The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Ghdp on July 06, 2015, 02:56:34 pm
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We have a field of prize winning thistles. All just about to flower. Best plan for managing the problem? Have to be by hand. I have knapsack, grazon weed killer and a strimmer. ( and enthusiasm)
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I was just going out with the 'slasher' (like a strong bill hook on long shaft), but it's started raining again, reprieve for now but must get it done, they've gone crazy this year. will cut down and hit regrowth with glyposate.
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The dogs kindly collect all thistles in their tails for us ::)
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There are two types of invasive thistles in Britain - spear and creeping.
Creeping thistle will eventually respond to repeated mowing or grazing right down. We've not tried weedkiller with them.
Spear thistles need to be dealt with by hand. The only way to remove them completely is to dig them right out, one by one. The most efficient way to do that is to make a T shape at the stem with a sharp spade, then ease out the entire root in a one-er, which barely leaves a hole behind. The spade goes in vertically on one side of the plant, the 'stem' of the 'T' is at right angles to the thistle, on the opposite side. This is done at this time of year, when the flower stem is up but the flower hasn't opened. Too soon and they grow back but multistemmed, later and the seeds have blown everywhere. There's no need to use any chemicals at all.
We know this because we've tried everything, except weed killer because we'd rather disappear in a sea of thistles than pour chemicals on our land. Anyway, if you use chemicals to kill the plants, you still have to collect and dispose of the dead material, otherwise it sticks to you and your livestock and gets caught in the hay
When we first realised we had a problem, we just about had disappeared under a sea of the things. We kept getting the timing wrong - because of course there's plenty of other stuff going on right now. Eventually we paid our eldest grandson to remove every thistle from 4 paddocks, totalling about 5 acres. he did quite a good job, and the following year there were far fewer to contend with. Each year we dug them out and built a huge funeral pyre for them. This year, there were only 2 wheelbarrow loads, so a funeral pyre for a mouse. So it takes a few years of work, but you can get there in the end.
It's so important not to let them seed that we sometimes extend our digging onto our neighbour's land to get an odd one. Just that one can reseed your entire holding for the next several years.
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I pulled all mine out by hand (in June/July i think), after it had rained so the soil was softer. The following year I hardly had any.
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Buy a couple of horses....mine eat them
OR... ( and a lot cheaper :D )... glyphosate
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Buy a couple of horses....mine eat them
OR... ( and a lot cheaper :D )... glyphosate
Do you know that every single person in Britain now has detectable levels of glyphosate in their bodies?
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Good to know I have been doing right. I have been pulling mine up by hand but oohh so many. This is my first year so trying to get on top of them
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The Fell ponies do a great job on them, the Dales don't touch them ;)
Our neighbour one side digs hers up every year, including in the roadside verges, and I discovered this week that she also does the field we graze that is next to her ground. :-[
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Goats like thistles.
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The. Wolf thistle puller is the answer for spear thistles ..... Best gadget ever!
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Buy a couple of horses....mine eat them
OR... ( and a lot cheaper :D )... glyphosate
Do you know that every single person in Britain now has detectable levels of glyphosate in their bodies?
I didn't but Im not surprised. Im sure there is a lot more than merely a detectable level in my body given the Knotweed Ive killed
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we'd rather disappear in a sea of thistles than pour chemicals on our land. .
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Couldn't agree more. Thanks very much for your input on this thread. I have a mammoth task with thistles and the battle shall now commence. Armed with a Fiskars Weed Puller (seen on amazon, amazing reviews) I am sure I will win in the end!
I am off for a Glyphosphate test. What I would like to know is whether the directors of Glaxo, Monsanto or whichever other NWO organisation owns it, have the same levels as the average person in their precious bodies. If not, I could willingly help ensure they do. :D
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Suppository it is then, you are full of good suggestions :D :D :D
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Last year I had a paddock with 5 foot high spear thistles, I waited for a prolonged dry spell and before the heads flowered I donned a stout pair of rigger type gloves and spent hours pulling them up by the roots so there was no regrowth. they were then put on a bonfire and allowed to dry out completely together with a load of ragwort also pulled up and burnt. The resultant potash was beneficially distributed on the soil.
The thing that annoyed me was that the so called farmer 'next door' was the source of all these weeds including docks, which he had allowed to multiply all over his fields and the winds blew all the seeds into my property :rant: . I'm still pulling the second years crop of ragwort now and weedkilling the docks, I have however had words with him as he has another wonderful crop of ragwort and 5 foot high thistles again this year - he's finally gone round with a knapsack sprayer and weedkilled them. Talk about bad land/grassland management >:( .
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Yes I have heard a few people talk about that and even mention ideas of a law especialy in relation to ragwort, where neighbours could be affected. Surely an ASBO would work? :D
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I doubt it. Round the Edinburgh by-pass there are acres of the stuff, and the council certainly hasn't bothered to deal with it - they'd all look so sweet with those little anklets on.
I think the law is probably defunct because of the impossibility of enforcing it, but it's still good etiquette to keep your ragwort to yourself.
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Yes of course in seriousness it shouldn't really need a law except in a massive case where perhaps civil law would suffice anyway. After all, if after many attempts at amicable resolution, polite complaints, proof of costs incurred by damage or work required to clean up etc etc, I would have thought someone minded to sue in civil court, could probably do so with a good lawyer and a good read of the law books. As you say, a simple and sociable approach of keeping it yourself is the best approach, and I wouldn't want my neighbours disliking me for such things either so I would probably be more inclined to clear them for that reason than for my own sake in all honesty! We did have some when I got here, and the previous owners had horses incredibly. We destroyed them all quickly and they haven't returned so far, thank god. we just have a forest of rush and thistles instead, but I am told Thistles are great for bees so thats something I suppose! Yin and yang etc. :D
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Thanks for all the suggestions. It seems I am not alone with a bumper harvest. FW, you have given me a lot to think about! I suspect I will try all methods and see how it goes.
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One corner of the field has had its thistles duly lifted! Now drying in the sun/ wind waiting to burn. I confess to spraying some too FW which I will root out in due course. I will see what works for us. My; the spikes hurt!!!
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I am half way through my second year of clearing some neglected ground of nettles and thistles and I am glad to say, it is working!
In May/June move sheep off the ground that is to be treated.
Spot spray with a knapsack sprayer any undesirable plants in the paddocks with something like Grazon Pro, follow this up 3-4 weeks later on a warm day with a strimming session to cut down any decaying remains and also the missed or unaffected weeds.
Return sheep to the grazing until grass is low and the weeds are appearing repeat the above with a different chemical according to the weeds that are present.
Weeds are best treated successfully when they are actively growing so you may need to cut them back to encourage new growth so that you can apply the chemical correctly according to the chemicals instructions on the label.
I find strimming is best done early morning before a hot spell as this speeds up the wilt on the cut weeds.