[JosieMc]

Hello
I wonder if someone can help? I have about half an acre which is completely overrun with thistles and nettles. I've done some research into how to clear it and my local farmer has said he can flail mow it for me but I'm just trying to work out when I should be doing stuff.  As the nettles and thistles are starting to die down already should I just leave it all until spring?  I think I will spray it then as from research this seems to be the only way to really control these weeds.  Or should I get the farmer to mow it now before it gets too wet? I
I'm not sure if that would have any benefit?  What do I do once I've sprayed it?  Keep spraying it? My end game is to plant a few fruit trees and berry bushes and also have a few raised beds.  At present - apart from the nettles and thistles -there are a few nice trees such as walnut and horse chestnut and a young weeping willow, nothing else of note. I'm not sure what kind of soil I have. When should I aim to start planting? This is all very new to me so any advice gratefully received! Thanks!

[Zebedee]

I've just rid a three and a half acre field of creeping thistle by pulling them. It's a tough job but I did it bit by bit and kept at it when some of them inevitably grow back. I'm only pulling up tiny specimens now and the appearance of the field, an old hay meadow, has changed dramatically for the better. In my case I decided not to spray as there were an interesting range of herbs and grasses, worthy of encouragement. To me, dealing with half an acre would be child's play. If you consider it not worth the effort, you could consider spraying with glyphosate once then re-seed in late autumn with a mixture suitable to your soil type i.e loam, chalk or acid. It's easy enough to do a simple ph test based on two or three soil samples taken from different points in  the field. 

The combination of thistle and nettle in your field suggests overly enriched soil. My approach would be to cut and remove the vegetation now. This will promote longer term growth of wild flowers in the sward. It will also weaken the thistle rhizome which right now is accumulating stores for next years growth. Creeping thistle reproduces mainly by sending up new shoots from its underground stem rather than from viable seed.

Do you really want to grow your own food in soil which you have constantly drenched in herbicide?

[bigchicken]

I would get your farmer friend in now, the grass will have a chance to grow before the winter. I would tackle any weeds when there start to grow in the spring.

[Stereo]

I agree. Mow it down tight now and that should let the grass have a go before it gets too cold. Personally I would avoid spraying. A good grass sward should deal with the nettles over time and thistles can be mechanically pulled as mentioned and also topped in June / July when they are just forming flowers. This hurts them quite badly. It's a war of attrition but much more satisfying than drenching roundup all over the place which will kill a lot of other stuff as well, aside from the damage it does to the micro-organisms in the soil.

[Bramblecot]

Clear a little bit under the walnut tree and put a bench there , You can then sit and ponder .  Job done!

[JosieMc]

thanks for all the great advice. I'll get the farmer in and see if I can tackle by hand as well. It might only be half an acre but with a toddler and 4 month old, it isn't always possible to hang out with thistles and nettles too!  Want to start working on it though so we are ready to get involved when the kids are a bit bigger!  Thanks again!

[Zebedee]

I got hold of some road pins to visually section off one part of the field then concentrated on clearing that section before moving the rods and starting again in the next. Morale wasn't broken that way and I could see whole sections being cleared as I went across the field. People laugh at you when you pull thistles and yes, you have to be mad to do it that way. But you do really get to know your sward. How many farmers today can say that about their fields? The one who comes in to help me occasionally hardly knows the name of a single wildflower and yet he's spent his whole life farming 200 acres. 

[SirDoolb]

It's satisfying when it's done.
I've just started to clear some of my land. Hard work. I have a flail mower which I had intended to use earlier in the year. However I didn't plan on dislocating my shoulder and having 3 months of watching the grass grow. The grass and the thistles and the nettles and the docks and the brambles.
At the same time, I as lucky to see what few wild flowers I already have and that I have at least 6 different grasses.
Hopefully I'll continue to make progress, both in terms of clearing the land and recovering functionality in my right arm.
I'll never need to buy nettle tea again either.

[Hevxxx99]

Mow them now, one way or another. With half an acre, you could use a petrol strimmer or even an old scythe and do it yourself, or get the farmer in who'll do it in minutes.

No point spraying until you have active growth in the spring: faster they're growing, the harder they fall!  Alternatively, get a ride-on mower and keep it in check with that. Geese, pigs or oeussant sheep will also help.

[JosieMc]

Revisiting this now that it feels like we might be edging closer to Spring finally!  So the farmer who was going to flail mow my land in September didn't ever turn up and after calling him 3 times I gave up.

I really want to start working on this and getting it under control.  My Father in Law has a high quality brush cutter and I'm wondering if I should start using it now to get things going before any proper growth starts.  Or should I wait a bit longer?

I had a quote from a gardener to come and scrape the soil for £750, stating I'd only need to do this once to get it under control.   But I feel that is quite a lot of money in case it doesn't work!

So my options are:
1) Start a weekly strim and pull of thistles
2) Wait til what might be considered a better time of year to start strimming?
3) Pay someone £750 to scrap the soil and remove
4) See if the farmer would flail mow it again for £150?

Here is a pic of it at present:

[YoungRasher]

If your not having any livestock to keep it down afterwards your going to need a ride on mower to keep on top of it. I would get one now and start on the highest setting. Once you know where all the bricks etc are lower it until its at the height you want it at. I had to do it with a field about the same size. My was much more overgrown than that and the westwood t1600 mower did a super job.  Only thing was it grew back quicker than I could keep up but luckily I have sheep on it now. 

[Penninehillbilly]

depends on your climate/ growing conditions when to start, when you see the things growing?
We've used a brushcutter on thistles in the past, then pulled some, I ended up spot treating thistles and docks with glyphosate, I like the idea of portioning it off, helps to control where you're working as well as the phsycological aspect of not getting anywhere, you can do a small area at a time and see the difference.
Pulling is satisfying when you see the pile and a clear area.
Don't like the sound of 'scraping the soil', dock roots can go down a long way,
and nettles, well-only a bit has to be left behind.
£150 sounds a lot of money to flail 1/2 acre.
 
We have an 'Allen scythe' type mower, might be worth investing in one? (there again - ride on sounds much more fun, and easier!)
How bad is it? ie-is there more weeds than grass?? have you a photo?
 
thought - Get some geese :-) they'll keep the grass short so you can deal with the weeds
 

[YoungRasher]

Where are you? maybe someone can help.

[devonlady]

There's an old saying " Cut thistles in May, they'll be up next day, cut them in June, they'll be up again soon, cut in July, they're sure to die"
Can you still get thistle spudders? They are odd shaped narrow spades, as a child I believed I was born with one in my hand!!

[JosieMc]

I am in West Yorkshire near Hebden Bridge.

Looking at photos from last year, the fields were full of buttercups by late April and the garden was very much in bloom by mid May. It's hard to remember as I had a baby in mid April so its all a bit of a blur. 

We don't have the money to spend on a sit on mower unfortunately.  That sounds like fun!

I think brush cutter and thistle spudder might be the way to go and I'll start clearing a small patch first!