Spraying and fetilizing question

[Honeyb]

I have a five acre natural meadow. It's never been overgrazed as such, but has been left standing for many years resulting in a lot of dock, thistle and nettle.

I've obviously missed the spring topping so when should I now be looking at topping, spraying and fertilizing please?

 

[KarynK]

It depends how green you want to be, blanket spraying (too late now) will also kill all the herbs that horses thrive on too. You can top now but you will spread all the seeds! So you will have to spray everything in early spring at the rosette stage.

If you want to go green its a big job but rewarding after a couple of years. Cut all the dock seed stalks with a pair of secatures and burn them, likewise the big Scottish thistles. If you cut the common thistles your horses will eat them, likewise if you strim the nettles, they have plenty of vitamins and minerals and the horses love them.

Then spot spray stubborn weed patches and you will have at the end of it a balanced sward that is very good for the horses and is not just grass.

 

[Honeyb]

Thanks KarynK. I'm making a start today by cutting all the docs down as it won't be long before their seeds will start dropping. Once they have dried out I'll burn them - oh how very satisfying! Will then look into spot spraying - any products you recommend?

 

[KarynK]

Good for you nearly finished mine have a huge pile to burn, Ragwort is bad this year too but I am on top of the docs now and they are in decline, so too are the nasty thistles, I tend to let them flower as the insects and butterflies love them, then I burn them before they set seed. My lot like to pick the flowers off the common thistles and eat them so I have a lot of headless stalks, which I cut and then they eat them too! The nettle patches I strim and the horses love them once they wilt. They are really good for horses on restricted diets too as this time of year they are woody but tasty.

I usually use Roundup for a spray as it is safe for use with horses, years ago they claimed you could drink it, but I didn’t!!!! If you have large patches of stubborn weeds then spray the patch and chuck a handful of grass seeds down, roundup won't kill the seeds and when the weeds die the seed is ready to take over. Roundup is a good price too, but it will kill everything it gets on so you need to be careful when you use it, if it’s windy. Its absorbed through the leaves of the plant and works its way to the roots, so leave it to die completely then the root will be dead too.

You can also be more specific with it if you mix it with wall paper paste you can paint it the leaves of a single plant!

Ragforks are quite effective at getting out the roots of docks and the big Scottish thistles and the really pretty ones with evil prickles on them if the ground is moist. But don’t really work well in the common annual thistles. I carry mine on the barrow whenever I am poo picking.

I just prefer to work a bit harder and have a more natural balance in the field, I have loads of insects, bees and butterflies, lots of field mice and further up the food chain the owls and birds of prey are always about.

Over the road at the Napalm King's there is nothing! He manacurs everthing to within an inch of it's life, kills moles and has about 20 thistles this year and is about to spray the whole field!!!

My horses love the clovers, plantain, dandy lions and other broad leaved herbs that general sprays kill, they also like to browse the hedge and eat hawthorn and hazel leaves.

 

[Honeyb]

I got half the field done today - cut all the docs down and have them ready for burning. Just got the other half tomorrow.

Going to get myself some roundup in for Spring and spot spray at the rossette stage.

Will try and harrow with Grass seed this year and will do it as the natural meadow grass is re seeding.

I'm so luck to have a natural meadow and would want to keep it that way so this post has been really helpful to me - thanks

 

[KarynK]

No problem good luck, I don't suppose you have SCATS up your way? They are an agricultural co-op for the south, they do an own brand special pony paddock mix that contains herbs and plants horses like, other people must supply it as well I would have thought. If you get stuck I can always send some up parcel post, or I will be at Moreton Morrell in August.