hemlock - how poisonous

Gucc

Gucc

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Hi,
As per my previous thread I have taken on some land that I have just started to clear the overgrown weeds etc. There is hemlock in the field that has grown quite tall last year and has mostly died and fallen over. I am burning this and trying to dig out the roots but some are quite deep. How poisonous is this and is it poisonous at all it's stages?

Thanks all
 
The roots are the worst I believe, but poisonous enough to make sure you get rid of it all, it is difficult to spray because it is generally in a watercourse.
You could try putting road salt on any broken roots that are left when you dig the tops out.
Glycophosphate might do it, try smashing tops with a brushcutter then spraying with a strong solution, the problem is that the roots are tuberous, so resistant to killing and will probably keep re-appearing.
The best alternative imho would be to alter the growing conditions by cleaning out the ditches and making the soil dryer.
 
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Thanks... They are growing in the field but mainly in the shaded areas and the soil doesn't appear to be overly wet. I'm digging the root out as much as I possibly can, but they appear to be quite deep rooted and in some cases the root runs just under the surface like briars' so easier to get out.
 
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Do be careful to either eradicate the problem or fence it off before you turn out, the roots are fairly palatable, I believe. I know someone that lost her horses when the roots had been disturbed by ditching they were turned out on the land a short while after and died within hours, I think one was treated and survived.
 
Whatever you do,discuss with your vet, reason being . God forbid that you have a problem,but at least you sought professional advice first.There has been some good advice given ,but cover your self by talking to an "expert"
 
Thanks all for your advice. I did quite a lot of googling last night to try and find a picture of the dried stem, as I wanted to double check it's definitely hemlock. But can only find photos of a live plant showing a spotted stem. I've also searched the forum and again there are photos of the live plant but not the plant in it's dried state. It's quite difficult to properly identify it in the dried form, but would spots of the stem still be visible?
Does anyone know if the roots differ from cow parsley as perhaps this would be a better way to identify the plant .
 
And now I've confused myself even further as hogweed is pretty similar too. HELP! I think im going to take some to a horticulturist I know to see if she can positively identify it. I will remove and burn it whatever the case, but would like confirmation.
 
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