Many people in the Lincolnshire area own or loan horses, or have some involvement in equestrianism.
For many, owning their own few acres of land is the result of many years of yard work and indeed many prefer it to the expense of keeping a horse (or more than one) on a livery yard.
However, there is a still a lot of work involved in owning and maintaining your own paddocks.
Due to the soft silty or clay based fen soil in this area, paddocks and fields poach badly in the winter and go rock hard, parched and bare in the summer.
Many landowners simply don't have the knowledge or equipment to repair the damage and a vicious circle ensures with land getting wetter and wetter and more and more badly damaged until it is completely unsuitable for grazing, being so poached and rutted injuries to horses often result - generally in the form of sprained and twisted ligaments and tendons directly attributed to the uneven surface of the land - these are often long term, sometimes even career ending injuries.
Yes, I understand this you say but the amount of land I own doesn't justify the outlay of thousands of pounds on a tractor and equipment, which lets face it, you may only use a handful of times a year - so what options do I have?
Here at South Lincs Grass Care, we can help - as equestrians ourselves, we know the challenges that are faced by paddock owners in terms of equestrian land management and this is why we offer compact tractor services to suit all paddocks and fields within our 25 mile operating radius - as a non exhaustive list we can offer services including :
- Chain and/or peg harrowing to level out minor poaching rip out moss and thatch and help grazing rejuvenate,
- Heavy duty fixed tine levelling harrowing for badly poached and rutted areas,
- Rolling of paddocks and fields to firm the harrowed surface and crush down clods or firm in fresh seed
- Paddock aeration either via a rotating 'deep slitter' (shown here on a larger tractor of ours) or a fixed leg turf mole plough with adjustable depth leg and preceding cutter disc and following roller to minimize turf damage (shown in lower photo), to help alleviate compaction, boost drainage drainage and help get water and air to the grass roots where it is needed,
- Paddock weed control - selective weed control for problem weeds
- Paddock fertilizing and soil analysis - get the best grass you can from your field and correct and improve your soils nutrient balance,
- Paddock rotary mowing and flail mowing (with collection capability if desired) - whether it is light tidying of tufts of undesirable grass left by grazing animals and flailing down an overgrown paddock area, we have the tools for the job.
We offer competitive prices and a prompt and efficient service, using specialized equipment.
We will go into more details on some of the services we offer in future blogs - but if you need any more information, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.
Phone 07745 247488 - 01775 830250 - email info@lawncarespalding.co.uk
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