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debsnboz
Bronze Member
202 Posts |
 Posted - 08 Apr 2011 : 11:04:08 PM
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I have read some archive posts on here about using pastor or grazon-90 to get rid of the LV nasties such as buttercups etc in the fields I use. So i have been discussing it with someone i know who sells haylage etc and he does spraying etc, as well as a freind who is an agronmist and farmer herself. He says not to top the field before spraying, she (and some of you on here by the looks of things!)say it works best on the buttercups if you do 
So what is your advice?? The field i use has a lot of creeping buttercup and plantain. My agronomist buddy said lime it if plantain a problem, and I know the sprayer guy is liming his this year.
Do i lime too? Before or after weedkiller? Do i top before spraying?
The land is not mine, but I have my own mobile stables on it, water, and freedom to run it as I please for a very small rent, so i do not mind spending money getting it right, especially if it means preventing another awful time with Borris' leg. The field in question is under 2 acres, and he want £40 to spray it if i buy the chemicals, but that did not include topping 1st or liming.
I am green fingered and can do my garden but i am out of my depth with this one!!!
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Vik1
Platinum Member
1711 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 07:31:03 AM
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Well when we had our own place, we never topped the buttercups before spraying. We harrowed to spike the ground, drag up dead grass and some of the creeping buttercups. Then we sprayed with weedkiller and/or fertislised (only fertisilised every 2/3 years), then rolled to squash it and oxygen in to the roots and make it all nice and pretty.
We didnt lime either cos our soil didnt need it. We got a soil analysis done at our local agric college. We did once have to lime our hay field after an analysis. |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 09:10:12 AM
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I'm dealing with the same problem this year so watching with interest.
Is it right that when the buttercups have been sprayed, that area of paddock needs to be left for a fortnight!? |
     
Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
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Quarabian
Platinum Member
Wales
4340 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 12:05:06 PM
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Aghhhh try not to spray if you dont absolutely have to. While a lot of us farmers are reducing the ammount of chemicals we put on the ground it seems strange that horse lovers would want to do damage to the environment. Think of all the little insects that might be affected and the birds that eat the insects, and the air that you and your horses will breath while the poison is around. Perhaps if you stopped for an hour and watched what goes on in your fields you might see it differently. I had loads of goldfinches feeding on my weeds! and the bees are seriously in need of help. Not just horse keepers to blame, the gardeners who cant stand any untidyness are also culprits.
Sorry, I dont know where that rant came from. I surprised myself. Perhaps it is becuse our farm thrives admirably without using weedkillers. But are buttercups that bad? I am sure they are a result of sour ground. If as someone else suggested you get the soil anylised and correct any inbalance the situation should improve. |
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debsnboz
Bronze Member
202 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 12:49:59 PM
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After dealing with LV caused by the yellow pollen in the field, and having the most horrid winter, crying buckets over Borris leg, i want the offending weeds to die a slow and painful death to be honest!!!
I garden organically at home and have the greatest of respect for the environment, so I am not a chemical freak by any means. I just want to know how best to do it so that the use of chemicals is as efficient as possible and therefore does not have to be repeated. |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 1:30:57 PM
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I have an acre of garden which runs absolutely riotously complete with buttercups, nettles etc and is a haven for insects, bees, butterflies, newts, frogs and birds.
My paddock on the other hand is not very big and is completely overrun with buttercups, so much so that the horses have very little to actually eat! I wish there was another way I truly do and if someone suggests something alternative I would take it on enthusiastically.
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Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 1:50:05 PM
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| You rarely see buttercups where sheep are grazing, so perhaps a bit of cross-grazing would do the trick. Any pasture that only has horses grazing will start to suffer. |
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Edited by - Judith S on 09 Apr 2011 1:53:02 PM |
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jaj
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4324 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 2:57:08 PM
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Hello Judith how are you!
Yes I did think about introducing sheep but they will eat the grass as well! It has sheep on for 6 years prior to me arriving 1.5 years ago.
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Kuraishiya (Maleik el Kheil/Kazra el Saghira) and Sahara Bey (Kuraishiya/WSA Charismma) |
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brockle
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
166 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 7:40:49 PM
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When we bought our two fields the final comment was that there were three male Chinese geese living in the second field, throw them some corn in winter. Whilst reading up about such geese saw the magic news that they really liked buttercup so I knew they would continue to be happy.
Have to say in the next fourteen years haven't noticed a single goose taking one single snip, luckily they are good noisy guard geese and lay masses of eggs. Plus floating on the pond in autumn when the water looks dark we get some beautiful photographs.
We are wondering whether to use Grazeon 90 in the worst areas to try and beat the beastly things but loathe using chemicals. |
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Kharidian
Platinum Member
England
4297 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 10:24:02 PM
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Have I imagined it, I thought buttercups liked acid soil....so if you changed the pH to more alkaline i.e. limed the fields then they would reduce and you wouldn't need weedkiller? Give me a virtual slap if I'm talking nonsense.
Caryn |
Kharidian (Prince Sadik x Khiri)........ Alkara Cassino (H Tobago x Rose Aboud)
aka "Roger".................................... aka "Chips"
     
The first image is from an original painting by Pat Shorto.
South-East Essex |
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Vik1
Platinum Member
1711 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2011 : 10:53:50 PM
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Ok well this is what I would do then. Id harrow, weedkill this year, get soil analysis done, fix what needs to be fixing as per soil analysis to help prevent them coming back. Or at least to the extent that they were.
When we first moved into our place, we ended up ploughing, reseeding and fixing the soil in our hay field, but to do that is extreme and not always feasible. We only ever weedkilled for thistles after that.
Bear in mind you might find that if you do have alot of creeping buttercup that you might have quite a bit of bald patches cos theyve smothered the grass. |
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Weedkilling - getting rid of buttercups!!!
