Getting ready to work on my pastures and looking for words of wisdoms on types of grass, weed spray, fertilizing.

I have talked with my location extension office and local seed & fertilizer company but would like ideas on what's worked for everyone.

At this time I'm planning on cutting the pasture as short as I can now and then in Sept. do a weed spray first then plant seed.  I'm leaning towards, timothy, orchard grass, rye, & brome for grass.  The pasture is mainly on a hillside.

The one thing I'm getting different is when to fertilize.  I'm hearing before planting, soon after planting, waiting until October and to wait and see the grass has taken well then fertilize. 

Any thoughts?  Thanks!

Horsin, I'd plant Timothy or Orchard if the weather in Iowa is cool and moist enough. Down here in Kansas it is difficult to grow those two kinds since it normally is hot and very dry in the summer.

I would not recommend Brome if you are using it as a horse pasture. Brome is a cool weather grass and does not do well with constant horse grazing, hot summers, and not too mention that it is extremely high in protein in the early Spring which could contribute to founder... Not that other grasses won't cause this issue though. If you are creating a hay pasture, then by all means brome and timothy mix make for great hay.

We use Speedzone on our grazing pastures. Knocks out clover, thistle and other weeds. I don't see why you couldn't spray now and then seed in early September. But it really depends on your location so I'd call an Ag University for the best solutions.

Our horse pastures are native grasses and fescue. No pregnant mares on our place, so I don't worry too much about endophytes from the fescue.

It maybe a year or so before the grasses get a good hold and root system, so you may have to keep the horses off it for quite a long time too. If the grass is coming up good, then I'd fertilize both fall and this spring.

It sounds like you have talked to the experts already.  I know nothing about your soil, So I'd defer to you local extension agents.

My experience with grasses is that I fertilize when I seed and again 60 daysl later IF the growing season is still underway. If the grass is going dormant fpr the winter, the do the second fertilizer in the early spring.   First fertilizer will probably have a high second number to help the roots get established.