Ragwort Removal

Yeh I tried one once - worked ok for the small weeds actually. Prefer the good old rag fork really, just taken a barrow out this evening. Much easier to pull out after all this rain!
 
I have one and have pulled up some dock with 10" roots - you need to get the angle right to get them up but it is easy to use and no strain on back.
 
I have one of these fiskars weed pullers and they are much easier to use than a rag fork. I must admit though you still have to spray as smaller weeds keep coming after you have removed the main plant. I also find this with a ragfork. I have decided that Barrier H is the best way to get rid of ragwort.
 
I have one and it works well for the smaller plants. It also pulls out the bits that sometimes get left in the ground when pulling larger plants. Make sure you get the one with the telescopic handle. For larger plants it's definatlly gloves and pulling.
 
When the grass is short and I can see little ragwort plants the rag fork is good.

When the ground is hard the rag fork is good(no matter what size the plant)

When the plant is fully grown and the ground is sopping wet pulling is dead easy..no fork required!!

I do the salt thing if I have time etc

The first couple years were the worst filling up about 4 sacks over 2 acres not its about half sack. Although one paddock I have pulled only about 5 plants.

I stil think pulling is the easiest and after the rain too.
 
Tnavas said:
Where ragwort is concerned - it's pull it up and spray the remaining area with a spot sprayer.
Click to expand...

weed killer has to be absorbed by the plant through the leaf so if you pull the plant up first you are wasting time and money use weed killer

i pull dont like to put chemicals down unless no other option
 
We don't have a ragwort problem, just the occasional one pops up but YO bought one of these tools & he uses it to pull thistles as he walks round with his dogs. Apparantly it works really well. I have a Rag fork and it works well & have had it for years but if I hadn't got one I'd probably try this new fork.

Thery are being sold half price at the moment here:
http://www.tesco.com/direct/fiskars...**.UKTULLF53V_slot1?skuId=210-6293&pageLevel=
 
Trouble is even with any of these forks a bit of root does get left and it will pop up. The thing is not to let the plants re-seed.

Thistles nettles etc are fine for horses. Mine loves a thistle and it makes me feel quite ill to watch the delicate muzzle tenderly caress those thorns! How poetic on a Saturday morning!

Good luck its sad to see horses grazing amongst big giant ragwort and a stroll with a wheelbarrow could eliminate so many blooming plants...this wet weather has made it really easy to pull them. But you think you have cleared it all and then you will go a few days later and the triffids have re invented themselves!
 
Just wanted to say (apologies if someone has already said this) but please remember to burn any ragwort that you dig up. If it is left lying around the horses will eat it - they prefer the taste when it is dried.

Indie999 - my cob loves thistles, but he squishes them with his feet first before he eats them. Don't know if this lessens the pricks a bit?
 
My two are incredibly fussy! They wont go near a nettle or a thistle, hence my fields are full of them, with the good grass eaten all around them! Therefore, i am forever having to cut them down. I agree with the ragwort, pulling is the only real answer, i find them easier to pull when they are just coming into flower, only real problem i have is pushing the wheelbarrow round the fields as i go, cos both my fields are quite high banks!
 
Having my first experience of a ragwort problem. We've been pulling it up today, after 3hrs we still have loads to do. Last year when we moved in I was pulling up the odd one as I saw it. But now we are swamped :-(

Which I'm going to tackle during the week. I read you should burn it, but at mo, I don't think it will burn. Do you leave it to dry out?

We've decided best place to burn it is in the field rather than moving it all around. :-s luckily I can move the horses over to another paddock.
 
I have pulled a lot of it up yesterday and it's in a pile away from the horses, nearly all dried out so will burn it tomorrow, every time I turn round it seems to have grown back again :-/
 
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