https://www.reddit.com/r/Permaculture/comments/1ig3m25/reclaiming_pasture_removing_toxic_weeds/
created by Maypopi28 on 02/02/2025 at 18:17 UTC
10 upvotes, 4 top-level comments (showing 4)
I have a horse and she’s a very important part of our family. But we have several toxic weeds destroying our grass areas.
The sandburs make it dangerous for all of us to walk out there and the chamber bitter is making my animals sick. If I don’t do something this spring, they will completely take over the entire property.
Is there anything I can do?
Any herbicides will end up getting into the garden via manure or compost, etc. not to mention all the other toxic effects.
Comment by BeautifulAhhhh at 02/02/2025 at 18:31 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Would that area, and those weeds, be helped by a controlled burn?
Comment by hugelkult at 03/02/2025 at 00:05 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
You can do whatever you want to the weeds themselves but your soil remains the problem. Rehab that and you can grow whatever. Till in some aged manure shredded leaves etc and let it chill for a season
Comment by TheWoodConsultant at 03/02/2025 at 05:36 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Probably worth having someone with knowledge of the local area come take a look. Our local weed and pest office is very much open to alternative methods but there are some site/weed combinations when they know what will work and what won’t. We have some areas where they say absolutely do not burn and others where than can be helpful.
Comment by HermitAndHound at 03/02/2025 at 11:15 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Most herbicides get broken down quickly in the soil, so that's not such a big problem. But with annual weeds it just won't do much, they just sprout again and keep on going.
You can try to mulch them to death. Either first killing them with a plastic tarp when it's sunny enough to cook the plants and hopefully the first few mm of soil too. Or a woven weed cloth over large parts and then clean soil on top (the ground beneath would have to be even and smooth or a horse's hooves will damage the tarp and bam, the stuff is back).
Or mulch-mulch. Wet cardboard, I get waste hay from the neighbors and pile that up 30cm and more, leaves, straw, wood chip, anything organic and light-excluding.
The organic mulch has the benefit of changing the soil beneath. I had a battle with scratch thistles, chopping the flowers off, digging the roots up, specific herbicide painted onto them, they just laughed and came back. The waste hay would be no obstacle to grow through, they're a pioneer species on compacted clay, they can get through concrete if necessary. But suddenly the soil was shaded, moist and NOT compacted clay anymore. 3 or 4 pop up in the beds each year and that's it. With more of them growing just a few meters away, the seeds and roots simply don't fare well in the beds.
So, change the parameters those plants thrive in, and start to grow a pioneering (native) species that will thrive under the new conditions, that's neither prickly nor toxic. It won't be done in a single year, but I was surprised how quickly I got rid of my weeds compared to the effort of other attempts.