To find your suitable pasture grasses for your land you can make a soil analysis based on the growing plants as bio-indicator. You can find native species on surrounding parcels and unprocessed lots. And depending on how wet or dry, light or trampled your floor is you can find grasses in a similar environment. Even in heavy traffic or ridden country roads still grow strong, stubborn grasses.

In trade, you usually find grass mixtures with varying percentages of perennial ryegrass, timothy, meadow fescue, Kentucky bluegrass and white clover. Optionally, Italian ryegrass and herbs. The composition was made ​​based on the function: silage, hay and /or grazing; the planning: to renew annual or perennial and the animals: sheep, horses, cattle.

By a high sugar contend grass silage stores better. Sugars are created in daytime under the influence of the sun, and used at night. The content varies from 50 to 200 grams /kg of dry matter, and is therefore the highest in the late afternoon. Of course so the best time to mow. You will also feel that the grass sticks longer to your fingers.
Grass makes under the influence of sunlight fructan, a water-soluble sugar, needed for the growth and useful for the conservation process in the ensilage. A surplus of fructan is saved in the plant. This happens especially at low temperature, if there is not enough moisture or too little nutrients.
If a horse gets too much fructan, it can cause laminitis.
Because horses devour the grass very short you need to choose pasture grasses with low growth point ((shoot) apex). If the growing point is eaten, the growth of the grass stops. When I see how little space horses and ponies often have, I understand that they bite the grass very short.

Grasses for bovine have a somewhat higher growth point.

Fortitude is the degree to which a grass sod can maintain its original density in the competition with other species.

Drought tolerance is the ability of a race to reserve its turf density during and after a drought.
Shade tolerance and winter strength speak for themselves, as germination rate, resistance (to disease) and tolerance to close grazing.

Grass varieties all have still sub races and between types, early and late varieties. About few common species in mixtures that occur in the market, there is some information available. But that is usually directed to praise the product. Botanical guides can help you in finding species that thrive on the ground in your area.


(Perennail or English) ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is a dense sod -forming solid and productive variety, with acceptable trampling resistance and high nutritional value. There are many different types. It grows well on clay and moist, food rich sandy soil and peat. You can find it in fertilized pasture, lawns, no-till ground, roadsides, sidewalks and parking lots, roads, under park trees. It is drought resistant, must not be too wet and can suffer frost damage.
The fructan content to 11.2% is extremely high.

Italian (or annual) ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) is 30-120 cm tall and is less dense than perennial ryegrass sward. It is no longer hardy after the first year. It is often used for green manure and hay, and can suffocate clover and couch grass (Elytrigia).

Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata) can withstand shade in orchards. It thrives in sunny to lightly shaded areas on moderately dry to moist, rich, usually fertilized, weakly acidic to slightly calcareous soil. So you can also find it on roadsides, embankments, overgrown lawns, fallow land, brush, hedges, forest edges, forests and dunes. It is susceptible to drought and low in fructan, to 6.2%.

Timothy grass (Phleum pratense) or cat's-tail is sometimes described as tasty. I wonder who tasted that. It grows in sunny places in moist, rich, usually fertilized soil and grassland, roadsides, meadows and dikes. It may resist less well against drought. It can be grazed and mowed early. Widely used in classical hayfield. The fructan content is limited to 5%. Timothy is recognizable by the cylindrical seedhead with fork -like spines. It is very hardy, but not a good sod former.

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is widely used for lawn or sports-ground. The underground runners form a solid mat (the “rebar“ of the turf), for sport and recreation. Through this braid in the grass carpet it can tolerate trampling well. The dense sod thrive both on dry and wet and salty soil, in sunny places, moderately nutrient-rich and weakly acidic to calcareous soil.
Look in dune grassland, between paving, walls and curbs, forests and scrub.
The fructan content is mediocre, to 8.2%.

(Rough) bluegrass (Poa trivialis) grows well in the spring, but regrows after mowing not good.
Wood bluegrass ( Poa nemoralis N.) tolerates a lot of shade, but is vulnerable to trampling and regular mowing.

Red fescue (Festuca rubra) resists short mow and shadows. You can find it in sunny to lightly shaded sites on dry to wet, salty to sweet, moderately nutrient-poor to moderately rich, slightly acidic to calcareous soil as dunes, woodlands, hedgerows, scrub, levees, grassy heaths and roadsides. 6.3% is low fructan.

Sheep fescue (Festuca ovina, subsp. Vulgaris) is a very drought tolerant species suitable for various growth conditions.

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) is steadfast in extreme conditions such as drought and under water. It has loose sod with deep rooting and loves sun on sweet to brackish, nutrient-rich, slightly acidic to calcareous soil. Found in overgrown grassland, banks, roadsides, forest edges, ditches, reeds, brushwood, dune slacks, hard-packed strips, forest trails, dikes.
The fructan content is very high, up to 10.5%.

Bent grass (Agrostis tenuis) has with surface and underground shoots a dense sod. It can withstand a short cut, but not good at winter trampling.

Meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis) has moderate sod formation and grows in sunny, moist, rich, humus, weakly acidic to calcareous soil (both clay, loam, loamy sand or humus and peat). Repositories are berms, ditches, brooks, embossed grooves and rich pastures along creeks. The fructan content is very high, up 9.7%.

Meadow foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) selects sunny places on moist to fairly wet, rich soil as dikes, forest edges, roadsides, waterfronts, light deciduous forests, coppice ash trees, brush, hedges and bushes. The fructan content is limited to 4.3%.

Couch grass (Elytrigia repens) wants fertile soil. It has strong roots and is early productive. It 's dying for lack of sun and mowing short. (But I don’t have that experience myself.)

Creeping bent grass (Agrostis stolonfera) has a low yield and prefers fertile, moist soil. It has a wide, triangular seedhead.

Annual blue grass (Poa annua) has a poor yield. The shallow rooting cannot resist drought and heat. It quickly fills open spaces in pasture.


Clover and other legumes provide nitrogen in the soil and therefore fit in each pasture. White clover would survive longer than red. A useful seed ratio is 6 kg and 3 kg red white clover at 25- 35kg grass seed.