Killing whins/rushes/reclaiming land !

Ford4000

Well im planning on doing a job on 5 acres lads unemployed next week so time to do a bit of work, its hilly at the top flat at the bottom, up top lots of whins, below, neglected damp and rushy
My plan
Stub all whins now when were within hedgecutting season
OPen all drains get the water moving
In spring graze it all well, cut and remove the rushes and spray the emergent shoots
Also plan to spray emergenty whins (what chemical)

What do ye think
Whats the best chemicals to use and would anyone have any other suggestions????

johngalway

I used Mortone on my rushes, couldn't get this other MCPA everyone else was talking to me about :pac:, out of a quad lance sprayer. Done a very good job on them. Must start cutting them next week (hurt meself!).

On the furze, I sprayed the small ones with brushwood killer, with the same sprayer. As long as I covered the entire plant it gave a great kill, not cheap though.

For taller gorse, I'm going to chainsaw it, then drill the stumps and put glycophosate (spelling) into the hole.

I've also drained my land, spade and drag, that's been fun :pac:

Best time to burn gorse is from end of August to November, but be sure to check the proper burning times. I think burning it outside of this time just helps the seeds germinate better so you'll have more furze coming at ya down the line.

NEVER burn any furze that you've sprayed, for the same reason that it'll grow new plants.

Ford4000

I plan to stub out all the whins in January and hopefully then frost may also help me out a bit, then in spring when i see the emergent shoots il spray them, if they are not coming too quickly dose it with nitrogen see will grass overtake !! where the whins are the soil is excellent not a huge layer of it but its lovely free draining granite based, i find on my land the whins only grow on the very nice soils

reilig

If you cut the whins at the butt and then paint on whole roundup onto the cut, there will be no regrowth.

Sorry to hear about the job!!!

Jack C

Never heard them called "whins". Must be the local dialect.

johnpawl

whins???

Birdnuts

Sounds all rather expensive for just 5 acres - I hope it pays off going forwards in these times:)

johngalway

Jack C wrote: »

Never heard them called "whins". Must be the local dialect.

They're called that a lot in Scotland and England I believe.

johnpawl wrote: »

whins???

Furze/gorse.

vcsggl

Always called whins around Monaghan - Fermanagh, in fact never heard them called anything else.

George

Username John

Always furze in Cork - first time I heard o "whins" was from me girlfriend (from Cavan) who also introduced me to strange words like

"shough" - In Cork a "drain"
"grape" - In Cork a " 4 prong pike"
"link box" - In Cork a "transport box"

poor farmer

gripes / drains /shoughs

grape /sprong /pike

Ford4000

Username John wrote: »

Always furze in Cork - first time I heard o "whins" was from me girlfriend (from Cavan) who also introduced me to strange words like

"shough" - In Cork a "drain"
"grape" - In Cork a " 4 prong pike"
"link box" - In Cork a "transport box"

Ya whins in Donegal and all them other terms are the same, draining in Galway was called shoring, i never heard that before !!

Ford4000

Birdnuts wrote: »

Sounds all rather expensive for just 5 acres - I hope it pays off going forwards in these times:)

Its some land sort of in 2 pieces habitat and species rich grassland in reps, time to tidy it up now not in a bad way (total devestation like many) now the nice wooded areas will be kept but whins and rushes must disappear !!!
Whether it really pays or not well what can i do i cant see land going to waste,
Digger will be free im getting the loan of a mates all i have to do is diesl and maintain it, outside that i suppose 20 gallon of sprays ovr the course of it and time, of which i will have plenty as il be unemployed in 2 days time in effect il be doing it all myself !!!

Ford4000

Birdnuts wrote: »

Sounds all rather expensive for just 5 acres - I hope it pays off going forwards in these times:)

Sorry its 5 hectares and prob a bit more, oh and im on the west coast lad, every acre is a prisoner:P

johnpawl

Username John wrote: »

Always furze in Cork - first time I heard o "whins" was from me girlfriend (from Cavan) who also introduced me to strange words like

"shough" - In Cork a "drain"
"grape" - In Cork a " 4 prong pike"
"link box" - In Cork a "transport box"

Haha yeah only ever heard furze, n I'm from cork too. Old fellas round here call a transport box a "carry all".To me a 4 prong pike is a dung fork

reilig

Around here furze is a soft green plant that grows in bog areas and has a leaf like a tail and is poisonous to horses. Whins are whins or sometomes Gorse - green needles and yellow flowers in summer.

Pikes were a weapon used in the 1798 rebellion. They were like a sharp blade on a very long pole (very effective I'm sure)
But they haven't been seen around here since Cromwell decomissioned them.

What you describe as a 4 prong pike is known around here as a grape.
A 2 prong pike is known as a pitch fork.
Do ye have shovels and spades??

Username John

reilig wrote: »

Around here furze is a soft green plant that grows in bog areas and has a leaf like a tail and is poisonous to horses. Whins are whins or sometomes Gorse - green needles and yellow flowers in summer.

Pikes were a weapon used in the 1798 rebellion. They were like a sharp blade on a very long pole (very effective I'm sure)
But they haven't been seen around here since Cromwell decomissioned them.

What you describe as a 4 prong pike is known around here as a grape.
A 2 prong pike is known as a pitch fork.
Do ye have shovels and spades??

We do have shovels and spades all right, we're not savages now Reilig

We'd call a 'pitch fork' a 2 prong pike, or a hay pike, or a bale pike, depending...

sheepdogone

to me a 4 prong pike is a fish that got stabbed way a fork

LostCovey

johngalway wrote: »

I used Mortone on my rushes, couldn't get this other MCPA everyone else was talking to me about :pac:, out of a quad lance sprayer. Done a very good job on them. Must start cutting them next week (hurt meself!).

On the furze, I sprayed the small ones with brushwood killer, with the same sprayer. As long as I covered the entire plant it gave a great kill, not cheap though.

For taller gorse, I'm going to chainsaw it, then drill the stumps and put glycophosate (spelling) into the hole.

I've also drained my land, spade and drag, that's been fun :pac:

Best time to burn gorse is from end of August to November, but be sure to check the proper burning times. I think burning it outside of this time just helps the seeds germinate better so you'll have more furze coming at ya down the line.

NEVER burn any furze that you've sprayed, for the same reason that it'll grow new plants.

My God JohnGalway, you are bringing back my childhood. That list sounds like a beige work-sheet you would get from the clip-board of a 1970s ACOT advisor, with a comb-over, driving a Ford Cortina, with a 8-track stereo playing Showaddywaddy.

Mind you, spade & drag drainage goes back a generation further, and it is so slow that even if you are doing no good, you will do no harm!

We took all that advice, with an outfarm, collected all the grants, and drained it sprayed it picked stones, dug out bog oak, opened shores, piped drains, limed, fertilised, turned it green, took the foot off the pedal for a couple of years when the grants went away, and it went straight back to what it had been.

I have come to the conclusion that if you want agricultural land, you have to save up for it. It can't be made, and it certainly can't be made from land that needs that much annual tittivation.

I am not arguing against routine maintenance, but to spend that much time and put that much chemicals into land that is by nature wet and heavy, or has a high water table is a waste of labour and chemistry, and the results will only last till you get tired or old. The next generation won't do it and they will be right. I can see a new wave of 'reclamation' starting all round me here, as people with time on their hands and idle track machines turn from site work to drainage work. An awful lot of destruction of natural habitat to produce at best mineral deficient grass off flukey ground. All these chemicals to produce food, that we are going to market as coming from a clean green island. All this expense to enable production which is only marginally profitable (without the SFP) this year, and has been loss making for most of the past decade. And being carried out in some cases by people who get payments for Rural Environment Protection.



I think it is like trying to keep out the tide with a grape/four-prong pike.

Or clearing a beach with a transport box/link-box.

Even if it doesn't revert to its natural state, I suppose everything goes full circle, and your kids will get grants to replant the furze/whins/gorse.

Now I am going back to my ditch/shough before someone drains it.



LostCovey

PS Constructive advice for the OP??

Watch out for AEOS reopening in 2011, collect payments for species-rich grassland, and sell your spraying machine for beer money.