The Control of Docks The following notes derive from our own field scale studies, demonstrations & contracts. While we offer advice, we are also aware of the almost infinite variability of sites, weather, and management conditions. Some examples of tasks, which can be suitable for handwork gangs Docks (or Scotch thistle) in new seeds that […]

The Control of Scotch/Spear Thistle (Cirsium vulgare) This biannual can infest new seeds, pastures, crop margins and fencelines. Some fields retain a large seed-bank, and surprising proportions of land can be covered by the plant after reseeding. We once calculated that nearly a third of a 6.5 acre pasture was covered in rosettes. After a […]

The Control of Creeping Thistle (Cirsium arvense) The species has fewer spines on the margins of the first leaves than the other thistles. One of the worst weeds, it occurs abundantly in grassland, arable and waste land throughout the British Isles spreads by far-creeping roots which can really regenerate new plants from small pieces, and […]

The Control of Ragwort This plant appears to have alternating seasons of rampant or less rampant growth, and it is currently spreading in the UK (2004). Most stockmen understand that ragwort is very bad or fatal for animals when eaten dried, but do not realise that it is also poisonous when nibbled as a rosette […]

The Control of Bracken Bracken is now a menace, because over the last century it has hugely increased its coverage of heather and pasture, and because it continues its increase exponentially. A hundred years ago, many villagers were pig owners or small scale stockmen, who cut bracken for animal bedding, and for whom access to […]