# need to get rid of buttercups - suggestions please



## Perce (27 May 2009)

I have an increasing number of buttercups in my fields. they are predominantly creeping buttercups.

I have approx 5 acres, and need to initially tackle the 3 acres that are not down to hay. 

I have a shoulder 5L knapsack sprayer and a pair of legs! I usually spot weed using Broadsward for docks/nettles and hand pick thistles. I tackle a section of the bigger paddocks at a time as I rotate the grazing. I have managed to keep on top of these by this method, however the buttercups seem to be increasing slightly year on year. Probably not helped by the previous 3 wet summers.

My land does get wet at the lower end during the winter and i know buttercups like damp areas. but it is dry throughout the majority of the year.

I have tried Broadsward on patches of buttercup also and, although it knocks them back a bit, they seem to recover and continue. I may be getting the dilution rate wrong but it sorts the docks out no problem - i have asked for tcorrect rate in another post.

Some people suggest it may need liming? - any info on what this entails appreciated.

So - have you used something that worked?
Anyone else used broadsward with more success than me?
Anyone used Grazon sucessfully to tackle buttercups?
Anyone limed their paddocks 'by hand'?

Thanks

Perce


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## hussar (28 May 2009)

The farmer limed my field in mid-April, told me it would kill the moss and buttercups, but TBH it did nothing for the buttercups which seem to thrive on it! That may be down to the fact that we then went 3 weeks without rain so the lime didn't get washed into the soil (and I had to remove the horses to a livery yard but that's another story!).

 I've been using Grazon for docks and hoping that it might sort the buttercups as well - but although it does seem to give them a slight fright in that the flowers wilt, the plant itself seems unaffected.

I'm a bit reluctant to use yet another weedkiller just for buttercups so will be interested in the answers you get too.


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## Patches (28 May 2009)

I only two very small patches of buttercups in my paddocks, about 1/2 metre square. I was hoping Grazon 90 would kill them....but it seems the same story as your Broadsward. It certainly knocks them back, and you think they might die, but they don't. 

I was hoping to hear Broadsward might do buttercups! Gah. 

The only other weedkiller we use here is MCPA. I don't know if it's effective against buttercups because, as I say, we don't normally have an issue with them, and indeed two tiny patches over a few acres of summer grazing is nothing. I just want to make sure it doesn't get worse. 

Our dairy fields always seem to stay free of them too. We've been told in the past, not sure if it's true or not, that the fact we bagmuck fertlise in early spring helps. The grass gets going and chokes them, preventing growth.


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## Tnavas (28 May 2009)

3 ton lime per acre was what the farm store advised - great for clearing a lot of other weeds too.


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## Queenbee (28 May 2009)

how much does a ton of lime cost?


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## Perce (28 May 2009)

thanks for ideas/comments everyone!

popped into my local mole valley farmers and had a chat today. all rather demoralising i'm afraid!

they are no longer doing broardsward so Grazon 90 will be the only option from them for the ordinary horse owner without a certificate to apply agricultural products. having said that he didn't feel that these were a lot better than broadsward or grazon20.

too late to do buttercups anyway now as they need to be done at the rossette stage (which i did already know) and , in his words, they are a 'plague'. and incredibly difficult to get rid of. BS and G20 hit them but they tend to recuperate as we have all discovered! but intensive attack with these might be the only approach. noticably when i read the brochure for grazon90 he gave me buttercups were NOT mentioned as weeds they tackle.

suggested that in order to eradicate them farmers will often just plough up and reseed in the end. bit drastic for me i'm afraid!

and he has given me number of contractor who could come out  next spring and spray with an agricultural product that may well work out cheaper than G20. contractor not local to me however so will need to try another.

so a demoralising tale!

i will continue with my patch trials with BS to see if it makes a difference and if it does will tackle more next year. and i thought owning my own land would make horse ownership easier!LOL!

I loved buttercups as a child! 
I am beginning to hate their cutesy little butter-loving faces!!!!

Perce


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## Perce (28 May 2009)

Patches

what do you mean by 'bagmuck' fertilze?

Perce


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## lizzieuk1 (29 May 2009)

roundup weed killer is the best for killing the buttercups, works brilliantly and we do our paddocks by the 'on foot with sprayer' method!!  obv you need to leave the ponies off it for a number of weeks (depending on rain fall) after application but if you section bits off should be easy enough.
as said best ask a nice local farmer if he could lime the field for you its just too big a job to do by hand.


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## 0ldmare (29 May 2009)

I have a major problem with buttercups this year - the paddocks had some last year but they absolutely exploded this year. I think its because it was so wet and we are on heavy clay/flat ground so it just lies wet for ages. The hay field has never ever had a problem before, but this year even that has big patches. 

This spring I tried spraying with Grazon 90 with a backpack, but as others have found it just gave them a bit of a headache for a week or 2 and then they bounced back. I dont think I actually killed a single one 
	
	
		
		
	


	





I am going to try to get a contractor in next year to spray it. The only trouble is there seems to be a very short window to do it because they have to be at the rosette stage, but with no flowers. Eeek, how I am going to get anyone in that short period I have no idea, but have to try otherwise I think the fields are not going to have any grass at all!


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## Perce (29 May 2009)

thanks oldmare! Rather selfishly, it's nice to know i'm not the only one!

round up - that will kill the lot won't it? a good idea for patches of buttercups that just won;t go away i think. problem is mine seem to have taken over! i'd have no grass left!

now looking to hear from someone who has paid a contractor to spray and have had success!!! am happy to do it next spring if it works! but don't want to waste money if it doesn't.

Anyone??

Perce


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## Patches (30 May 2009)

Round-up kills everything, grass included though, doesn't it?

That's fine if you just have a tiny patch, but what about people whose entire field is infested?

For buttercups most farmers burn off the whole pasture with round-up to kill everything before ploughing.

Buttercup and docks, I believe, both survive being ploughed without first being eradicated.

To the OP. Bagmuck is white little balls/crystals that are spread on the field via a tractor and bagmuck spinner. It's not cheap stuff, we buy over 30 tonnes a year and it's currently £426 per ton! 
	
	
		
		
	


	





We mostly spread Nitrogen bagmuck but there are varying compounds. It's strange though because the only place we get buttercups growing are along the borders of fields where the bagmuck doesn't reach (we don't want to spread over the hedge and on to the road). 

You can tell horse paddocks a mile off. They're always covered in buttercups. I assume it's to do with the grass being trashed and bare over winter. It gives buttercups a chance to take hold before the grass comes back through?

I'm lucky because I don't have to graze my horse fields over winter. When our cows move indoors for winter, I put the horses on their pastures. 20+ acre fields on rotation for 4 horses means we never even have the grass eaten down!


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## custard (31 May 2009)

I'm plagued with the damn things too this year and if one more non-horsey person says 'don't they look lovely!' I will personally drag them face down through the lot until they are covered in weeping blisters

So far have just had one half of our 2.5 acres done with Pasturol Plus.  In the areas given a good dollop it's knocked them right back as well as the docks and to some degree the nettles so may be worth a try.


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