Woolgatherer
Member
- Location
- Angus
My horse has cleared the thistles out of every field he's ever been in! I'll rent him out for a small fee.....
Tips on getting on top of creeping thistles
- Thread starter Guiggs
- Start date
You've reminded me.
A few years ago a neighbour of ours grazed a few horses over winter on the high hillside above us.This was after sheep had stripped it bare.
The next summer there was barely a scotch or spear thistle to be seen.
I concluded the horses had eaten and killed the young thistle plants over the winter.
I read something recently which contradicted the common wisdom and said the best way to deal with creeping thistle was just to mow the crap out of it over and over. Made sense when I read it but I can't find it now. I guess any that have tried on my lawn never last long with weekly mowing.
Guiggs
Member
- Location
- Leicestershire
Well the general consensus is that it was horses on the land years ago that caused the creeping thistle problem here in the first place or rather that back then nobody poo picked which gave the thistles a chance to get in and away!
Last edited:
- Location
- East Sussex
Works well if you've time on your hands and plenty of diesel
pine_guy
Member
- Location
- North Cumbria
That's what dad says. As you never see thistles in dedicated silage ground.
Is it dead or alive?, and if dead, does the rentee have to move it?
speedy6471
New Member
Used both thistlex and mcpa thistlex good kill if actively growing if droughts or higher altitude mcpa better kill.
Woolgatherer
Member
- Location
- Angus
- Location
- Near Colchester
- Location
- Hertfordshire
Mob grazing has seriously reduced the creeping thistles we had in one field. It was thick with them but has been mob grazed since 2010. There's hardly a thistle in there now.
Grouse
Member
We had acres of thistles here up until 3 years ago - I just topped them twice a year and now they are gone - just the very odd one here and there.
Cutting definitely works - no science to it and not much thought about when to do it, I just made sure they weren't about to dump a load of seed everywhere.
Cutting definitely works - no science to it and not much thought about when to do it, I just made sure they weren't about to dump a load of seed everywhere.
I've been out tonight on the steep in the UTV with flail mower behind. Bit too exciting at times. Especially as someone had logged up a beech and left logs all over the hill. Very entertaining when your top wheel hits one.........Still cleared about an acre which has just flowered so hoping that will hit it hard.
I did notice that my goats have been at them and many had the flowers nipped off and side leaves stripped. Unfortunately I only have 4, need 400 in a mob!
- Location
- Ceredigion
Whats Gal Gone fluroxypyr like on Docks
JohnGalway
Member
- Location
- Connemara, Ireland
Cut all thistles on the farm yesterday, creeping & scotch. When is best to cut again? I've no doubt they'll reappear. We're right beside the sea, so frost is uncommon. Does the cutting method require a frost?
The biz .
I guess it's 3 weeks since I started mowing them here and littluns are already popping up. I reckon it's more to do with the stage the plant is at. At the end of the day, the only thing that can stand repeated mowing / grazing is grass. Anything else will suffer. I think the key is to let the majority get as big as possible but NOT let the flowers get too developed. So I reckon mow at the first sign of flowers or within a week. I've left it too late before and the seeds will keep developing on the ground.
Not only stage of plant but also weather conditions,a damp spell after cutting will probably aid recovery however a spell of dry/drought may stress the plants enough to really weaken them allowing the plant to be attacked by other organisms,insects etc.
Good point. I was thinking while I was out mowing the other day about how gardeners go to extreme lengths to keep some plants alive and still fail and we do the reverse! Funny old business.
One thing I did notice when mowing a large patch the other day was a huge amount of brown rodent type fellas making a dash for it as I mowed. I can't think they were rats out in the open but they were on the large side for field mice. Felt a bit bad about that. Any ideas? Some kind of vole? I've also noticed a hell of a lot of butterfly action around thistle patches this time of year. So I've been wondering whether I should leave some. Problem being one plant setting seed created a few hundred more the next year.