Autumn Paddock Care

By September grass growth starts to slow, and an application of nitrogen fertiliser during this time will keep the sward in good condition and reduce die back over the winter. As well as improving grazing for your horse, a denser sward may help to prevent your paddock becoming badly poached. Paddock Royale is a fertiliser which has been developed specifically for the treatment of horse and pony paddocks, and it supplies balanced nutrients for optimum grass paddock growth.

By November grass has stopped growing or growth is minimal you may find ragwort has raised its ugly rosettes again. Even if you managed to clear all the ragwort plants from your own land in the spring before they flowered, seeds may have been carried in from other areas to create a new crop in your paddock.

Ragwort control in the autumn is especially important as leaves may die off during the winter and become more palatable to your horse. There are a number of methods commonly used to control ragwort, including digging out the rosettes by hand, which may actually worsen the problem if you do not fully remove the root, spot burning, which may damage the surrounding grass and spraying, either with a knapsack if it is a small area or with a tractor-mounted sprayer for large paddocks and fields. A number of herbicides are available to control ragwort and other common paddock weeds, including Pasture Master, a powerful selective herbicide for controlling ragwort and other tough grassland weeds.

Progreen provides a free comprehensive paddock advice service, giving you the confidence to select and apply the most suitable fertilisers and weed control products for your paddock. We also offer a paddock soil analysis service, which will help you to select the ingredients you need to establish the perfect pasture for your horse.