half acre of weeds, what to do?

[AGBeer]

2 pigs will clear AND till a field like nobody's business. i have seen 2 pigs do a 1/2 acre parcel from covered in weeds, to loamy black earth in a few months. plus you can use them to sew a cover crop when they are done clearing (ala sepp holzer) , they are some hard working tractors.
and of course you can eat em when you are done...ever had goatmeat? i wasnt impressed.

Goat is tasty as well (Yum) but I think they are a little less tempermental than pigs can be. Good call on the goat rental. Ive lived on farmland in the past so we always owned them. Come to think of it, I think we did 'loan them out' a couple of times for that very reason.

 

[Superstone]

Listen to DaPurps,then add ph adjusted topsoil,grass seed,cover with straw and keep moist.Look in the yellowpages for some mexicans to mow it for you!

 

[supermanlives]

wow that's classy man.

why . they are everywhere, they work 2 times as hard as a white school kid on summer break and they dont complain.ooh ya and they work for reasonable rates. if you get to know them and they work for you for multiple days you might even be blessed with some real good food. LOL

 

[lokes]

wow that's classy man.

i know right?
Gotta love the guy for that. Rofl

 

[TruthOrLie]

why . they are everywhere, they work 2 times as hard as a white school kid on summer break and they dont complain.ooh ya and they work for reasonable rates. if you get to know them and they work for you for multiple days you might even be blessed with some real good food. LOL

this mexican guy's wife would make him the bombest lunches to bring to work. oh man

...joke was on me, spicy going in is spicier going out

 

[grapeman]

The reason Roundup is so popular is that it works and is afforable. Aside from "nut grass", it will kill all weeds from the roots up.

1 application with a bit of "lo-bi Urea" in the mix will kill them all. Then re-irrigate and re-treat anything that greens up one more time. Then disc. If you don't kill the weeds and disc first, all you are doing is spreading out the weeds and relocating them. They will be back double.

I know many here do not like roundup. But the reason it is used is because it works for a few dollars per acre and allows you to then use the land without the weeds competing with your crop for water and nutrients in the future.

 

[foomar]

The reason Roundup is so popular is that it works and is afforable.

Also the pressure from consumers for cheap products is forceing its excessive use and turning farms into intensive food factories , local farmers i know have to choose the most cost efficient production method to stay in business.

Glysophate has been over used from its original pre GM introdution to market , the product certainly has its place for specific applications and is safer than the chems it replaced to the operator and environment if used sensibly , payroll and fuel costs are too high in some cases now without it.

 

[HighDesertJoe]

Another natural way would be Geese there great at clearing weeds and make a good Alarm system.
In my area we just mow or use a weed whip.
Good Luck

 

[Mr. Greengenes]

No animals, they rob nutrients. Rotation of choice cover crops (preferrably legumes) all the way. If the ground is real poor, start with something like Pigeon Peas, eventually rotate to Nitro Alfalfa, then plant anything you want!

 

[praisehim.]

Theres companies that rent goats. My friend had over 30 on his property for one day. cost him nine hundred bucks, but they devoured 2 acres. Theyre available all over cali due to our fires...

 

[supermanlives]

i preferr mexicans over roundup. so FU. my mexicans will kick your ass LOL. i can spend 15$ on chemicals from shady companies or pay just a bit more and have it done right . they appreciate it and dont poop everywhere unlike goats . they also dont eat everything in site like goats. ya thats right them fuckers munch on just about everything. its easier to have a few mexicans do it in southern areas

 

[Superstone]

I am a landscaper who likes things done right the first time. We use W-L M-rts version called Eliminator which contains a larger concentration of glyphosate.Watch the weeds crumble!We also apply Preen to established to kill weeds in the spring.Just don't overseed right away.I don't hate Mexicans...but some are our competition.With all said I'll be busting my balls until November.I didn't mean to offend.Have a happy Easter!

 

[Sam the Caveman]

Depends a bit on your region, but around here, I would weed eat the beds first, then whatever starts growing again get sprayed with glyphosphate.(roundup)

If you want a long term solution, use a weed barrier cloth first then spread mulch on top of it to hold it down and for asthetics. The other option is after weed eating it and rounduping the remaining survivors, spray a pre-emergent every three months to keep new weeds from starting, which is much more effort and expense than a weed barrier cloth.

Putting down the weed barrier cloth is much more labor intensive initially, but after that you don't have to use any chemicals or pull any more weeds.

 

[CannaBunkerMan]

There is a lady who rents her goats out just for this.

Best

post

EVER!

ROFLOLOMG!!! ))

Can this be my cover business? Mr. CannaBunker's Goat Rental Service, how may we help you?

 

[MMJcali]

half acre isnt too too bad..

i think a FD approved and controlled fire would be the best, you'd have such rich soil after...

 

[dubwise]

even if the burn were not "approved" by the time the 1/2 acre burned...the fd wouldn't get there in time to extinguish it. Now I'm not at all suggesting that if you live in an area prone to heavy winds and drought then go set the fire. But burning it would go quickly. We're only talking 150'x150'.

 

[Weed-Luver]

one word: brush-hog...then put in a small orchard and berry bushes...yum...

 

[wco68]

i like the goat idea.900$ seams steap for fating up some ones goats.

 

[ronbo51]

It's a bit unclear from your post whether there are mature landscape plants in the mix. IT sounds like there should be from the OP. If there are flowers and shrubs that you want to keep then you have to work around them. Roundup is hard to use around existing plants. I would weed whack down to the ground all plantlife other than what you are keeping. Sometimes its easier to pop perennials out of the ground and heel them in somewhere in part shade for a while until you get things straight. If you are determined eventually everything will get tired and whither from constant weed whacking. Broadleaf weeds don't bother me, it's the grass that sucks. Running grass ruins landscape gardens. I would spray grasses with whatever it takes to get them under control.

 

[foomar]

Running grass ruins landscape gardens.

It will propagate from a tiny bit of root , learnt that lesson the hard way on my allotment many years ago with a rotavator.

Roundup needs applying to fresh regrowth several times under best conditions to kill the extensive root structure , adding an auxin based lawn weed killer to the mix does a much better job with couch and mares tail.

Japanese knotweed is becomeing a real issue in the UK , our company charge a fortune to treat it by injecting roundup directly into the roots and stems , some of these outbreaks were definately spread by us from site to site on machinery.