paddock management question/ weed

[UKa]

Hello, we will be moving to our new yard soon and come Easter will get to use a paddock that has been neglected for some time and now looks overgrown with weeds (thistles and stuff) that are just lying dry. We understand that the land owners are planning to top the paddock but is there anything else we should do? Does harrowing help? Spraying? At the moment there seems to be very little proper grass growing, so a little concerned as to how we can make this land into proper grazing? We hope to use this, part of it, from Easter as I said. Any advice appreciated.

 

[exquisitus]

Its likely the grass will recover when we get some warmer weather and longer day lengths i.e. early-mid April.

Once the field has been topped, allow the weeds a fortnight to regrow, then spray with Pastor, this gives excellent control of thistles, nettles, docks etc. plus all manner of other broad leaf weeds. You may need a follow-up treatment in Sept/Oct. This usual clears up fields well, requiring only occasional spot treatments to keep on top of the problem.

 

[UKa]

Thanks for the advice! How long after spraying do we need to keep horses off the paddock? Thanks,

 

[Polos Mum]

If you can get a local farmer with the right licences, we use a mix of agritox and depitox - works wonders on the stubbon weeds (docks, buttercup and ragwort!), each chemical will say on the bottle how long to keep animals off it (usually just a few days)

- the longer resting time is usually related to ragwort which is more likely to be eaten dead (as it tastes less bitter) - if there is any ragwort in the field you'll need to rest it until it has all rotted away (or get some friends and go on a digging weekend!), I find this can up up to a month if we don't get much rain.

 

[Rob Lakeside]

With modern day pesticides the risk of damage to animals is minor.
Chemical companies cover them-selfes with time limits.

Simply because modern pesticides this includes weedkillers and fungicides must be broken down by bacteria,sunlight or washed away by rain etc

Most modern weedkillers are hormonal so is in the sap of the plant you have sprayed, so will be in the plants tissue for often 10-14 days.

The amounts we are talking about is 000000000000000000000.1 or your horse would have to consume 10 tons of grass to take a teaspoon of concentrate in to it system.

You will poisen your horse with wormers more than with field spraying.

 

[Dry Rot]

The purpose of topping is to cut weeds before they produce seeds. It also encourages grass to spread out rather than form tufts. So, there is not much point in topping your paddocks now, except maybe to make them look neater.

I agree about the spraying, but for peace of mind, always read the label!

 

[Tammytoo]

Once the field has been sprayed it is a good idea to fertilise it about a week later. Spraying for weeds also slows down the grass growth, so you need to give it a bit of a boost. Use the lowest nitrogen content fertiliser you can find.

On the other hand, if your field is so big that you are likely to have too much grass for your horses, then don't bother fertilising!

Horses love thistles once they have been cut down and wilted a little so they're not so prickly!

 

[UKa]

The purpose of topping is to cut weeds before they produce seeds. It also encourages grass to spread out rather than form tufts. So, there is not much point in topping your paddocks now, except maybe to make them look neater.)

THere is a LOT of dried stuff in the field, I would rather make it look neater and get rid of some of the rough bits before they get turned out on it. Plus there seems so much that underneath it is just black, does that mean that no grass will grow there again or will thinning it out after topping help?

 

[PennyJ]

You could rake up the dead stuff and start pulling the weeds you can see growing which would be a start. If nothing else it will make it all look neater/better. I have docks and ragwort (plus brambles thistles and nettles) starting to sprout in my field even if it is really wet and this is what I find is the best way to get rid of them, spraying helps of course, but it can take several goes to get rid when it has been badly maintained (as my field was before I got it) At least when it is this wet, it is easy to get the roots out!

Otherwise there is very little you can do until it dries up and warms up. However, every year I am always amazed at how well everything recovers and that grass grows again when it looked like all was lost a few months earlier. (Hopefully will be just the same this year too)

 

[UKa]

You could rake up the dead stuff and start pulling the weeds you can see growing which would be a start. If nothing else it will make it all look neater/better. I have docks and ragwort (plus brambles thistles and nettles) starting to sprout in my field even if it is really wet and this is what I find is the best way to get rid of them, spraying helps of course, but it can take several goes to get rid when it has been badly maintained (as my field was before I got it) At least when it is this wet, it is easy to get the roots out!

Otherwise there is very little you can do until it dries up and warms up. However, every year I am always amazed at how well everything recovers and that grass grows again when it looked like all was lost a few months earlier. (Hopefully will be just the same this year too)

Thanks, yes, raking up what is there is a good plan. Glad to hear that things tend to recover as it looks a bit bleak on there at the moment