Docks, buttercups and nettles

mothoin

What can i spray land that has all these growing on them? land is very horsesick, and I want to bring it back to life!

reseeding is not really an option!

I am looking for someone to loan me ten sheep to graze it down, but i presume they won't eat large docks?

bb12

I graze sheep with my horses all the time and the fields are all clean. Plus the sheep help a lot with worm control of horses.

rancher

bb12 wrote: »

I graze sheep with my horses all the time and the fields are all clean. Plus the sheep help a lot with worm control of horses.

I often put my dry ewes into horse paddocks for neighbours, they do a brilliant job on them and they love the area that are spoiled by dung, also the docks, they even eat the seeds

mothoin

yea, I was thinking I might just graze to the scut with some sheep, and then spread some lime, and seed, finishing with a light rolling, then get the sheep in again in a few weeks to scut it down again!

will sheep eat a dock that is over a foot in height?

also is ragwort dangerous to sheep aswell? I am in the middle of pulling it all!

bb12

ragwort is dangerous for all animals. the poisons build up in the liver. sheep and cattle don't get to live their lives as long as horses which is why you don't see the effects in them the same as horses.

mothoin

As I thought! its a terrible weed, and my assh0le of a neighbour has an idle field beside me that is riddled with it! I am a bit worried about when his field of ragwort comes to seed, that it will infest my land again! Is there anything that can be done about that? apart from hassling him to go and pull it all or spray it all!

bb12

well it's classed as a noxious weed so you could get onto the council or maybe the dept ag to complain? they can prob enforce him to have it removed.

rancher

mothoin wrote: »

yea, I was thinking I might just graze to the scut with some sheep, and then spread some lime, and seed, finishing with a light rolling, then get the sheep in again in a few weeks to scut it down again!

will sheep eat a dock that is over a foot in height?

also is ragwort dangerous to sheep aswell? I am in the middle of pulling it all!

I wouldn't like to give them much ragwort, but they eat everything bar nettles, the paddocks are only about an acre and 50 ewes would clean it in 4-5 days., but it wouldn't be a meadow either, if it was I'd tell them to get it mowed as the sheep would walk it into the ground

mothoin

Right so here is what i have come up with, tell me if I am right or wrong,

Let sheep in or mow it

Spread lime

Spread seed

Light rolling

mow or graze again( keeping the weeds down)

When should i spray for weeds then? later in august? or next year?

this grassland management is new to me!

rancher

mothoin wrote: »

Right so here is what i have come up with, tell me if I am right or wrong,

Let sheep in or mow it

Spread lime

Spread seed

Light rolling

mow or graze again( keeping the weeds down)

When should i spray for weeds then? later in august? or next year?

this grassland management is new to me!

There's no point in sowing new grass until you get the weeds under control.
Spraying weeds is only successful if the weeds are young and growing well, not old and gone to seed.
Clean off the ground by mowing or grazing and when the weeds grow again, spray them when they are at the right stage.
If it was mine I'd continue minding the grass that's there and spraying the weeds at the right stage for a couple of years until I was sure they were under control, Grazon 90 is a really good grass land spray and definitely works on everything except possibly docks.....great on nettles
Alternatively you can spray with roundup and kill the grass and the weeds, in that case you would have to reseed it properly, ie. spread lime, cultivate the top of the ground, sow and roll. Grass seed is expensive and has to be sown right and will find it very hard to compete with the weeds that are established