Iain Cochrane

Comments

1. I agree with this farmer from Devon I top grassland for creeping thistles which incidently will be a greater problem if you have a high ratio of sheep to cattle but have seen no apprciable improvement . I generall top 3 times per year as close to flowering stage as possible.
   

   - John Brennan 8---0-2004



2. for creeping thistles the second and subsequent toppings should be done with short intervals to weaken plant. you are leaving them for too long so that the energy in the rhizome has time to replenish. If you weaken the plant enough you will notice that the grass will out compete the thistles- a very pleasing state of affairs!
   

   - george faulkner 4---0-2005



3. I've recently taken over a field that used to belong to my father and has been very neglected. It is now covered in weeds, nettles and thistles. There is also a patch of the field where cow manure was dumped and it has piled up quite high and covered in nettles. I want to get it cleaned up but don't know where to start. Any recomendations/advice would be greatly appreciated.
   

   - Joesephine Cahill 6---0-2005



4. The way you deal with the field will depend to some extent on its past history but will be determined mainly by what you want to use the field for in the future. Is this just a 'tidy up' or are you intending to graze or crop it?
   

   - Bill Bond 7---0-2005



5. At the moment it's really a 'tidy up', but at some stage in the future I might use it for grazing.
   It was once used for growing potatoes, probably twenty years ago but was used for grazing cattle up until ten years ago. For now, I'd be happy to make it look like a field instead of a mountain of thistles and nettles.
   

   - Josephine Cahill 7---0-2005



6. For now I would be tempted to cut down the vegetation with the most suitable equipment that you have available. If you have sufficient labour then pulling the thistles, ragwort, and nettles out first by hand or with the various weed pulling tools that are available would be best, especially while the soil has some moisture in it and before things begin to seed. After that it is a matter of dealing with regrowth as it develops, targeting patches of the 'weeds' you want to eliminate.
   

   - Bill Bond 8---0-2005



7. Thanks for that. Time to roll up the sleeves I think!
   

   - Josephine Cahill 8---0-2005



8. get more pictures
   

   - jeffry jefferson 2---1-2006



9. I have a six acre plot that is nothing but thisles and nettles that since the warm week and then rain are now topping 4ft with stems up to an inch in diameter and nettles to match 13 years ago I treated the field chemically with a toxin just killing the two weeds where can I get the same thing again as I am now disabled and cannot keep them down any other way.
   

   - Vicki 7---0-2008