This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Horse Pasture, Fencing, Barns » Trees, plants, and grasses »
  Discussion on Centipede grass and horses
Author Message

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 1999 - 1:35 pm:

Am establishing a new pasture at my home and plan to sprig bermuda.One area already has centipede grass established,the other is freshly cleared.Should I remove the centipede completely before sprigging ?Is there anything about centipede that will harm my horse?

Posted on Thursday, Jul 29, 1999 - 6:19 am:

Hello Teresa,
Information on pasture recommendations generally are dependent on the quality of your soil and local conditions. We strongly recommend you get a soil test and suggestions from your local extension.

I cannot find anything that suggests the centipede may be poisonous. Neither can I find where it is recommended as a pasture grass, could it have another name? With this is mind you would probably do better replacing the centipede with coastal bermuda. Considering it will take a year to establish the new pasture, you may want to do this in two stages so the horses at least have some forage.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 17, 1999 - 10:00 pm:

HELLO TERESA, DR. O,
I FOUND YOUR POSTS WHEN I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING WRITTEN ABOUT CRABGRASS AND HORSES. COULD CRABGRASS BE THE SAME AS WHAT YOU CALL CENTIPEDE GRASS? IF NOT, DOES ANYONE KNOW IF CRABGRASS IS O.K. FOR HORSES? BECAUSE OF THE DrOUGHT OUT HERE IN THE EAST, THAT'S ALL THAT'S AROUND. LET ME KNOW IF YOU THINK I'D BE BETTER OFF POSTING UNDER "NEW DISCUSSION" TITLED CRAB GRASS.

THANKS FOR THE HELP,
MARY

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 6:46 am:

Crabgrass is not known to be poisonous either. I believe, looking at the pictures on the bottle of herbicide that they are different with centipede being a lower finer running weed.
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 18, 1999 - 9:33 pm:

Centipede grass is a lawn grass grown quite prevalently in the South and sold as sod etc,for establishing grass lawns.My original post must have been confusing,as the centipede grass is well estabilished in my back yard.Since I am building a barn and planting a pasture in area that was previously wooded,but has now been cleared,I was asking if the centipede lawn grass which will eventually be overtaken with pasture bermuda would be ok for my horse in the mean time,or shoud I disk the lawn grass up and plant fresh in that area.Since it does not seem to be harmful to horses I will leave the centipede temporarily.Crabgrass is a type of weed that is not planted intentionally but just sprouts.Centipede is not a weed.Thanks.

Posted on Monday, Aug 23, 1999 - 6:53 pm:

It is always wise to remember that ancient eastern proverb: One man's lawn grass is another man's weed.

Did you find out if Extension recomended eradicting the centipede before sprigging the bermuda? Take it from someone who has wasted weeks of work and thousands of dollars, before doing extensive amounts of pasture work get the facts.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC