The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Techniques and skills => Topic started by: Rhea on April 15, 2015, 07:46:28 pm
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Sorry for the title making this sound more interesting than it is, but I wondered if anyone uses or has used a lazy dog for dock removal: http://lazydogtools.co.uk (http://lazydogtools.co.uk) ?
We had 2 acres sprayed with a herbicide last year, and whilst it has knocked the docks back they're not completely cleared. My OH is considering getting a certificate so he can spray the fields himself, but I've seen this mentioned on the soil association website and wondered if they would make sense to use whilst we're getting our field management up to scratch.
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My fields were so FULL of docks and thistles it was UNBELIEVABLE. I didn't spray, just topped just after midsummer (traditionally it was supposed to be the first full moon following midsummer) I did graze with BWM sheep who loved them, and made hay or topped again, and before long nothing. My hay actually won a prize (though entered by another farmer - cheeky boy)
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We did a lot of weeding last year and already this year there is a huge difference. RIP or removal of individual plants is the most environmentally friendly way to go for sure. We did it with spade, fork and a rag-puller as the Lazy Dog was a bit expensive for us last year. This year I'm getting one as a wedding anniversary present as it really seems to be the dog's b*ll*cks - sorry couldn't resist that. The information on their website about the cost effectiveness of the technique is really impressive.
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It does have some good feedback on the site, but they seem very expensive. If I spend that much money and end up with something that breaks the first time it goes into our stoney soil, I'll not live it down
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Well - wedding anniversary is tomorrow, however I'm away for another fortnight, but I'll report back as to performance on stony ground as we live in Caithness where the stones have stones ! This weekend the docks have really got going and I keep muttering 'your days are numbered' under my breath as I pass huge swathes of the blighters. We concentrated on the thistles last year but there are already a good sprinkling of the flat rosetted ones. Mutter,mutter.
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It'll be good to know how you get on, hope you ended up doing something more fun on your anniversary ;D
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Just been and looked at the website, they look to be a well made thing, shame they are a little out of my budget at the minute!
Be interesting to hear how you get on with it.
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yes, we have the full kit, my husband was like a man possessed with it over summer and had all the workers out doing it - it was like a form of torture and the stomach muscles were killing. I could only manage 1hr at a time.
We did a lot however a field of say 25 acres is completely covered in docks and wonder how on earth to kill them. Prev to our organic conversation is sprayed a lot but to no avail - made no difference they just came back in force the roots are enormous. Killing just docks without ruining the earth and killing the bacteria/worms is impossible.
Worth the money for small areas but you do need teams to shift large areas.
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......We had 2 acres sprayed with a herbicide last year, and whilst it has knocked the docks back they're not completely cleared......
It does say on a lot of grassland herbicide product cans that an 'on going control programme should be implemented' (or words to that effect).
Basically - 1 spray will not do the job especially if they are large established weeds. Other factors can affect the effectiveness of a product - growth stage of weed when sprayed, temperature fluctuations between night and day, drought, cold winds, water logging, generally any thing that will stress a plant out.
I've got a grass field that we sprayed this year for docks and the spray has done some of them but others have come back so we'll have to come back with another spray next year as its too big an area to hand weed.
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Is the real herbicide free route secret to use a topper ( or strimmer as a scarifier if there are not too many ) to hit the docks before they run to flower/ seed & then keep hitting them when they are no more than 12 inches tall ??
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So, it sounds like a possibly good use of money for smallish patches. Although it seems hard work, does it manage to get most of the root out?
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I use a dashel basher that I got from Ascott years ago. Long flat blade with a slight curve at the end. I take it with me when checking the sheep and hack out the centre of any emerging docks or thistles, being careful to take out the 3cm imediately below the centre too, to stop it resprouting. After three Summers docks and thistles are down to single figures per acre.