GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

26-08-2003, 11:02 PM

wrote in message ...
anton wrote:

It certainly is a pernicious problem where it gets a foothold-
the hay from my little field is used for horses, so it needs to
be ragwort-free. Despite sheep grazing it (which was the
traditional solution, I believe), two or three times a year, and
hand-roguing (?sp) when it's in flower for a number of years,
the benighted stuff still pops up.

It'll almost certainly keep 'popping up' until there's enough growth
of grass and other ground cover to suppress the ragwort.

haha

There's
probably ragwort seed in the ground from years of misuse/overgrazing
and that seed will remain viable for several years.

From about 12 years ago to ten years ago the weeds ran riot,
but the visible result was mainly docks & thistles. The field
was then roundup'ed, chiselled & disced & then sowed with
a hay mixture. There's been no overgrazing, apart from a small area around
the rabbit warren which took a couple of years
to form a sward.

Thus pulling it
up and/or removing it before it seeds will prevent current growth but
it will take a *long* time to stop reappaering.

Quite.

--
Anton