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Getting rid of buttercups and thistles..any info?


brodie19
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To all the keen gardeners out there....Our newly acquired paddocks are filled with thistles and buttercups which we would want to get rid of quickly. Does anyone know where we can source Grazon 90 (one of the best weedkillers in the UK but I cannot find it here)..or anything similar?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Does the o/p plan to graze the land?   I certainly wouldn't use land for grazing that had had any weedkiller on it for six months or more, as Swissie says.  I find it's better just to top paddocks and harrow them on a regular basis then make sure that all droppings are picked up two or three times a week.  But it can take ages to get them back to normal if they've been overgrazed - especially by a single species.

But goats are good (unless they escape and get in the garden....[:-))])

If you want to use a weedkiller then in the absence of any advice on here, I'd nip to my local farm shop (Gamme/Pole Vert etc) and speak to them to ask their advice or maybe talk to a local farmer.  I know that the number of approved weedkillers here is quite small even though they seem to be used in vast quantites!

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Make your own mind up of course but I think the case against Roundup is being somewhat overstated:

There is plenty of information about it on 'tinternet and all evidence seems to show that properly used it presents no danger to either humans or animals.

Here for instance http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10854122 and also here http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/glyphosa.htm for a fact sheet on Glyphosate, the basic ingredient of Roundup.

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Roundup will kill many species.  The answer is to spot weed with a spot only as big as the spread of (in my case) the leaves of the spear thistles in my small field.(it would look like a dose of Chicken Pox from the air.) As it doesent have any effect on seeds any present will germinate in the spot.

Cost is a driver too.  My Roundup cost me €390 per litre from Brico Marché this year!

There has been an ongoing debate about the safety of Roundup for a long time but fundamentally it breaks down into its constituent parts on contact with the soil (after 5 to 7 days) and is inactive as a herbicide unlike many that persist and even build up over the years (eg Atrazine and Sodium Chlorate) so if it is not used as an overall spray every few weeks you will be OK.

Grumpy

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This time I am right; I was surprised and bought 10 litres as I use it profesionally.  It's not Monsanto's own product but it works very well.  Many Bricos do have spring offers and our local Brico Pro usually has it for arrounf €10/litre as standard.  The active ingredient is Glyphosate.

Cheers

Grumpy

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Our farmer uses something but not on thistles or buttercups - only on plants dangerous to his animals.

He does the farm with a backpack spray ONLY spraying the odd nasty. He says the beasts like the flowers and up here in 'pis en lit' time the area is a yellow sea. Thankfully NOT the dreaded oil seed rape.

We got rid of our bracken by doing what sheep do, jumping up and down on the plant, the roots hate it and die.

The alternative is Hoe Hoe Hoe

We are very short on bees so we try not to kill flowers that some call weeds

Di
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Buttercups are considered dangerous to horses, I think that's why the OP wants rid.  My fields (UK) are full of them though and my horse eats around them, it's only thought an issue if there is nothing else to eat, hence they will eat the buttercups which cause digestive issues.  We have no hope of getting rid completley so are going with the flow for now, that and topping.
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  • 2 weeks later...
[quote user="chrisb"][quote user="JandM"]Goats.[/quote]

or Eeyore

[/quote]

Eeyore was a year old on Monday, he might be a bit small to cope with the whole paddock!

[IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/Eeyore%20birthday%20pictures/BirthdayBoy.jpg[/IMG]

You might need his mum, Mabel, and friend, Mack, to help too -

[IMG]http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i312/Bouillaguet/The%20Donkeys/MabelandMackgrazing.jpg[/IMG]

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Yes, Glyphosate will kill grass as that is one of the main species you want to control in agricultural or forestry use BUT if you are killing thistles you either only spray (spot weed--no jokes please) the thistle (and a very little grass round it) or if it is a large area covered by thistle you accept that what ever small ammount of grass there is underneath will be lost. 

We treat our fields with this product and allow the sheep and horses back on within two weeks and have had no ill effect.  The important thing is to APPLY AT THE STATED RATE.

Grumpy

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