GS4 Legume & Herb Rich Sward
Ref: MIXGS4
ELS/HLS/CSS/SFI Codes: EK21, GS4, SAM3
This all round mixture promotes biodiversity, creates habitats, produces pollen and nectar and is also a superb soil conditioner and top quality forage. While buffer strips and field margins have worked well in helping to promote biodiversity and create habitats, planting mixes across whole fields is clearly even better. It is an option under the Higher Level Stewardship scheme and more recently Countryside Stewardship. Mixture suitable for SFI SAM3 Herbal Leys
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| Contents per Kg | % | kg | |
 | certified cocksfoot | 10.0 | 0.100 |
| certified festulolium | 10.0 | 0.100 |
| certified tetraploid perennial ryegrass | 15.6 | 0.156 |
| certified perennial ryegrass | 5.0 | 0.050 |
| certified timothy | 7.0 | 0.070 |
| certified meadow fescue | 5.0 | 0.050 |
| commercial Sainfoin | 20.0 | 0.200 |
| certified birdsfoot trefoil | 3.0 | 0.030 |
| certified Red Clover blend | 2.5 | 0.025 |
| certified alsike clover | 3.5 | 0.035 |
| certified Red Clover blend | 2.5 | 0.025 |
| commercial sweet clover | 2.5 | 0.025 |
| Burnet forage herb | 4.0 | 0.040 |
| certifed chicory blend | 4.5 | 0.045 |
| Sheeps Parsley forage herb | 2.8 | 0.028 |
| Ribgrass forage herb | 1.5 | 0.015 |
| Yarrow forage herb | 0.5 | 0.005 |
| Lesser Knapweed (Centaurea nigra) | 0.1 | 0.001 |
Alsike Clover
Alsike clover is a short term perennial that fixes nitrogen. It is a true clover, not a hybrid as the name suggests. Compared to many annual clovers it can be the slowest to flower after a spring sowing.
Birdsfoot Trefoil
Birdsfoot Trefoil is a legume, it grows from a basal crown, with numerous stems that can vary from prostrate to erect in growth habit. In some parts of the country it is called the 'eggs and bacon' plant.
Birdsfoot Trefoil Species Guide 
Buy Birdsfoot Trefoil Straight 
Burnet
Burnet is a forage herb, It is noted for having deep tap roots, which helps it remain green on thin, dry soils. It is also early to grow in the spring, contributing to forage in late March to April.
Chicory
Chicory is an eye catching, mineral rich forage herb that has a long taproot capable of penetrating to great depth, breaking through plough pans and leaving the soil aerated, aiding drainage and crop root development. It’s frequently used in combination with other species as a soil improving species and is commonly used as an addition to grazing leys due to its high protein content and its ability to fatten lambs. It is also a known anthelmintic species.
Cocksfoot
A densely tufted, bluish green species, it can grow up to 1 metre in height and can create tussocks. The dense one sided panicle is said to resemble the shape of a cocks foot.
Festulolium (Hybrid)
Festulolium is a natural hybridisation of ryegrass and fescue species, combining the stress resistant genes of fescue with the bulky yield of ryegrass. To provide a more resilient species, with a better tolerance of drought or water logged soils, while still providing high yielding, very palatable forage.
Festulolium (Hybrid) Species Guide Buy Festulolium (Hybrid) Straight
Lesser Knapweed
Lesser knapweed is also known as common black knapweed. It is a competitive wild flower found throughout the UK and parts of western Europe, in old meadows and roadsides. It may be known as 'hardheads'.
Meadow Fescue
One of the larger fescues this is a valuable grazing grass which can also be made into hay. Recent thinking has altered the Latin so that the flat leaved fescues (meadow fescue and tall fescue) have been given their own genus, separate from the finer leaved fescues.
Perennial Ryegrass
Perennial ryegrass is the most commonly grown productive grass in the UK, used particularly for livestock grazing and forage. It has been the subject of plant breeding for over 60 years, ensuring there are a wide range of perennial ryegrass varieties available commercially.
Perennial Ryegrass Species Guide Buy Perennial Ryegrass Straight
Red Clover
Red clover is one of the most popularly used true clovers in the UK. Once established it’s capable of rapid growth and shows reasonably good persistence up to three years, although ongoing breeding work is being carried out to increase plant persistence. The highest yielding strains of red clover are called 'double cut' varieties, normally providing quick regrowth after cutting and several flushes or cuts per season. The 'single cut' strains of red clover, notably the variety altaswede provide one large cut per season, flowering approximately 2-3 weeks later than the 'double cut' strains.
Ribgrass (plantain)
Ribgrass is a very popular perennial forage herb which is commonly mixed with sheep's parsley, yarrow and burnet to increase diversity and lift trace elements from deep within the soil profile. It can be mixed with regular grassland species to increase grazing quality, and with deep roots it is also popular in mixtures for lighter land. It is also known as Plantain or narrow leaf plantain.
Ribgrass (plantain) Species Guide Buy Ribgrass (plantain) Straight
Sainfoin
Sainfoin is extremely palatable to livestock and has very good nutritional balance. It can be grazed or fed as hay or silage. It suits the thin soils and limestone rich downlands found in some areas of the UK. Loosely translated sainfoin in French means 'Healthy Hay'.
Sheeps Parsley
Sheeps parsley is a common forage herb, usually mixed with ribgrass, yarrow and burnet to increase diversity and lift trace elements from deep within the soil profile. It can be mixed with regular grassland species to increase grazing diversity.
Sweet Clover
Sweet clover (also known as yellow blossom) is a tall biennial plant. There are two forms, one white flowered and one yellow, with little difference between them. Once established it is aggressive, producing a large tap root and significant biomass.
Yarrow
Yarrow is a small seeded forage herb which is commonly mixed with sheep's parsley, burnet and ribgrass to increase diversity and lift trace elements from deep within the soil profile, as a specific herbs mixture, or part of a diverse grass ley. It has been noted to improve circulation and blood flow in livestock.
Cotswold Grass Seeds, Cotswold Business Village, London Rd, Moreton-in-Marsh GL56 0JQ
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