Cocksfoot (Orchard Grass) is one of my favourite high production pasture grasses, particularly for horses. It has no known compounds toxic to grazing animals.

Cocksfoot is named for the seed head which is reminiscent of the nobbly feet of rosters.

Cocksfoot is a relatively broad-leaf grass with a bluey-green colour.

Although happy to grow in the sun, Cocksfoot comes into its own in the shade under trees (hence its selection for orchards). This is perfect for keeping the sugar content down.

It has a flattened appearance, with leaves folded in the bud.

Cocksfoot does require reasonable fertility (phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen). But it naturally established on our sand quarry that was decommissioned around 40 years ago. Mother Nature used wattles as her early colonisers to build organic soil for subsequent successional species. Cocksfoot seedlings established well in the shaded environment, and really thrived as the wattles began dying (naturally).

Wattles fix nitrogen from the air (like clovers and other legumes), and when they died, they released a boost of nitrogen for the Cocksfoot, which is now thriving.

The quarry was a great cross country course for our daughter in 2014. The Cocksfoot has already established well on this flatter part of the quarry, which was probably decommissioned first.

But in 2010, the area pictured above was still basically bare, with the early colonising wattle species beginning to build topsoil with their fallen seed pods.

Stay tuned for a future Blog with some amazing comparisons of Mother Nature in action on the quarry.