Bless the BHS

Weezy

Weezy

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Over the last few weeks I have seen people collecting ragwort from the roadsides - HOORAH!!!

Today I was driving along the A40 between Carterton and Witney and there were loads of bollards out, then a car with a sign "BRITISH HORSE SOCIETY RAGWORT CLEARING" - double hoorah, how great that things are being done...

Shame that they were collecting ragwort from the roadside...which is alongside a field that is ABSOLUTELY choka with ragwort, to the point that it is all yellow...fighting a loosing battle springs to mind
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And I am going to contine rambling - along the motorways I play "spot the ragwort" and it is EVERYWHERE, I mean serious ragwort infestation...is it attracted to motorways? Will it EVERY be cleared in a proper way...?
 
There's absolutely loads everywhere but as most of its on council land, god knows if it'll ever be cleared.

Go past 2 pretty bad fields every day and this afternoon one of them had a mare & new born foal in it. Said foal was actually eating the flowers
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I think it florishes on disturbed ground, like that at the side of road, and building sites.
I used to keep my horse on a yard near a sewage farm, every year we worked all summer to keep the fields ragwort free, but the sewage farm was like a bloody nursey for the stuff!
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Where I am now I have seen ONE piece in all the fields we have, its not sprayed but it just doesn't seem to grow! I love it!
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I'm sure I read somewhere that a few years ago 'they' planted ragwort seed along with some other wild flowers along verges as it 'looks pretty'
 
Just driven from Southampton up to Bedfordshire and the M3 verges are full of the stuff! due to the roadworks on the M1 most of it has been obliterated and around me our wonderful farmers seem to keep a good job of keeping it under control but it does seem to be really bad this year - major road verges being the worst by far.
 
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I'm sure I read somewhere that a few years ago 'they' planted ragwort seed along with some other wild flowers along verges as it 'looks pretty'

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OH and I had a convo and came to the exact same conclusion!
 
It's the amount that I see in fields with horses in them that scares me - some of these fields are owned by livery yards! Don't people know what it does -it leaves me dumbfounded.
 
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I'm sure I read somewhere that a few years ago 'they' planted ragwort seed along with some other wild flowers along verges as it 'looks pretty'

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Ragwort is very good for wildlife - I plant it in my garden
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Councils are obliged to keep road sides etc free of it though.
 
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The seeds can last for over 10 years in the soil if deep enough, so disturbing soil can bring them back to the surface to begin sprouting again.

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Hence why it grows on building sites etc.

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If it is seen growing along the side of the road, the Highways Agency or your local authority should be contacted. If seen on railway embankments, Network Rail should be informed. However, horses and other livestock are generally not found on motorway verges or along railway lines, and so it may be that the plants can be allowed to remain. A risk assessment should be made by the proper authorities before attempts are made to wipe out the plant from these areas.

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So it doesn't actually HAVE to be removed
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That is chickweed (well that is what we call it), it is fine
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I had a heart attack the day before yesterday as I was chatting with a friend and turned around and saw P with a mouth full of yellow flowers
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Pulled them all out and made her spit out and then realised what it was LOL!
 
Dinah does a fabulous job of raising awareness and pulling ragwort every year - she is on a bit of a one woman mission, and of course support for the fun ride and similar events means there is funding for the two weeks of the campaign. Shame Highways don't seem to want to get on board.
 
About the only benefit ragwort has for wildlife is the cinnabar moth whose caterpillar eats the leaves. However, no-one has yet devised a foolproof way to keep the trillions and trillions of seeds from ragwort that is in a "safe" place from blowing halfway round the British Isles and establishing itself in fields where it can kill ANY mammals that ingest it. That includes children. And remember the toxins can be absorbed through the skin as easily as through the digestive tract. (I might have read somewhere that pigs are less damaged by the plant alkaloids that are released when it is eaten.) Zalacca, I hope you count and account for every single seed that your ragwort plants produce and dispose of them safely. And even then it remains a noxious and notifiable weed and it is inexcusable that anyone allows it to grow anywhere. I'm sure anthrax is a pretty virus under the microscope. If anyone wants to see some of the shocking effects that ragwort poisoning has on horses, there are plenty of members on this Forum who can oblige, me included. Wise up folks.
 
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Yo had a ragwort bbq .... Not ragwort on the bbq
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, but a few from the yard all chipped in to pull ragwort and she kindly laid on a bbq for us .

Its a great way to make the whole experience fun and not so much like hard work .

Im anyones when it comes to a glass of wine
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[/ QUOTE ] My neighbour used to give me 10p per plant I pulled up when I was younger that had the roots still attached!

Out on the common the other day walking and there is plenty of it
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The problem with pulling up or digging up ragwort is that part of the roots are left in the ground and they then regenerate to form a new plant. Far better to spray it and allow it to completly die off before pulling it up and burning it about 4 weeks later.

When pulling up Ragwort always use industrial grade rubber gloves as the toxins are poisonous to humans as well.

Not all the yellow plants on the highway verges is Ragowort some of it is Oil Seed Rape (does not have ragged edged leaves) which has migrated there from adjoining and nearby agricultural fields.

If you have a field with a lot of Ragwort in it then get your horses off it for 4 weeks and get a contractor to spray it off and then collect all the dead Ragwort up and burn it. That way you have at least a chance of getting rid of the bulk of it in one go.
 
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About the only benefit ragwort has for wildlife is the cinnabar moth whose caterpillar eats the leaves.

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Actually BoF there are about 30 insect species and about 10 - 15 fungi species that rely entirely on ragwort to survive and provides an important nectar source to hundreds of species of butterflies, bees, moths, flies and other invertebrates.

The reason a risk assessment is made in each case is to ensure that there is a genuine risk to animal welfare and that the action will not damage the environment.

The reason I grow ragwort in my garden is because it attracts a vast qty of insects. I care about horses as much as most people on here but I also care about the wildlife in the area
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