Ragwort

blackcob

blackcob

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As I was driving back from feeding the pony yesterday evening I stopped by our spare field to check the progress of the grass growth to see whether it was time to swap them back over onto that field. I saw three or four big yellow flower spikes right at the back of the field...

Had a walk down there and it's more like 25-30 spikes.
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Just the four flowering ones but plenty of small ones in progress which are really hard to spot, but definitely all ragwort.
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The horses were last on that field about six weeks ago and there was no sign of ragwort then; the grass was grazed very short and I regularly checked for new growth. They won't have been able to eat any then, right?
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The plan is to go down tomorrow evening with forks, dig up all the visible plants and put them on the YO's pile to burn (pile about a mile away from the field!). Do I need to get the YO to do anything else? He is pretty much useless at this kind of thing, the fields don't receive any kind of maintenance from him and we do it all ourselves. Is he liable to buy and treat the field with sprays if necessary? We've been using that field on and off for four years and it's never had ragwort before - indeed, none of the YO's fields have ever had it.
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it seems to pop up from nowhere sometimes, i check all my fields very regularly and sometimes there will suddenly be a decent-sized ragwort plant that i swear to god wasn't there a week ago.
i am trying something new this year, pulling them up and then pouring a small puddle of neat bleach on the hole, as i've discovered that if you leave any root at all (impossible not to, the roots are weak) then it will grow again next year. will report back next year on whether it's worked... i've tried a heap of salt on each one before to no avail, and have had no luck tracking down a herbicide (available in the States) which kills the roots and stumps of various persistent weeds, and which i want to try on ragwort roots.
best of luck getting rid of your stuff. fwiw i put it in paper feed bags for a few days after pulling to dry out, otherwise it's not easy to get it burning.
 
We have very well maintained fields by our YO and this year we have had the odd ragwort plant pop up from nowhere - including in my boys field. If they are on good grazing they are unlikely to go near it. We just dig it up as soon as we see it - as kerelli says it literally seems to pop up overnight - evil b*stard plant - I was going to post on here if there is any effective weed killer available as we want to eradicate as it pops up. Is really annoying as there is no ragwort on the verges or anything round here - wondered it is spread by birds?
 
Ragwort !!!! it is the bane of my life at the moment, each year I pull any that appears and also spray any paddocks not being grazed, yet it still appears. I have read that the seeds can lay dormant in the ground for up to twenty years so will pop up even in the best kept fields. Good on you for dealing with it tho, some people don't bother, that really makes me mad as then their seeds can also be spread in the wind to mine. I think you can report it to DEFRA if you see fields with it growing, but what they actually do about it I'm not sure as some farmers seem to have crops of the stuff. Councils are supposed to keep verges clear also but are the worst offenders. Sorry this has turned into a rant!!!! that's what the word RAGWORT does to me LOL
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Oh bugger, I was hoping this wasn't going to become a regular summer chore but everything you're telling me and everything I'm reading online says it will seed like mad and keep regrowing.
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PMSL Storkstowers, you have a ragwort complex I think!
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I want to try and avoid spraying if at all possible as the field the horses are in now is totally bare and I wanted to swap them onto the better grazing within the next week really, so digging it up it is! A sort of spot treatment would be useful though, if there is such a thing, to catch any little new plants coming up? There's also a few docks in the field that could do with going too. The problem we have is that fat cob needs very short and poor grazing which is exactly the environment that fosters ragwort, docks and buttercups so we're really up against it in both of the fields.
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OH don't mention docks thats another bad word. Get the barstewards before they let go of their seeds or they spread like wild fire!!!! If they have gone to seed cut the stalks out and remove. I use Grazon 90 spot spraying in the spring and hand pull or dehead any that escape. I will get rid, I will get rid!! I'm getting a nervous tic now LOL
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don't spot-spray the ragwort if the horses are going back into the field, as the weed goes sweet as it dies, and becomes palatable.
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this is why i'm trying to track down a chemical that can be poured on the root once you've cut off/pulled out the weed...
 
I hereby dub you the 'crazy weed lady'.
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I have secured the loan of some garden forks and OH has volunteered to help, I very much doubt he will be able to identify the young ragwort plants so I will set him to work digging up the docks for me instead.
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How do you apply the Grazon? Haven't got access to any spraying equipment but don't mind buying one of those little backpack sprayer things if that will work.
 
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don't spot-spray the ragwort if the horses are going back into the field, as the weed goes sweet as it dies, and becomes palatable.
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this is why i'm trying to track down a chemical that can be poured on the root once you've cut off/pulled out the weed...

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Yes, that's what I'm trying to avoid - wouldn't be the end of the world if they had to stay on their bare paddock a bit longer, mind, it's very good for fat cob's waistline.
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Is it very hard to dig the roots out? I had visions of being able to dig up the whole rootball but it sounds like I'm sadly mistaken!
 
I hate ragwort too it's an evil weed! Don't forget to wear gloves whilst handling the evil weed as it's toxic to humans as well. I used to put copious amounts of salt in the hole afterwards to try and kill off any remaining roots.
 
Yep that just about sums me up lately LOL
I use a back pack sprayer which I would recommend if you have a few acres or more. Also a ragwort fork they help to get the roots out better than by pulling. Always use rubber gloves when touching ragwort as the toxicity can get thro your skin.!!!
 
The Barrier H stuff is really good for getting rid of Ragwort (It is the bane of my life too!!) But I am not convinced it always kills the root completely.

Its pretty quick too, you can see what you've sprayed within about half an hour which is really helpful as other wise I am sure I go round in circles with the sprayer!! Within a week it is reduced to a nasty brown mush and mine is now completely gone two weeks later (with the help of the rain!) I went and collected the last few stubborn dead brown bits and now have two out of three fields clear.. Hooray!! (Third which was fine last summer, is so bad thanks to it all being left to grow in my neighbours field, I doubt I will use it at all this year, so am cutting it and spraying the whole thing)
 
seriously, drives me mad too. The seeds blow down of the banks of the motorway near us, luckily our fields are quite further but it just slowly spreads, wish the council/highways agency would spray it or try to control it because, it really just gets everywhere and the risk to humans too. Isnt is bad for cattle too?
 
I've had quite a problem with Ragwort for the last couple of years, despite having 2 of the 3 paddocks sprayed at the cost of £250! The plants have been stunted but are struggling on & now producing flowers.
I had to keep the horses on an unsprayed padock which also had quite alot of ragwort. I couldn't leave dying ragwort in the field so I tried the following with some success:

I bought some 'Resolva' weedkiller guns & went around cutting the plants at ground level. I then sprayed the stump, cutting a cross in thicker stalks so that they would absorb it (like Brussell Sprouts!). It says its safe for pets after dry/2 hours. I removed all the leaves completely, so that the horses could graze. This was at the beginning of June & I'm pleased with the results. Some of the more resilient plants have put up leaves from the stumps, but I just spray them on sight (horses out of there now). The Resolva is good as it makes the leaves brown within 24 hours so you can see where you've been, otherwise I too would be out there all day! Roundup does the same job, but slower.
Kerilli - I know that Creasote can be applied to small tree stumps to kill them, so it would probably work on the dreaded weed too.
 
So far we've pulled and burnt two fields worth (think 12 acres) and we've just started on our 20 acre field. It's a huge chore which takes all summer. I hate ragwort
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Kerilli - I know that Creasote can be applied to small tree stumps to kill them, so it would probably work on the dreaded weed too.

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I've coated ragwort with creosote very successfully in the past, but then felt very guilty when I learned that hedgehogs love the taste of creosote but it is poisonous to them!
In fact I don't think you can get creosote now, just substitutes, which probably don't work as well anyway!
 
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