Continuing the tour of our paddock, here's a photo which shows why we needed the paddock topped by one of the local agricultural contractors. The green grass at the top of the hill is the area where the sheep prefer to graze. There are few weeds and the grass is going well because the sheep keep it cropped - and fertilise it as they go.
The area in the foreground is tussocky and filled with coarse grasses that don't tempt the sheep. The coarse grass smothers the better quality grass and the sheep can't get to it.
As the coarse grass grows up, other weeds appear too - like reeds, brambles and the gorse that you can see below.
In some places though the native trees seed and grow like the manuka that are emerging at the base of one of the pine trees.
We were lucky that we managed to go almost four years without getting the paddock mulch-mowed. I think that the farmer who grazes it has managed it well, maintaining the optimum stock levels. The weeds were beginning to take over though so it's all been cut back now just in time for the spring flush to emerge.
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