When does ragwort turn to seed??

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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As title really.... I have complained to my local council about the amount of ragwort of the lanes leading to our village (quoting the Weeds Act 1959 and the Ragwort Control Act 2003 to them, cos I'm a bit anal like that!
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)and they still have not done anything about it! So am now worried about it seeding and spreading into our fields which are, at the moment, ragwort free.
 
i always assumed it turned to seed like when dandelions go to clocks(you know,when children blow them-1 o`clock etc) but i read that they have 1000`s of seeds on each plant and they drop seeds from the yellow flowers.
a lady down the road never pulls hers untill they are yellow and has loads every year.i get mine out when they are rossette stage and have only had a handfull this year so it bears it out.also if you leave a little root in it will grow again.

i got a ragfork,very good and a lifetime guarentee on it too for £20.
 
when it starts to go brown.....and then the wind blows...we have an awful probelm here...chris is out at the moemnt after we have had to shuffle all the horses around so he can go in and top them all off...we have found that this is the easiest way to do it as the wholeplant is shredded.....we have sprayed, pulled etc etc and topping on our acreage is the best way for us...

we are now leaving the feilds fallow for about 4 weeks so that it all rots down....

somebody drove over our ragfork...will the lifetime guarentee still apply?
 
I think most councils are the same, my place is treated in spring then I go round with the ragfork the rest of the year as even treated it can still come up, just not as much.
 
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top them all off...we have found that this is the easiest way to do it as the wholeplant is shredded.....we have sprayed, pulled etc etc and topping on our acreage is the best way for us...

we are now leaving the feilds fallow for about 4 weeks so that it all rots down....

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Sorry but that is a very bad idea. Ragwort remain poisonous even when dead/dried, but worst still is actually more palatable once dry, so is more likely to be eaten. Hence why it is important it is not baled in hay etc...
 
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go in and top them all off...we have found that this is the easiest way to do it as the wholeplant is shredded.....

we are now leaving the feilds fallow for about 4 weeks so that it all rots down....

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Not to be recommended really as the plant can still go on to seed even when the yellow flowers have been cut.
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Defra has various methods of disposal and topping and shredding certainly isn't one of them as the plant is not destroyed, nor is the root taken out of the ground so it will just grow back the following year.
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As the flowers mature so do the seeds. The flower dies off and the seeds drop off on to the ground or are carried by wind and birds.

It has beeen estimated that each flower produces about 40,000 seeds.

Send a letter by 'Royal Mail' signed for to the Highways Department of your District Council if it is a A, B road or smaller. If it is a trunk road then also send a letter to the Highways Agency who are responsible for Motorways and Trunk Roads.

Also contact DEFRA

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/forms/weedsact/weed2.pdf
 
i dont supose that either of you acrtually read mypost properly..there are no horses in either of the fields that have been topped and they will not be allowed to go back into the fields until the feilds are deemed suitable for grazing...we have topped the larger acres for at least 5 years now and the amounts are getting less however with the acreage that we have to do it is by far the best way of dealing with the probelm...the neighbouring cliff sides have a horrific probelm and due to the nature of ragwort seeds which lay dormant for 2 years this is by far the best option for us...

i am not saying however this is the best way for everyone...however if you would like to come and pull ragwort on 300 acres of grassland then be my guest!
 
I did read your post properly and it is still a rubbish way of dealing with Ragwort. As states above dead Ragwort is still poisonous. Hell you land, your horses, your risk, your problem. I just hope you don't regret your decisions in years to come, or maybe you will have sold them on, so the accumulative liver damage will be someone else's problem.
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