Killing weeds?!

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Opticalillusion

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Hi guys,

I rescued a shetland pony a couple of weeks ago. Because he was an unexpected arrival, my paddock was all overgrown and a mess. After a lot of work with a sythe, (and the fencing!) I now have something resembling a paddock to turn him out in to, but i'm petrified of the spring - all of my hard work will be undone and all the weeds will come back with a vengence!

I have mainly dock leaf type weeds - you know the ones that turn brown and are REALLY hard to pull up. There's also some nettles, and a couple of thistle monsters. In the summer, they completely overshadow any grass - not too much of a problem for my laminitic shetty, but it looks a right mess and i'll probably not be able to find him amongst the weeds!

What can I do to get rid of them? I can't dig them all out when they grow - there's just too many. Are there any 'safe' weedkillers I can use?

Ta in advance :)
 
The thistles are fine, but docks are bad, wait till the spring and spray with MCPA [ask farmer] or get Verdone and do it yourself if small field. I don't suppose local farmer will let you borrow a few bullocks or highland cows to trample and prepare field for you, otherwise ask him to "top" with his "Thistle Basher"
Weedkillers work best when weeds are tiny [2-4 leaf stage]
General rule id to keep animals off for ten days, but best to ask manufacturer for advice.
 
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I don't know any farmers... I just have a small paddock whick I rent from my local council.. I imagine i'd be able to do it myself with a sprayer. Can I buy the weedkiller off ebay? how long would I have to leave it before I could let the pony back in?
 
Opticalillusion said:
I don't know any farmers... I just have a small paddock whick I rent from my local council.. I imagine i'd be able to do it myself with a sprayer. Can I buy the weedkiller off ebay? how long would I have to leave it before I could let the pony back in?
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Difficult without seeing the field, best to knock on door of local farmers and get them to sort it for you lots of them keep ponies and are happy to help, They will also have fencing equipment [Shetlands have a reputation].
You may have to rescue another one as they like company.
You need to buy a sprayer and a weed-killer, so really it might be better to get someone to do it for you, someone who is qualified and knowledgeable.
 
Leviathan said:
The other thing you can use SBK you can spot kill them its very effective on docks.

Nettles are harder
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Nettles are an indication of well fertilised fields, they don't do any harm and are good for butterlies, a field with nettles and docks could be overgrazed in the past, that is why I recommend an experienced person to have a look.
 
Thanks for the replies.. It was really overgrazed in the past. It is quite small, and my old mare grazed it bare - again, not a bad place to keep her as she was lami prone and was being exercised daily so it cut down the risk.

Thing is, when i rested it for a couple of years all the weeds grew! Poor little shettie will get lost in spring lol.

My fence is coming along nicely.. i've concreted posts in etc and it's looking good. No probs on the compay front either - as it's an old allotment site turned into "paddocks" they all back on to each other so there are other horses at the other side of each fence. We're only allowed to keep one pony per plot though because of their size.

If I spot weeded it with the SBK how long do I need to keep the pony out for? I have it sectioned into 2, so i could alternate spraying/grazing so he could still be turned out in the day. I'm gonna buy a sprayer and weedkiller if it's safe - I just don't wanna poision him, and i've never had the problem before (my old greedy mare kept it so bare!).
 
Thistles aren't fine - spear thistles and creeping thistle are classed as injurous weeds along with ragwort and the land owner has a responsibility to control them.

The easiest way I've found is to section the field with tape to keep the ponies off and then spray with weedkiller, you can get Barrier H which kills most broadleaf weeds as well as ragwort. The ponies need to be off for a couple of weeks after treating (hence the tape!) and you can treat the field bit by bit.
 
Your simplest solution is to by a good quality strimmer such as a Stihl strimmer and strim the weeds down once a fortnight. (Also buy a face protector so that none of the rubbish gets in your face or eyes and some spare strimmer cord. They will give up the ghost and leave you with a nice clean paddock. Also pick up the poos each day as they will kill off the grass under them (and increase your horses worm count).
 
OWLIE185 said:
Your simplest solution is to by a good quality strimmer such as a Stihl strimmer and strim the weeds down once a fortnight. (Also buy a face protector so that none of the rubbish gets in your face or eyes and some spare strimmer cord. They will give up the ghost and leave you with a nice clean paddock. Also pick up the poos each day as they will kill off the grass under them (and increase your horses worm count).
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This!! Exactly. You won't have to worry about chemicals on the land and your shettie will enjoy picking through the wilted nettles and thistles. I have been attacking about three acres with my strimmer and it's doing a wonderful job plus I don't need to keep the horses off for any length of time.
 
Thanks for the replies :)

I've been looking at strimmers, but i'd have to get a petrol one and they're really pricey :( Also, some of the docs are really, really strong and i'm not sure they'd cut through it?

If I bought a strimmer wouldn't they just keep growing back?
 
Opticalillusion said:
Thanks for the replies :)

I've been looking at strimmers, but i'd have to get a petrol one and they're really pricey :( Also, some of the docs are really, really strong and i'm not sure they'd cut through it?

If I bought a strimmer wouldn't they just keep growing back?
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If you keep an eye on your local papers you will find a second hand one, I think I paid £40 for mine and it's great. Mine has a brushcutter head so it will slice through the biggest docks like fun.

The weeds will try and come back but each time you strim them they get weaker and will eventually give up completely. TBH I have had more success getting rid of docks and nettles by strimming than I have by using weed killer. I think it works out a lot cheaper too!
 
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