Anybody with advice on vegetation killer?

[ducks4you]

I thought that I'd post separately, but the soil is worn out and compacted. I have heard it said that weeds help keep the soil bc they will grow and cover soil that won't support other plants. You often hear it said that a healthy lawn with healthy soil has few weeds naturally. I am aware of this, but you cannot plant trees and bushes that will crack your foundation right NEXT to your foundation, or else you may compromise it, even though they shade out many weeds. That makes your plantings very expensive

 

[valley ranch]

Greetings, Vegetation killer, well, Pulling them is good, burning is good. My Uncle use to apply White gas, he felt it had no harmfull additives. I lean to using that, I think that's what Coleman fuel is. It may not be as cheep as some dirty chemicals or kill in the same way but it won't posion your land like the most widely used one will.

Richard

 

[Smart Red]

@ducks4you, how is the project going? DH has always grubbed the woody and perennial growth out and I have covered the ground with brown grocery bags to keep new plants from growing. Carpeting, cardboard, or even layers of newspaper will do the same.

Nature doesn't like bare ground. Something will start growing, be it dandelions, plantain, or poison ivy unless you live in the desert. Covering the ground and applying a mulch over that will make the space presentable while the plants are starving for light.

 

[valley ranch]

That's great where it can be done, I have trouble right along the fence line.

Richard

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks for the replies. I'll try to be short. With horses and travel you pick up burdock. THIS year almost all of my fencelines are growing burdock "trees," what with all of the rain.
Fortunately a good 85% of them are first year plants, which means they don't have any burrs on them, plus burdock leaves are actually good for your skin, and I have never gotten a rash even hand pulling them. Also, a blessing is that they have shaded out most of the other weeds like thistle and other noxious ones. My solution is upcoming. We have a local yard machinery store chain (only two stores) that rent bush-hogs, which are brush mowers that have a wide swath and can also chop down any saplings, since we get "trees of paradise", too along the fencelines. If you rent one on a Saturday morning, you don't have to return it until Monday, so you get 2 days worth with a single day's rental. On the weekend of the 18th-19th (July, 2015) my DH and two DD's are going to work as a team to clear all of the fencelines of all weeds and saplings. One will operate the bush hog, another will pile up the cut brush on the back of the truck to move to our bonfire pile, and the other two will kill the vegetation under the fencerows. After each break we will rotate jobs. BIG job, if you break up each fence to fence because there are 18 sections, with some short and others several hundred feet long. The shorter ones are jampacked, and the longer ones, not so much.
I'm having trouble with my sprayer, so I'll check it next week when I get home from my Colorado vacation, and buy a new one, if I have to, plus buy as much vegetation killer as possible to finish up the job. You buy mass quantities, then save the receipts for returns of unused. Vegetation killer will kill everything it touches for about one year, enough time to give me a breather from mowing these weeds.
Wish me luck. I'll report back in a few weeks, and take some pictures for your perusal and perspective.

 

[seedcorn]

Good luck and kill in peace

 

[ducks4you]

Smart Red, I had thought about that. I have piles of stall cleanings that I can cover over when I'm done. I also have two push mowers and one is a bag mower, so I can use that, too. Thanks!

 

[bobm]

Smart Red, I had thought about that. I have piles of stall cleanings that I can cover over when I'm done. I also have two push mowers and one is a bag mower, so I can use that, too. Thanks!

Those stall cleanings are the best boost for plant lush groth around . Up to 4 years ago when I retired, I had horses by the dozens and in addition to 20 acres of pastures, I also brought in over 100 + tons of alfalfa hay and up to 20 tons of grain per year. The horses generate lots of " fertilizer" ,and the outside mares that come in for breeding also bring in many different types of weed seeds. A nightmare in waiting to destroy the pastures ! So , spot spraying treatments at the first sign of new weeds at pasture rotation time as well as spraying the fence lines with Roundup is the most cost , time, labor saving and safest treatment around.

 

[valley ranch]

Spot spraying show good pasture management. That coupled with the use of a less toxic alternative to glyphosate might have been a wise move.

 

[seedcorn]

Except for Liberty, glyphosate is the only other chemical with little to no half life. And with added surfactants, neither drift.