Fighting the thistles, fencing & paddock management - who else losing the battle?

laceyfreckle

laceyfreckle

Well-Known Member
May 27, 2007
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Essex/Suffolk
:eek: My fields are looking AWFUL!

I seem to have a nettle and thistle field at the moment, which was my winter grazing. It's now too long and full of weeds. I've decided to split my 6 acres into just the two paddocks and rotate them on a three monthly basis (winter field has currently been rested for 6 months).

My YO has informed me they can't help this year with any mangement. The nettles are huge (last year was ragwort which we have dealt with by yielding a ragfork for a eternity) My post and rail fencing is also falling down and Piccolo the escape artist is on her last warning from the cricket club down the road as apparently she ruins their turf.

SO...after three months of asking hubby and my dad and them promising but never getting round to it I mentioned I'd have a go myself - at this point both men couldn't stop laughing and pointing :confused::p

Last night I 'put' two new fence stakes in (half rounds) with one of those post rammer thingy's - heavy that you put over the stake and manually ram. well I'm 5ft 2 and it was hard work but I was SO pleased I could actually do it!! Only another two to put in now:D

Over next week I'm putting new insulators on and salvaging what fencing I've got to run a electric line around it which should keep the ponies in. I'm then going to let them graze the field as they are much better nettle destroyers then I am.

I did take the tops off some thistles today as they are starting to flower.

I know nothing about thistles but have been told it's wrong time of year to spray. I'm trying to chop down what I can with some garden shears but I have huge thick patches of them. Will they die down once they're chopped/have flowered so I can get to the others behind them or will they keep growing and produce more flowers?

Piccolo especially has been trying to rid the thistles but there is only so many thistles the ponies can actually eat! :eek:

PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one and that there is light at the end of the tunnel!

(I am also thinking of investing in a petrol mower as need a new mower for the garden anyway...also is there a particular type of wood preservative that could help my dying fencing survive a little longer?)
 
Dont worry - you're not alone!. We've been resting our winter field for the last 7 months and it looks really terrible.

going to have to find some kind person ( that'll be hubby then!) to try and sort it out for me;)

It's the buttercups that have taken over this year:D
 
We have buttercups too :rolleyes: Doesn't that mean it's deficient in something? (Other then grass :p)

Ragwort hasn't been that bad this year....I managed to burn most of it last year. But I admit the paddock management is like a never ending head ache.

Ponies are currently in a small sectioned off paddock, that has now turned to hardly any grass. The fencing in the main summer field needs fixing too, but hoping I can get the winter one sorted next week so they can eat the weeds in there while I fix the summer one.

I'd like just one year where I'm not spending a fortune in money or time on fencing or weeds!!!!!:eek:
 
I just taped mine into a small square. there is about 12 acres covered in rushes but plenty of grass underneath but all around the permiter there is about 20 or 30 feet of brambles plus a huge corner of brambles which will have to be tacked by a machine! just too many of them to tackle by hand but luckily no ragwort or buttercups.
 
We are over run with thistles! :eek:

We have hired a cutting saw (big petrol motored strimmer type thing) and we are slowly getting through them.

It is actually taking longer to clear them once cut than it is to actually cut them.
we have literally hundreds of them in our winter field!

The best part? Brought my big girl into the winter field to put new fly rug on, so away from others whilst I adjusted it etc, and what did she do? Stand there and eat, sorry, no pick, the flowers off each individual thistle. She didnt even touch the nice thick lush grass. :confused:

Does anyone have any tips on keeping them under control and is it ok for the horses to eat them if left in the field once cut down? Please say it is then I wont have to worry about clearing every single one then. :rolleyes:
 
I only have a few nettles and thistles but I leave the ponies to pick off the thistle flowers and cut the nettles and let the ponies eat them once the sting has died off a touch.

The problem I have is too many horses on the field, I'm buying in a big bale of hay a week at the moment to feed them! Fortunately my hay field is being cut in the next few weeks so at least that's a bit more land and a bit less hay I have to buy in over the winter.

Anyone want to buy a pony or two?
 
The Horses LOVE Thistles and Nettles once they have cut and start to die off a bit;)

I was lucky this Year in that the Owners of my new Yard sprayed then topped the field for me and sorted all the fencing before I moved in.

I do have another bit of ground however that they taped off for me to use for Winter IF I needed it, however the grass is soooo long and there is also lots of brambles, you could not get machinery down there to cut it so I think it will be a NO NO unless I get down there with a petrol strimmer or such like:D Don't think I will need it, this year anyway, as Sioned has far 'too much' grass and I am about to start strip grazing.

But 'GO YOU' Laceyfreckle, thats what I do, just get on and do it rather
than keep asking, drives me NUTS, lol, I would rather do it myself, even if
it does take me a bit longer........that goes for washing up, drying up,
walking the Dogs, washing, making the bed, Painting, Wallpapering etc.,
etc., etc.,.............why the Hell did I get MARRIED............:p

Oh.........MY CAR...........can't do that and OH is a Mechanic:D:p:rolleyes:
 
thistles are fine for your horse, nettles too, mine loves them, wether they are dead or alive, alot of people actually cut them down and dry them over the summer and feed them to there horses in the winter as they have lots of goodness in them, high in iron and other goodies :D
but there are some that are poisonous so check out what ones you have

im too fighting the buttercups, and roughage, ferns aswell, ragwort isnt too bad but im finding small rosettes all the time.

bush cutters are great for brambles and high overgrowth by the way, i did my two paddock in a few hours when we first moved to the yard, and they were three foot high in all sorts, in blistering heat.
 
I thought it was only me, my field has completly been over taken by thistles n nettles this year,the ragwort we have been able to sorta keep on top of but the thistles r a nightmare. I was advised on here to just try topp them n then divide the field for next year n spray n then rotate the horses.
 
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