Yes, in fact all the varieties we have in mixture we sell as straights
ESTABLISHMENT OF RED CLOVER
Red clover can be grown on a wide range of soil types. It is more susceptible to drought than Lucerne but is more tolerant of poorer soil structure. The crop is usually sown in the spring but can be established in summer or early autumn if conditions allow. The crop needs to have at least two trifoliate leaves before late autumn.
IN THE “MIX” GO FOR Idealseed NITROMO
Usually sown with Hybrid or Italian ryegrass as a 75%:25% ratio of Ryegrass/Clover with a sowing rate of 13.00 kg/acre, never go less!!
FERTILISER
- POTASH
Is of key importance. Large amounts of forage are removed in successive silage cuts and soil reserves soon become depleted. Maintain your Potash in soil at 180 mg/litre. - PHOSPHATE
Off take is much lower. Maintain levels in soil at 15 -20 mg/litre. Apply autumn P at 46 units/acre. - NITROGEN
Should be used to produce very high levels of dry matter production and to maintain ryegrass in the sward. This may inhibit root nodule formation. In less intensive situation low levels may be used in spring along with FYM/slurry, applied during the winter, pH levels need to be maintained between pH 6.0 – pH 6.5.
MANAGEMENT OF RED CLOVER
Red clover swards can be cut up to 4 times a year towards the end of May and then at 6 or 7 week intervals. The resultant silage will have a high buffering factor therefore a good additive should always be used. To avoid poor fermentation, aim to produce silage with a dry matter of around 25%.
Red clover silage is high in un-degradable protein. Necessary in the diet of high yielding cows.
YES, IF YOU MEAN FOR: CATCH CROP, ONE YEAR CUTTING AND GRAZING
DYNAMO is a super-fast-growing mixture which includes, Westerwold Ryegrass and Italian Ryegrass which combine outstanding yield, plus extraordinary spring growth and first cut yield.
DYNAMO can grow very fast; to get the best results it needs to be managed carefully. The relatively open nature of its growth means that cutting or tight rotational grazing best suits the mixture.
If the DYNAMO is required for a full 12 months of production or regular, hard, winter grazing, 14kg seed rate is recommended. If seedbed conditions are good 12kg/acre is adequate, especially if the crop is to be ploughed up after first cut.
DYNAMO is also available mixed with Forage rape to produce flexible Summer and Autumn grazing.
Trials show an extra £148.00 worth of silage in just 6 months (based on an extra 3.7 tonnes of 25% dry matter silage @ £40/tonne).
• Top yield potential for both Autumn and Spring production.
• Excellent potential for grazing and Autumn silage after Winter Barley.
• Very vigorous establishment for sowing after maize.
• 30% Diploid content for higher dry matter spring silage.
• Better lamb finishing potential than stubble turnips, with assured re-growth
DYNAMO has a Yield potential of 21 tDM/ha in the first year
Sowing Rate 12 to 14 kg/acre.
Wild flowers are a very important part of our everyday life providing a rich, colourful and diverse ecological habitat for many insects and wildlife. They also offer great aesthetic value to enhance the natural beauty of the British countryside, motorway networks, parkland and gardens.
Over the past 50 years, the number of traditional wild flower meadows has dramatically declined which has resulted in a noted decrease of British Insects. For pollination to take place, we need the ideal flowers to attract those all-important bees, ensuring plants become fertilised and reproduce.
Idealseed mixtures contain high proportions of recommended of NATIVE WILDFLOWERS on the Royal Horticultural Society’s list of plants which are ‘Perfect Pollinators’.
Native Wild Flowers are important to all of us
The rich and varied wild flower species suited to our climate provides a flowering period from spring through to autumn creating a colourful environment whilst providing a vital habitat for wildlife.
Golf Courses:
Golf Courses can provide excellent habitats for wild flowers as part of a low maintenance scheme which can improve the biodiversity on the course.
Highways, Embankments and Verges:
Road highways are also very important locations to establish wild flowers as they provide areas for insects and wildlife while requiring low maintenance compared to 100% grass swards.
Agricultural land:
Farmers and land owners are now being encouraged to establish field margins and new areas of wild flowers which will help populations of butterflies, bees and other insects increase. This also provides habitats for game birds and other wildlife our Cornfield annual produces a brilliant display of flowers in the first summer following sowing.
80/20% Ratio
Idealseed supply either 100% Wildflower mixtures or most popularly 80% Grasses and 20% Wildflower mixtures. Such a mixture is called a “nurse crop” and usually takes the form of an open growing non-competitive grass seed mixture. Given the correct future maintenance, this nurse crop will gradually form a smaller and smaller contingent of the sward, being replaced by the wildflowers as they establish and mature. If, however, the seed is being sown on a small area, perhaps in a garden where weed control will not be a problem as it can be carried out manually, then the cover crop can be omitted, and 100% wildflower mixture sown.
The seeds in your mixture will have originated from a wild flower production field. This seed will have been multiplied in single species plots from seed sourced in the wild. From seeding to harvesting it can take two growing seasons before a seed crop is produced. Once harvested, the seed is cleaned to remove the inert matter and provide high purity seed.
PREPARATION and ESTABLISHMENT
- Remove all existing weeds, if necessary, use weed killer, only sow four weeks after applying.
- If the area has been overgrown with weeds for several years, it is important to reduce the number of weed seeds in the soil, it may be necessary therefore to allow time for the first flush of weeds to germinate then remove before attempting to sow any wildflowers.
- Wildflowers prefer a poor soil with low nutrients, so remember not to apply fertiliser.
- Once the weeds have been removed prepare soil to a fine tilth for sowing your wildflowers.
- Try not to disturb the soil any further as this may bring more weed seeds to the surface.
- Choose a wildflower mixture suitable for your soil conditions, if uncertain, remember to think what your soil is like during the growing period from March – October (most soils during the winter can be heavy and wet).
- Sowing times can be any time during the period end-March – end October the ideal time being autumn but avoid the hot summer months.
- Sow seed at 5g/m2, it should not be necessary to rake the seed over as the light helps germination on many species.
- To assist sowing, it’s advisable to mix the wildflower seed in the bag prior to sowing, small seed will always travel to the bottom of the bag.). This will help distribute the seed mixture.
- The nurse grasses will appear within 7 – 10 days; the wildflowers may vary depending upon species – some may take only a few weeks, while others can take several months.
- Cornfield Annuals flower the same year if sown during the spring or the previous autumn.
- Perennial wildflowers will establish during the first year of sowing and flower in year two.
Unfortunately, lawns are somehow side-lined these days, often to be replaced with neatly raked gravel or York stone, which is invariably imported from India! Or introducing pre-grown turf, most of which contain weed species.
I say: Bring back the stripes, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, more satisfying that sitting in the garden with a glass of wine admiring your perfect IDS2001 QUALITY LAWN grass mixture contains the finest fescues which provided a very dense and close knitted sward preventing invasion from weeds. It easy to establish and is well worth the initial effort to show off your lawn to the neighbours and complement your flower beds created from our range of NATIVE Wildflower seed mixtures.
Creating the strips
Idealseed professional greenkeeper customers have various ways of creating their perfect sward, they will talk about “raising their knives”; there is a buccaneering sound to it, the easiest approach if using ID2001 is cut each second mowing strip at 18mm then every other strip at 16mm.
Wear
IDS2004 LOW MAINTENANCE is very much a more robust, vigorous lawn mixture and will tolerate a reasonable amount of wear, weekly barbeque, family fun, kids’ football and such. The exceptional root structure of the species sourcing ample nutrients deep in the sub-soil. Should you require a more hardwearing lawn we recommend IDS2000 ECONOMY, which in its self will give an excellent appearance, it will also provide a surface capable of withstanding all hardwearing situations.
Maintenance
As with all grass seed mixture Always remember “the more you cut, the quicker it grows” and never cut lower than 12mm (½ in).
Preferably, keep the height of cut as high as 18mm (3/4 in). Always remove the clippings.
For more information, including full technical PDF print version visit us on-line: https://idealseed.co.uk
Please call us on 07920 546426, alternatively send us an email.
We trade across the whole of mainland UK.
Billy Nimmo. Direct Line 07920 546426
The seed industry needs seed experts out in the field with a proactive approach, not behind a desk. As our business grows so shall our people.
Currently we offer high quality fertiliser for Equestrian and Golf sectors, ideally this area of business shall develop soon
Normally 8.00am-6.00pm.
A normal (diploid) ryegrass has 14 chromosomes in each cell. A chromosome is the part of the cell that carries all the genetic information about the organism. By treating the cells in tissue culture with a natural chemical extracted from the autumn crocus (called colchicine) the number of chromosomes are doubled to 28. This effectively doubles the size of the cells (increased sugary contents) creating a tetraploid. This in no way alters the plants genes.
PALATABILITY & DIGESTABILITY
Livestock find the wide leaves and larger cell content (containing high concentrations of sugars) of tetraploids very palatable. This leads to higher intake resulting in more meat or milk. On the whole, the digestibility of tetraploids is much better than most diploids meaning that more of the ingested material is converted to improve animal performance. This on the other hand must be monitored and regulated, high sugar can be very costly, especially in Equestrian circles.
DROUGHT TOLERANCE
The deep root systems, larger cells and wider leaves all combine to ensure greater resistance to drought than most diploid varieties. The larger seeds of tetraploids also means that if a drought occurs during the establishment phase, the seeds carry greater water and nutrient resources than diploids, thus increasing their chances of survival.
RAPID ESTABLISHMENT
On average tetraploid ryegrass seeds are 30-50{e144300321b3ac5b78f0c4ee4c04acdec25291effe0025b83660ed3c8cd3080f} larger than diploid ryegrass. This results in improved seedling vigour, increased competitiveness (especially useful when over-seeding) and faster establishment, which can lead to earlier utilisation.
HIGHER SUMMER PRODUCTION
The deep, fibrous root system of tetraploid ryegrass enables them to find water and nutrients that lie deep in the soil, prolonging production during the drier summer months.
PERSISTENCY AND WINTER HARDINESS
Newer varieties of tetraploids exhibit much better winter hardiness ratings than previously and recently bred tetraploids are much improved in ground cover. Together these characteristics substantially increase the longevity of a sward
CUTTING
The sturdy tetraploid stands up well to the cutter bar. The higher sugar content provides food for the bacteria in the clamp and aid the fermentation process to produce high quality silage.
OVERSEEDING AND PASTURE RENOVATION
The larger seeded and more vigorous tetraploids have the competitive edge when it comes to pasture renovation. Rapid establishment and the ability to out compete weed grasses in the existing sward are vital. When renovating pastures always select tetraploid grasses.
GROUND COVER
Tetraploid ryegrass has a more open erect growth habit, which is why the inclusion and more importantly selection of diploid ryegrasses is vital when designing the correct mixture for your specific requirements. Basically old seedsmen like Billy Nimmo (MD) Idealseed would encourage 1/3 Tetraploid + 2/3 Diploid.
The Benefits of Quality Clover
The feed content of white clover is an additional source of protein and minerals. White clover has a protein content of 27.5% compared to grass at 17.5%. It is also a valuable source of magnesium and calcium to the grazing animal.
White clover protein is less rumen degradable than grass protein; consequently white clover in either silage or grazed grass will improve animal performance. Animals find white clover highly palatable, they will eat forage containing white clover more quickly with less expenditure of energy due to the structure of clover allowing speeding up of the digestive process.
Farmer’s perceptions for utilising white clover include, increasing sward density, soil surface protection and moisture retention, quality-grazing early/mid May, reducing forage costs and improving animal performance.
White clover will survive nitrogen rates in excess of 400 Kg. Per hectare, at rates of up to 200 Kg. Per hectare white clover will continue to “FIX” nitrogen. Whatever rate of nitrogen is being applied to a ley, whether it is grazed or conserved there is a positive benefit in animal performance from the inclusion of Quality clovers in the ley.
Why have clovers in a sward?
- Fix nitrogen + reduce input costs
- Increase the palatability of the sward and consequently animal performance
- Supply additional protein and minerals to the animal
- Provide a ‘mobile’ sown component to fill any gaps in the sward
Why use a blend of clover types?
By using a blend of different varieties there is always at least two that are best suited to whatever the management being applied to the sward. The use of a blend of different clovers broadens the genetic diversity, disease and pest resistance of the clover content of the sward.
What is the feeding quality of a clover/grass sward?
White clover has about half the structural fibre (cell wall) content and approx. 50% more crude protein than perennial ryegrass, it being 27% of the dry
matter. White clover can be an important source of minerals to the grazing animal, containing a significantly higher proportion of Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Cobalt that the grass portion of the sward. Clover in a sward reduces the decline in the digestibility, typically 0.15 units per day, compared to 0.5 units per day for a ryegrass sward. This helps to maintain herbage quality if there are delays in harvesting or grazing.
How will animals perform on a clover/grass sward?
Animals prefer to graze a clover/grass sward, these results in higher voluntary intakes and better animal performance. In trials cattle grazed on a clover/grass sward had an intake of 9.2kg of dry matter per day and a live weight gain of 1.1 kg per day, compared with those grazed only on grass of 6.7 kg intake and 0.8kg/day live weight gain. Trials with dairy cows have shown that that for each 10% increase of the white clover content of the pasture, milk yield increases of between 0.3 and 0.45 kg per cow per day. Therefore a sward which has a 30% clover content, which is an average for mid-summer, can be producing up to 1.35 Kgs of milk per cow per day more from the clover.
Is clover important in silage?
Feeding silage with a significant proportion of white clover will improve intake. In trials, beef cattle fed clover/grass silage showed 16% higher live weight gain over those fed on grass silage. Grass/clover swards without fertiliser Nitrogen can produce yields similar to those of pure grass swards receiving around 200kg N per Hectare per year. White clover in the sward will release nitrogen to the grass, encouraging fresh vigorous growth throughout the sward.
E & O E – Standard Terms and Conditions of I-Dealseed Ltd. In the event of a shortfall in supply we reserve the right to offer varieties of equivalence or better.
