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Bindweed taking over :(
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The truth is that in the past people we had a huge proportion of the population working on the land, and labour was cheap. Today you can do a lot organically, but it is labour intensive and requires a lot of compost, which is why organic food is costly. In the past people had very few possessions, and tended their own patch of land, and the lord of the manor's land too. I suppose we could go back to poverty, and working on the land. "Bring out your dead." "But I'm not dead yet" etc.
I prefer to use glyphosate selectively. I have field bindweed in my vegetable patch, and I have been spraying it then digging it out for over 2 years now, and it is going strong. Wanting to grow some veg is the main obstacle to elimination, since I stopped spraying after one year, ready for the veg plants.Warning: This forum may contain nuts.0 -
Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »What - really? Even the poor people themselves? Amazing.
Quit now FBR, while at least you have some credibility left.
Clearly the "poor people themselves" DIY'd:pI like the thanks button, but ,please, an I agree button.
Will the grammar and spelling police respect I do make grammatical errors, and have carp spelling, no need to remind me.;)
Always expect the unexpected:eek:and then you won't be dissapointed0 -
cyclonebri1 wrote: »Quit now FBR, while at least you have some credibility left.
Clearly the "poor people themselves" DIY'd:p
Yes indeed. Which is my point in the first place.Sanctimonious Veggie. GYO-er. Seed Saver. Get in.0 -
I prefer to use glyphosate selectively.
Me too, and a few other chemicals. I took over an organic smallholding of 5.5 acres, where the previous owner had enabled weeds to gain the upper hand. To be fair, he'd been gone 2 years when I bought it, but locals say it was a mess long before he left. I wouldn't be too critical; he did a lot and simply failed to hold everything together.
Basically, I had the choice of going down the same route as my predecessor, or getting on top of the situation chemically. I chose the latter, not because I'm a fan of messrs Dow & Monsanto, but because I'm realistic enough to know my limitations. Perhaps a younger, fitter person might have seen another way as attractive, but I didn't. There's a lot more to do here than just kill weeds, and there's only one of me!
Now, a few years on, after selective and very tedious knapsack spraying, I'm not using much in the way of chemicals at all. Indeed, it's possible to imagine a time when hardly any will be used.
Chemicals should be a means to an end, not a permanent solution, but you'd have to speak to my neighbours about that. They have hundreds of acres and machines the size of buses. Little guys like me, just fiddle about at the edges. :rotfl:0 -
Now, a few years on, after selective and very tedious knapsack spraying, I'm not using much in the way of chemicals at all. Indeed, it's possible to imagine a time when hardly any will be used.
On Gardener's Question Time once one of the panel suggested clearing an area with glyphosate as a prelude to growing organically i.e. a way to get the mess under control without breaking your back. Bob Flowerdew had kittens of course.Warning: This forum may contain nuts.0 -
On Gardener's Question Time once one of the panel suggested clearing an area with glyphosate as a prelude to growing organically i.e. a way to get the mess under control without breaking your back. Bob Flowerdew had kittens of course.
If herbicides and pesticides had been used on that area up to that point, it seems a sensible suggestion.0 -
On Gardener's Question Time once one of the panel suggested clearing an area with glyphosate as a prelude to growing organically i.e. a way to get the mess under control without breaking your back. Bob Flowerdew had kittens of course.
I've totally cleared a few areas in the garden with glyphosate, but on the fields there's a huge number of different grasses and some wild flowers, all of which I wanted to keep, hence the targeted spraying. It's an old meadow that's been messed-with in the past, so not totally natural, but worth keeping.0 -
Hiya, we had a terrible bindweed problem when we moved into our new house. We bought a weed burner from aldi and it has proven to be a godsend! We pulled down a lot of the bindweed that had wound its way round some netting on the fence and burned all the roots. It only took a few burnings and it hasn't come back!
Definately worth getting a burner, it does a lot of the weeds, we get lots of brambles too and they get a good roasting!Keely0 -
Hiya, we had a terrible bindweed problem when we moved into our new house. We bought a weed burner from aldi and it has proven to be a godsend! We pulled down a lot of the bindweed that had wound its way round some netting on the fence and burned all the roots. It only took a few burnings and it hasn't come back!
Definately worth getting a burner, it does a lot of the weeds, we get lots of brambles too and they get a good roasting!
I still have an old paraffin one of those, must date from the 60's at the latest. You are right, nothing much argues with it, and if it does it's easy to spot treat in a the "scorched earth" area.
Don't tr4y in the hedge though:D:DI like the thanks button, but ,please, an I agree button.
Will the grammar and spelling police respect I do make grammatical errors, and have carp spelling, no need to remind me.;)
Always expect the unexpected:eek:and then you won't be dissapointed0
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