ragworth and thistles

F.D

isnt the saying "one years weeds 7 years seed "
Must be through because there seems to be no end to it, land behind us is riddled with nothing else only Dirt with a few wild sucklers hidden amongest it

whelan1

my 3 year old knows what ragworth looks like and when ever we are in the car is always telling me theres ragworth:D

pakalasa

Whelan1,
I can see you starting a national campaign to rid the countryside of Ragwort.

whelan1

pakalasa wrote: »

Whelan1,
I can see you starting a national campaign to rid the countryside of Ragwort.

yup i bloody hate them ....

Birdnuts

whelan1 wrote: »

slow effects over the years i think

That would explain the craic with the father in law allright:D;)

ootbitb

Graces7 wrote: »

That is interesting. Anyone have a reference please; and of course it makes sense. Come to think of it they did not put slurry on the field that is by us.

Please? What do you do re fields where there are dwellings?

you could try epa.ie

these days I tend to avoid blanket sprays for the sake of my health . regular topping seems to control everything except docks.

bbam

ootbitb wrote: »

you could try epa.ie

these days I tend to avoid blanket sprays for the sake of my health . regular topping seems to control everything except docks.

I've been told that topping doesn't kill off ragworth but some comments here suggests they can be..
We're currently in a regime against rushes but following that ragworth will be next...

What sort of topping frequency would start to kill them off...

We changed from spraying to weed licking as it seems to be better for grass cover, however ragworth don't seem too affected by licking with roundup, maybe a stronger solution would work??

JohnBoy

JohnBoy wrote: »

Does ragwort have a first cousin?

I was pulling it over the last few nights. ditches and paddock fences had a fair bit, filled a 7x4 car trailer in 15 acres.


I also found some stuff in the wet end of the field, looked like ragwort, but different.

the stem was fully purple, there were fewer leaves, the leaves werent as furled as ragwort, looked more like an oak tree leaf and the flowers had fewer petals.

Anyone know what this might be? I took a pic but havent gotten it off my phone yet.

Still havent uploaded my own pic, but this is my friend:



Marsh Ragwort. seemingly just as poisonous as regular ragwort.

Poor SWS boys are gonna have a long day in the forest pulling that stuff. it's gone mad with it.

whelan1

is there a yearly one and a 2 yearly one , if that makes sense

whelan1

i thought ragworth where bad just spent a while pulling nettles in where we have the hens , i stupidly had a t shirt on instead of a jumper , have nettle stings on my arms and legs:mad:

Graces7

ootbitb wrote: »

you could try epa.ie

these days I tend to avoid blanket sprays for the sake of my health . regular topping seems to control everything except docks.

Thanks/ I have not seen the farmer since. The far end of the lane beyond our gate, has clearly been sprayed but I think not nearer the house; I have the feeling he knew it was not on. I had to be out the day it was proposed.

Their problem is docks, thistles and nettles, and he has left it rather late as they have seeded now. Topping will not prevent then of course.

Graces7

whelan1 wrote: »

i thought ragworth where bad just spent a while pulling nettles in where we have the hens , i stupidly had a t shirt on instead of a jumper , have nettle stings on my arms and legs:mad:

OUCH...

I am allergic to nettles and each sting makes the allergy worse. Wearing a plastic bag over hand and arm woks best as they get even through cloth.

KatyMac

Does anybody know the 'tresh-hold' for poisoning of cattle? I always pull it and walk my meadows several times before and after cutting, but I just wondered about the ones that get through. I'd be fooling myself if I thought I was getting every single one!

johngalway

whelan1 wrote: »

i thought ragworth where bad just spent a while pulling nettles in where we have the hens , i stupidly had a t shirt on instead of a jumper , have nettle stings on my arms and legs:mad:

You won't do that again...

JohnBoy

whelan1 wrote: »

is there a yearly one and a 2 yearly one , if that makes sense

KatyMac wrote: »

Does anybody know the 'tresh-hold' for poisoning of cattle? I always pull it and walk my meadows several times before and after cutting, but I just wondered about the ones that get through. I'd be fooling myself if I thought I was getting every single one!

Some good reading in this: http://www.sac.ac.uk/mainrep/pdfs/tn570ragwortpoisoning.pdf seems to suggest that the effects can be cumulative, also some info there on growth, if cut back they can actually become perrenial! one of the ones I pulled was four and half feet tall, with an inch thick stem at the base so I'm guessing he was perrenial.


I had always thought it only flowers in the second year but our bog was only drained with shallow open drains this spring for forestry planting and there's lines of the marsh ragwort in full flower on both sides of the drains across the whole lot. We were pleasantly surprised when we reported it to SWS that they said they'd have someone out during the week to pull them.

whelan1 wrote: »

i thought ragworth where bad just spent a while pulling nettles in where we have the hens , i stupidly had a t shirt on instead of a jumper , have nettle stings on my arms and legs:mad:

F*ckin hate nettles.

You should see me trying to cut a path through them, I'm like a girl dodging them as they fall.