Rushes, and the best way to murder them

roosterman71

Hello all

I've a few spots with lots of rushes growing galore. They are in fields that were drained and reseeded ~5 years ago, but still would hold a bit of water due to the low lying nature of them. In these patches, there's rushes thriving.

The fields are used for silage (maybe cut twice), or hay. After grass is then grazed by sheep until late in the year (could be Christmas). Right now, there isn't much grass on them and the rushes are nice and green as they are young after being cut in August time.

I've a quad and a weed licker. And a mower to cut them if needs be. I need to know:
- Whats the best way to get rid using the above equipment?
- What do I put in the licker?
- When is the best time to do it?

RedPeppers

roosterman71 wrote: »

Hello all

I've a few spots with lots of rushes growing galore. They are in fields that were drained and reseeded ~5 years ago, but still would hold a bit of water due to the low lying nature of them. In these patches, there's rushes thriving.

The fields are used for silage (maybe cut twice), or hay. After grass is then grazed by sheep until late in the year (could be Christmas). Right now, there isn't much grass on them and the rushes are nice and green as they are young after being cut in August time.

I've a quad and a weed licker. And a mower to cut them if needs be. I need to know:
- Whats the best way to get rid using the above equipment?
- What do I put in the licker?
- When is the best time to do it?

Had a field where they became plentiful a few years back took silage off it in may then after couple of weeks when the young rushes were up blasted them with mcpa. Not one came back after that.

_Brian

If your using the weeicker then a roundup style product at 10% works well.
Mow them first, allow 8-10 weeks regrowth and lick the fresh green rush, it works well.

You could mow them as above and again let them regrow, but spray with mcpa it gets a great kill. But you didn’t mention having a sprayer so maybe the weed lick option is for you.

Base price

If using the weedlicker with roundup add a generous squirt of washing up liquid, it acts as a sticker. I find with stronger rushes if you lick them both ways you get a better more unified kill.

roosterman71

And after the licking, do I just leave them or have they to be cut after a while?
And when is the best time to hit them? Before I let the grass up for silage, or wait till after?

carrollsno1

If only vegans ate rushes, thered be no poor mouth anymore or lobby groups looking for suckler supports. If only, wishfull thinking....

farisfat

Soil fertility ph p and K.
Get soil samples done and correct these and you'll have no rushes.

gozunda

farisfat wrote: »

Soil fertility ph p and K.
Get soil samples done and correct these and you'll have no rushes.

^^^^ This. Without it spraying and respraying down the line is inevitable...

Buford T. Justice XIX

roosterman71 wrote: »

And after the licking, do I just leave them or have they to be cut after a while?
And when is the best time to hit them? Before I let the grass up for silage, or wait till after?

Cut for silage and wait a few weeks until they are tall and green and then go in and spray/wipe. Unless they are green and growing, they won't take in enough spray to kill them all. Better still is two cuts and spray.

Medium term, lime and getting the P&K levels right will give grass a better chance of competing with the rushes.

And long term, drainage will help hugely to take water off the surface and reduce the damage to the surface while grazing in wet conditions but that takes a nice bit of money to rectify.

roosterman71

Will be doing a soil test shortly alright. Convinced the auld lad. Next step will be getting him to do the recommendation from the test, and not cheap his way out of it and horse on some 18-6-12 and say it be grand!

Drainage is already in place, but it is very low lying and there is a stream running along the end. In winter, it's not unusual to have lying water for a while while the stream levels are up. It drains away quickly once levels subside. There be no cattle on it from August on, only sheep.