Since I do everything in my power to not spray herbicides around here I have had to deal with just about every out of control invasive weed known to man....
And they ain't all just introduced weeds either for you back to native types either. Big Blue stem ain't a walk in the park let me tell you.
I have dealt with Morning Glory, Broad Pig leaf, Johnson Grass, Canada Thistle, SourDock, Bitterweed you name it. Through various trials and error I have managed to control most of it. The Morning Glory will usually die out under a combined attack by mowing and sheep grazing. I have found chickens do a good job of forcing the Johnson Grass back, Bitterweed is actually not toxic to sheep and I got rid of most of the Thistle burr dock and cocklenurrs in the horse pasture by mowing the hell out of it last Summer.
Then this Spring a new menace popped up and I am NOT sure yet how to deal with it.
See all that yellow? Well the bees LOVE those yellow blooms and at first I kinda thought it was the Bitterweed blooming early where I had (mostly) eliminated the thistle and cockleburr infestation from last year. While I was out putting in fence posts though I noticed the bees were all over this stuff as I said and I had never noticed the honey bees hitting the Bitterweed before so it peaked my curiosity.
It ain't Bitterweed it's Butter Cup and it's everywhere out there. It must have found the perfect breeding ground after I got rid of the thistle and cockleburr and grown most all Winter since we had such a mild one. Since we have never had it before I wasn't paying any attention and now its going like gangbusters.
You can see in the small hayfield that borders the pasture with the Buttercup it has even spread into it a slight bit.
The problem with this Buttercup is unlike the Bitterweed this stuff is toxic to pretty much all livestock including the sheep and herbicides do nothing to it during the Spring and Summer months. You have to hit it with herbicides in the Fall or Winter. By the time it blooms the seed pod damage is already done so mowing won't help much either.
Looks like I have about a 2 acre infestation of the stuff that is going to require some attention and soon. It also means the East Pasture section I had planned on fencing off next is now out of the question. I am going to have to convert the small hay field into pasture now and then isolate the main Buttercup infestation but there is so much spread to other areas I may not be able to control it even then.
Just another wonderful side effect of over grazing by horses for years and years. Seems like whenever I get another weed infestation it always develops from their pasture.
Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!
We have Johnson grass,,,the free range herd of poultry really got the problem beaten down to size by the barn where it is/was bad, This is our first year here so we are learning the weeds. I had buttercup in a pasture and.......it is a battle. I never won but I did get it to stop spreading by the hideous task of hand pulling. And guess what, it was an area horse's grazed a lot.
ReplyDeleteFiona - Horses are just pasture destruction machines. Of course cattle are just about as bad but at least they taste good :)
DeleteI like to piss off animal rights horse owners when they start screaming about conditions of some animals and hit them with the idea that the government should mandate that each horse owned should have a minimum of 25 cleared acres to run on at all times or it is abuse.
I don't really think that way but it makes their heads explode :)
Boo. And I think my battle with the dandelions in my yard is a thing....
ReplyDeleteTB use the leaves, roots and flowers to make dandelion teas, salads, soups and salves - dandelion is such a wonderful herb! email me if you are interested!
DeleteDon't forget dandelion jelly!!
DeleteDandelions are fine the sheep eat em. IN fact the sheep eat almost everything but these Buttercups are actually poisonous so I can't turn the sheep out on them:(
DeleteI have buttercup infesting my lawns in my new job. However, I have not seen it in hay fields yet. I suspect it is because of the weather.
ReplyDeleteB - I am kinda wondering if I dont have it in the yard too but it just never blooms because I cut it so often.
DeleteIt is a nasty weed and if you can pull up some it has almost a bulb just below the ground so that it can immediately sprout back if cut. The only place that I see it take over is where the land is heavily grazed or mowed. It doesn't do well in crop land or hay. Nothing will eat it not even insects from what I can tell. I suspect that planting a fast growing crop to choke it out would eventually control it along with plowing. I guess now they just kill everything these days and plant grass.
ReplyDeleteSf - Well I noticed that wherever I still had thistle, pig weed or cockleburrs the Buttercup seems to not be able to take hold. My guess is it really needs some heavy direct sunlight?
DeleteThat is some evil mess, I tell ya. It's spreading like wildfire here in the valley. It's almost impossible to kill. I wrecked my lawn trying to this spring. Last year my neighbor and I took a turn each helping each cut the others lawn and that only spread it faster. Just about everyone has it now in their yard.
ReplyDeleteMAtt - Well I know the bees sure do like it. I read it dies out when it gets hot and dry though but maybe it just stops flowering?
DeleteWould you be able to burn it out with fresh unrotted manure? just a thought, not sure how resistant it would be to neat fertiliser
ReplyDeleteDON"T fertilize it:) Fresh manure...is like manna to Buttercuo, at least in my experience.
DeleteTW - Not sure. It says a 2-4-D or lime spreading will kill it off.
DeleteI was wondering if a well timed prescribed burn would do the trick?
ReplyDeletethat's what i was thinking but i don't own/never have owned pasture land.
DeletePerry and Kymber - Not sure it ever actually dies. As it is right now it would be like trying to burn growing grass after a rain storm. Nothing to catch on fire really.
DeleteAbout the only thing that gets rid of weeds on the 20 here is plowing/tilling it up and seeding with white clover. It self fertilizes and grows think enough to out compete most everything including dandelion and burdock, although I usually hit the central rose of burdock with 2-4-D just because.
ReplyDeleteloren - I just mowed about half the stand this afternoon with the riding mower and there is actually a lot of clover and grass mixed in with the Buttercup still. I think I am going to try to fence the whole infested area off and mow until the BC goes dormant then try and let the clover take over. Maybe that will kill it?
DeletePasture management, apparently, is no simple thing.
ReplyDeleteThere's another arrow in the back of the stereotype of the dumb farmer.
Tell you one thing for sure, I was probably right when I decided I wasn't smart enough to be a farmer and went to college instead.
MC - LOL I went to college and still wasn't smart enough to stay away. Of course my operation is small but the pasture management seems to be just as much a pain.
DeleteEngland is covered in buttercups! Don't have an answer though! We dig them out of the garden and mow them down in the grass.
ReplyDeleteFD - I am going to try mowing and isolating and if that don't work plowing and reseeding. Always something it seems
DeleteOh! We have just started having buttercups on our pastures and thought that they were a good thing to have. Not sure how we could manage them though as we have buttercups growing everywhere. Will now investigate the plant further to see what's to be done......
ReplyDeleteVera - I don't think I read about even one good variety of them. They are all poisonous although since they also taste bad stock eating them is usually not a problem.
DeleteOnly good thing I see in them is the bees love em.
Ack! I wondered what the new yellow wildflower was that's popping up all over. Fingers crossed it's not buttercups- off to Google I go.
ReplyDeleteHG -Maybe you will get lucky and it will only be wild mustard!
Delete