Other than ragwort, what weeds do you take out of your paddocks?

NiceChristmasBaubles

NiceChristmasBaubles

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Just wondering really after I spent an hour or so wandering round yesterday digging up new ragwort plants. I'm sure my neighbours think I am most odd as I spend more time weeding the field than the garden. :p:o

I do like to see the wild flowers, so don't want to decimate them completely, but would be interested to hear about what else you remove. Thank you. :)
 
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We moved to new field in April, there is loads of grass but also a fair amount of ragwort that i'm just digging out day by day! Am leaving thistles and wild flowers in, its hard enough work as it is!!
 
Dock leaves - even though they are a pig to dig up!! They look horrible, spread like the clappers and waste space. Rant over, lol :)
 
Just moved back to a field I have been resting, and the doc leaves are taking over :eek: I'm rounding up all the kids that help/ ride my ponies and going to have a doc clearing session.
 
Apart from ragort, I remove:
Docks
Brambles
Nettles IN paddocks tho not on edge of fences unless fouling tape.
Buttercups (prevalent round here :rolleyes: )
and 1 plant of D.Nightshade that seems to return every other year in the same place.
 
Anything the horses turn their nose up at say doc leaves etc... as like someone else said are a waste of space. Anything I dont recognise also gets pulled up sharpish.

Nettles in the summer grazing are sprayed off before the horses are let loose to munch - once again a waste of space.

I also have been pulling up the odd bits of deadly nightshade that seems to be taking home in my winter grazing :mad:
 
I have got ragwort down to the odd plant now. But I use to fill up sack loads of the stuff but it has moreless gone.

But I was over run with dock(grazon) sorted that

Now I have hemlock appearing and spreading at edges so just blasted that a bit. spot sprayed
Buttercups are rife and I meant to lime the field but never got round to it.(its v clay where we are and probably could do with a bit of spiking aeration etc.

The one that doesnt bother me and he eats it if stuck are nettles. I dont know why anyone finds nettles a problem...ladybirds etc love em. So I leave those alone. They are not poisonous either?
 
I believe nettles are a source of iron lots of horses seem to eat them even though I dont kniow how they can bear the stings

On a slightly different note, one of my horses tends to snack on ivy growing over a wall. I am sure ivy is poisonous but he has been ok Ive seen goats eating it too ? Its a very big plant so even though I try and remove it it reappears
 
I've just bought one of those weed puller upper devices as advertised on the tv. I got it for the garden but have found its great for pulling up the ragwort in the fields. No more pulling it up by hand or digging it out with the ragwort fork. It might not be tough enough when the ground gets hard but with all this rain, it's easy to use (and quite addictive!)
 
We have hundreds of cowslips which I leave. I only remove ragwort as nothing else poisonous in my paddocks.
 
Ragwort and bracken. Don't really get much else in the fields. One field gets the odd foxglove, which is pulled, and also has gorse, which gets cut back. When I'm on holidays I'll do a bit of digging up gorse. The other field has had some hogweed the last couple of years, but none so far this year. Anything else is left as there isn't much of it, unless it's poisonous of course.
 
We will soon have the never-ending battle to rid the place of thistles!! Blimmin things. Also docks.

Have noticed a crop of Hemlock growing beside verges/ditches. Its horrible stuff, and the other day I noticed some growing beside the hedge in the field. I've never noticed it like I have this year - obviously something has happened weatherwise to encourage it!

Just flagging this up: be careful with it, its not stuff to mess with. Wear gloves/protective gear. I weedkilled mine.
 
My cob loves thistles - he stamps on them to flatten them (does this reduce the prickles ?) and then eats them.

We're lucky that our paddock is mostly weed free (apart from a few thistles) - but then it is also grazed all year by sheep, who are the best animals for weed removal :) Everyone should get themselves a few sheep.
 
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asmp said:
I've just bought one of those weed puller upper devices as advertised on the tv. I got it for the garden but have found its great for pulling up the ragwort in the fields. No more pulling it up by hand or digging it out with the ragwort fork. It might not be tough enough when the ground gets hard but with all this rain, it's easy to use (and quite addictive!)
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Ooh I'm glad you said that, I saw the advert last night and wondered if it worked on Ragwort :D Do you think it got as much of the root out as the ragfork?

LIZ66 said:
My cob loves thistles - he stamps on them to flatten them (does this reduce the prickles ?) and then eats them.
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Yep think so, and what a clever cob! My theory is that as with nettles they seem to be more palateable when eaten from bottom of the stem upwards. Nettles and thistles I just chop or bash down and the neds find them sooner or later - usually sooner! :D
 
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