[MelRice]

Does anyone have a way of cutting down on or getting rid of buttercups on grazing land. There is one part of the field where I can see very little grass for the red clover and buttercups! The horse doesn't like them, the sheep will eat them but they don't eat the roots.

[suziequeue]

We're going to spray ours. It's a nightmare.

I think if you keep cutting them then they eventually go away - especially now before they seed.

[SallyintNorth]

If it's creeping buttercup then what they tell me round here is that only ploughing works - and even then of course they do come back over a period of years.

I also understand that the buttercups are poisonous if eaten in quantity - which makes me worry for all of us who have to keep native ponies on tight pickings; such paddocks seem to turn to a yellow mass of buttercups really quickly, and the ponies are having to eat them as there's hardly any grass...

[MelRice]

I don't know if ploughing will work on this patch! More than half of it was "ploughed" bare by horse feet last autumn and has reseeded by incomming seed from surounding fields including my neighbours. On the other side of me my neighbour leaves it ti grow very long then cuts it. he does not seem to have so many (but I only look from my side not walk through it) Im hoping that constant cutting(grazing) will eventually work! The horse has first go followed by the sheep. Ill keep trying.

[lill]

Buttercups thrive on poor soil through lack of lime, if you limed your field it would get rid of the buttercups

[MelRice]

Thanks, I did put some lime on last year but probably not enough...I know the ground in general round here is lime hungry and the animals on it up the acid level!

[darkbrowneggs]

Apparently African Geese love eating the roots

It just so happens I have four goslings for sale     

[MelRice]

Love to have the goslings but im to far away (Eastern Germany!)

[suziequeue]

Also - as well as liming, a drop of fertiliser will help shift the clover...... or at least remove its advantage

Clover thrives in non-fertile soil as it is a nitrogen fixer and therefore has an advantage over hungrier grasses in those conditions.

Clover is therefore a sign of low soil nutrition.

[Plantoid]

Does anyone have a way of cutting down on or getting rid of buttercups on grazing land. There is one part of the field where I can see very little grass for the red clover and buttercups! The horse doesn't like them, the sheep will eat them but they don't eat the roots.

Look up " Grazon " on the web and see if you can get it or find someone over here to buy it and bring it back for you .

Where are you in E Germany ?

[SallyintNorth]

I've just put my pigs on what was previously the ponies' field for exactly that reason.  I have been told (and have never tried) liming as the creeping buttercup likes it acidic.  Otherwise, it's dig (or rootle  ) it out, or blast it with chemicals.

Good luck!

[robert waddell]

i wonder where some of you get your ideas from
buttercups are a sign that the ground is needing lime
clover   this is a plant that any good farmer wants  yes it draws nitrogen from the air and stores it in its roots and benefits the grasses that are growing  phosphate and potash help it to grow nitrogen or straight nitrogen kills of every thing through time and costs a fortune as well
geese is that domestic as opposed to wild geese i would not want thousands of them landing shitting all over the grass
if you are hell bent on getting rid of buttercups and clover spray with roundup or deep plough and reseed with what ever grass seed variety that you fancy
personally i would just lime it you can get pelleted lime that you can apply with a fertilizer distributor