the ponies don't appreciate it (Blossom looked longingly at the farmer's wheat til he finally harvested it) but it really is in their best interests.  |
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Post by NFK Dumpling on Oct 6, 2008 11:47:23 GMT -1
Just wondered how you all got on with the clover as I've noticed that the next paddock I want to use is full of it?
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Post by valerie n scout on Oct 6, 2008 14:20:08 GMT -1
our new place has non thank heavens, as our last place was overrun with the stuff and Tomas was like a house end,and had a touch of lami x now just grass well bare patches and grass but i guess you cant have everything x
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Post by greydales on Oct 6, 2008 17:22:34 GMT -1
I'll never get rid of my clover unless the whole farm is ploughed up and reseeded - it used to be a dairy farm and I have loads of the stuff . Once the ponies have eaten it down though I keep them on the short grass and it doesn't really get a chance to grow again while they are on it - I realise it is very lush but if I am careful and the weather is accommodating, I try to put the herd onto the summer pasture before it has really started to shoot up. That way they eat it down pretty quickly and it stays very short. This is the first year I've had all of the summer pasture eaten right down - due to me splitting the mares and geldings! The ponies with white hooves often get red bruising coinciding with spring and I am sure this is a sign of low grade lami, probably due to the richness of the grass. I do have to be careful and if any get too big then they come off onto a bare paddock for a while. |
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Post by Debbie on Oct 6, 2008 19:50:27 GMT -1
I'm actually very interested in this calcified seaweed that Pam found! I know that the clover tends to grow in acidic conditions.....which was why I put lime down selectively the first year. This year has been nonstop rain ~ literally! But during the dry out days, I've been getting into her field and simply mowing the lot with the lawnmower. I was a touch worried at first, but she only ate a few of the lawntrimmings at first, then left it completely alone  The result is that I've managed to overseed with orchard grass this spring, and as I can, throughout the summer, I've mown the rest of it right back. It makes the grasses far more competitive and they've taken over a lot more of the area. But this late summer, the clover is taking over in the patches where the ponies pooh (so I'm assuming acidic??  ) I think if I can manage to find some of this calcified seaweed, I'll be laying it down for the fall period and seeing if we can get the soil a bit better balanced.  |
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Post by NFK Dumpling on Oct 7, 2008 9:01:02 GMT -1
I'll never get rid of my clover unless the whole farm is ploughed up and reseeded - it used to be a dairy farm and I have loads of the stuff . As far as I know until we seeded the field it had been arable land for many years. The clover has popped up since the Spring Debbie: from what Pam says I think her soil conditions are very similar to ours so if the calcified seaweed worked, and as she's only a county away, I should get some  |
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Post by harveydales on Oct 8, 2008 10:45:42 GMT -1
I used calcified seaweed on our paddocks several years ago. I used it as a soil conditioner, to encourage worms and so improve soil aeration, to reduce the soil acidity, and as a general but horse-safe fertilizer. By raising the PH I hoped to reduce the amount of creeping buttercup but I don't think it would effect the clover situation and, after doing a quick google search, I've read that calcified seaweed will promote clover growth! Don't know if this is true.
Clover is a nitrogen fixer and so tends to proliferate in nitrogen starved soils. So perhaps a non-chemical way to reduce the clover would be with nitrogen fertilizers - one of the horse safe ones or farmyard manure?
I was going to reapply calcified seaweed a couple of years ago but found that you can't get hold of it any more - it's considered non-environmentally friendly. However, it looks like you can get hold of it quite easily again.
Not much help I'm afraid.
Forgot to say, it might be worth ringing Simple Systems up and having a word with Tim, their agronomist. He has given me a lot of advice in the past on how to improve our horse pastures.
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Post by NFK Dumpling on Oct 8, 2008 11:56:31 GMT -1
Thanks Pam That makes sense as the paddock in question was the only one that didn't get fertilised early spring as the ponies were on it. We never bothered to do it because we thought we were going to lose the field at the end of April but they are still there at the moment. Until I know for sure what's going to happen I guess the best thing to do will be to cut it with the lawn mower as otherwise James will probably keel over. I usually let Musky eat the best of the grass off and then turn them both out on to it so that James clears up the thistles that Musky won't eat but I don't know for certain that he won't eat the clover. I checked and its definately the Alsike clover  |
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Clover contains cyanide! It says white clover, its pink around us, any idea if this is less likely to be toxic? OH mentioned the other day that the clover is taking over from the grass and just thought "Oh well that'll add a bit of variety"!!!!!!!!!!!
Well I'm definitely adding clover to the 'to be weeded' list. 
Takes a bit of convincing that I haven't found grass. Well, actually I have under all those wretched weeds! 
The result is that I've managed to overseed with orchard grass this spring, and as I can, throughout the summer, I've mown the rest of it right back. It makes the grasses far more competitive and they've taken over a lot more of the area. 
