half acre of weeds, what to do?

[VerdantGreen]

foomar's answer is a good one, forking and digging by hand is by far the best - if hardest method.
think what you want to do with the land - dont be overwhelmed - take it a square at a time. any you want to cultivate can be dug or laid over with a membrane of some kind for future digging. any you want to lay to rough grass can be regularly mowed and the grass will win over the weeds.

as for roundup, it's admirable that you dont want to use it, but over the years i have learned that sometimes, used judiciously and sparingly, it can be a good thing - indeed it can increase biodiversity. for example if you have a hedge or shrub overgrown with bindweed (Calystegia sepium) - digging it out is not an option without digging out the whole hedge. you could hand-pull it regularly for a few years but this is pretty impractical. cut the bottom of a flowerpot or box, gather the offending vegetation into it and spray so the plant gets all the spray (rather than the soil) this kind of spot treatment can really help. alternatively mic it with wallpaper paste and paint it on.

but most importantly come of with an overall plant for what you want to do - then execute it. this may take years but when it is finished it will all come together.

good luck

VG

 

[grapeman]

Failure to kill your weeds before you use the property is why idealists go broke when farming. So much ignorance about Roundup here it's laughable.

Farmers learned long ago that "if a little bit is good, more is NOT better". And they apply that to roundup also.
http://www.bubco.com/rowcrop.htm
I use these (or others just like them) for spot application of roundup, or for large areas. I guy, 1 day and about 20% at most of the recommended rate of Roundup. to kill all weeds in 1/2 acre would cost you less then $100. Kill.... as in dead.

 

[foomar]

20% at most of the recommended rate of Roundup

The recommended dose is to ensure that a farmer can spray a field in below optimum conditions with average equipment and get a good kill , the cost in time , fuel and product to respray is huge.

If you can choose perfect weather conditions of warm , still air with stomata wide open and no chance of rain the dosage can be very much lower.

Choose the correct jet with a micron size to just wet to the point of run off and add a spreader/sticker, we now use about 20% of the roundup we used to spray on the same mix of contracts with similar results saveing thousands of pounds and 400 litres of glysophate every year.

Would not use it repeatedly as it most definately damages some soil types if applied every year , some areas we have been spraying for twenty years are now incapable of supporting any plant life due to molybdenum and other trace element depletion , which as you are doubtless aware is the basis of glysophates kill mechanism.

 

[grapeman]

Would not use it repeatedly as it most definately damages some soil types if applied every year , some areas we have been spraying for twenty years are now incapable of supporting any plant life due to molybdenum and other trace element depletion , which as you are doubtless aware is the basis of glysophates kill mechanism.

Hmm. What kind of soil type is that? I've used roundup since the early '70's when monsanto gave me product to test prior to it's ag approval. So I've used it in So. Cal in desert sand and in San Joaquin in heavier loam and clay soils. I've never seen an after effect of soils incapable of sustaining growth. I've seen damage on vines and trees, but never permanent damage to the soil.

Did these areas get more the the recommended rate?