Neighbour spraying weed killer

bigmac3

Let me start with saying, I cannot stand weed killer, I’ve never sprayed it and never will. Besides it being toxic and ruining a natural habitats, I have dogs get my water from a well.

So I noticed a 3-4 meters of the ditch outside my house turning yellow, today it has gone completely yellow along with the about 30 meters outside my next door neighbours house.

I live in the countryside and the ditches are full of life, a pheasant even jumped out of this ditch in front of me a couple of weeks ago. It had lovely wild flowers growing in it also.

I would be annoyed with the neighbour spraying the roadside outside their house, but I’m absolutely livid that they went on and sprayed outside my house, within 10 meters of my well.

What do I do here? I actually want to go next door give the neighbour both barrels.

refusetolose

you go in and tell them not to spray around your place

Nigzcurran

Pox bottle of a neighbour sprayed **** all over the place a few weeks ago to get rid of some brambles growing on her side of the wall and has completely killed a beautiful climber I had on my side of the wall, would have taken her 2 minutes to cut it down with a shears

bigmac3

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117649350#Comment_117649350

Did you have words with her?

Nigzcurran

Nope cause I’m useless at that, I just quietly simmered and vented on here! Only reason I copped was when I saw all the dead brambles intertwined with my climber and stuck my head over the wall and saw everything growing in her garden was dead . She hates nature and got rid of all her lawn for paving slabs

bigmac3

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117649429#Comment_117649429

Not great at it myself but don’t want this to happen again, so feel ill have to have words.

fryup

try to be as diplomatic as possible, worse thing to do is fall out

maestroamado

Why don't you get on the Council.

After the roadside ids their responsibility, safety etc..

If they maintain it going forward problem solved...

Fuascailteoir

How anyone thinks the look of a toxic spill is more appealing than a hedgerow is beyond me. Can see houses where entire banks of land around them are sprayed to death. Atrocious looking. Can only assume it is a mixture of ignorance and hatred of life in general

dudley72

The roadside also has to be kept in check, if it is too overgrown it is useless to everything including animals and a danger for cars etc

If you are interested in wildlife etc, all around our area people are taking sections of lawn or outside house and planting wild flowers etc which promote bee/flies etc. Over grown grass and weeds on a hedge won't apart from giving some cover to foxes.

A bit of weed killer is not going to travel 10m to the well, so no risk. Unless they are dumping barrels of the stuff out, I expect it was a back sprayer

In this situation you will probably find the neighbour was trying to help you out. Going in giving "two barrels" will achieve nothing. I had a neighbour who was spraying everything around our place, any sign of a flower in the grass area and he wanted to spray so the place was totally green, instead I approached him showing how they can help wildlife etc and now he has his own little area of wild flowers.

fryup

yes educate educate educate

C__MC

Off topic but I have numerous weeds on a site

I intend to spray on site, have bought weed killer for it, it's a 5litre drum, weed killer is clear all

What ratio of water should I use with clear all in the hand sprayer?

Thanks

dudley72

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117652912#Comment_117652912

Does it not say on the container?

C__MC

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117652949#Comment_117652949

No.

looksee

Quote: 'The roadside also has to be kept in check, if it is too overgrown it is useless to everything including animals and a danger for cars etc.

If you are interested in wildlife etc, all around our area people are taking sections of lawn or outside house and planting wild flowers etc which promote bee/flies etc. Over grown grass and weeds on a hedge won't apart from giving some cover to foxes.'

You don't need the cheapo packets of 'wild flowers' to encourage insects; 'overgrown weeds and grass' are in fact the wild flowers that need to be allowed to flourish. If you want it to look tidy just mow or strim it, it will still have enough flowering growth for the wildlife but not turn into a rampant jungle.

A neighbour persistently weed-killed a stone and earth bank till the earth blew/wore away and the bank fell down.

Unless people are very careful the 'wild flowers' that are all the rage will turn out to be a liability in the long run.

I’d make sure they don’t spray anything on your property but outside that it’s up to themselves.

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117652912#Comment_117652912

According to this link: http://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/products/labels/05794%20-%20Clearall%20XL%20-%202017%20to%20date.pdf

Page 8 - if the site is not intended to bear vegetation:

About 4 - 6 litres of product p/hectare it appears.. For Hydraulic Sprayers recommendation is to apply product to 80 - 250 l/ha water, For Knapsack Sprayers apply product to 100 - 250 l/ha. Hectare is 10,000 sq meters, so divide or multiply accordingly for amount of water and product required.

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117650327#Comment_117650327

I'm sure they were trying to help, but the wild plants growing in hedgerows are exactly the type of plants pollinators and wildlife require most. Far, far better than any "wildflower" muck that gets sown. Roadside banks and ditches are hugely valuable often because they have been left alone by people for so long, scouring these manually or chemically is just exactly the wrong thing to do. Travelling around parts of Longford and east Galway last week, hedgerows green and thriving, then interrupted by awful poisoned stretches. Losing the head is no use alright, you have to try to give your side of things.

dudley72

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117653430#Comment_117653430

Sorry I disagree. Most of these hedges have been chopped or sprayed very regular. The days of a hedge left alone for years do not exist, hence why you have lock down on when you can cut the hedge.

You will find ditch's full of japanese knotweed and the latest is the lovely large white thing which burns your skin with it spa when cut.

If the neighbour has sprayed the ditch then this is something they do regular I would expect, which means it is useless to animals/insects. Creating an area with both the OP and the neighbour involved will help everyone.

I find it strange every website you search recommends to plant these flowers for bees etc but people on boards describe them as "muck". Sorry but I will go with all the expert.

The OP can do what he wants but thats my recommendation and should help build neighbour relations

looksee

'I find it strange every website you search recommends to plant these flowers for bees etc but people on boards describe them as "muck". Sorry but I will go with all the expert.'

Many websites recommend to sow wildflowers but many of them are jumping on a bandwagon of 'wildflowers good' without following the science through. Left to itself a hedgerow or verge will populate with the weeds/wildflowers indigenous to the area. Even if it has been sprayed numerous times, left to itself it will regrow.

Agreed, hogweed (the stuff with the dangerous sap) will grow and can be hand-weeded out.

Japanese knotweed is exactly the result of what you are recommending - sowing or planting stuff that is not local to the area and that has got out of hand.

When you buy the random 'wild flower' mixes in the supermarket or garden centre they are generally a mix of easy garden flowers that can be relied on to grow and briefly look pretty. (After they have flowered they look just as overgrown and scruffy as indigenous weeds.) You have no idea where the seeds in these packets were harvested or how modified they have been. Even the most basic wildflower from, say, England, compared with the same flower from Ireland can be different. You are introducing foreign plants - which is exactly how Japanese knotweed arrived - which messes with the local ecology.

It is possible, however, to buy Irish harvested seeds of local and indigenous plants which will be more appropriate to the local ecology and there is nothing wrong with doing that, but you have to go looking for them. Or you could allow to grow naturally what wants to grow there, weeding out thuggish things you don't want.

There are a lot of websites out there, gardening, commercial, general lifestyle etc that have info on wildflower sowing, some more in depth than others. I am a botanist and ecologist (both work and an all consuming hobby) and work with community groups on improving biodiversity knowledge and practice as well as surveying these habitats. It is very difficult for anyone to navigate and assess all the information that is out there, so it is unsurprising that a lot of misinformation gets spread. People generally want to do the right thing, but unfortunately, just good intentions are not enough. It is so easy (and I see it so often) to do far more harm than good. The link has a nice piece by Dr Noeleen Smyth of the National Botanic Gardens; gives a view shared by quite a few experts I have discussed it with.

https://pollinators.ie/spreading-seeds-of-doubt-fake-wildflower-mixes/

dudley72

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117654093#Comment_117654093

You seem to be jumping on a post that nobody has made. I said to put in wildflowers. I never mentioned from a super market .....

looksee

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117654116#Comment_117654116

Please, actually read my post, then read the link in Blaris's post. You are being very non-specific referring to 'flowers for bees' - if you intend that people should do some research about which flowers are attractive to bees, then proposing that they go to a reputable site selling Irish grown and harvested plant seed, then you need to say so. Otherwise people will think if they go and buy a packet of 'flowers for bees' that's ok, when we all know it is not.

But if they just allow what is naturally there to grow, even if they take out the ones that they don't want, the bees and other insects will be better provided for.