Whin removal

rodders

Well-Known Member
Have some steep fields that I want to make more productive, they have a lot of whins growing in them that I’d like to remove, what is the best way to take them out?
 

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Have some steep fields that I want to make more productive, they have a lot of whins growing in them that I’d like to remove, what is the best way to take them out?
Pull first with a track machine, pile them and burn them. Then come along with a knapsack the following year or 2 and spray with grazon 90 and spray any regrowths. Don't let anyone near them with a mulcher as they will only spread the seed.
 
If you heap them up the wind will carry them too.
Once it's farmed relatively intensively they won't cause a problem
Burn them as you heap them. Turn over the fire with the digger and there won't be a bit left. Don't give them a chance to spread their seed.
 
Pull first with a track machine, pile them and burn them. Then come along with a knapsack the following year or 2 and spray with grazon 90 and spray any regrowths. Don't let anyone near them with a mulcher as they will only spread the seed.

Mulch it spray it and power harrow it and set the grass seeds
Whins thrive on shallow dry soil ,backs of ditches hilly rocky ground. Look at rodders picture, it looks like steep ground.
I have cleared them both by digger and by mulching.
I think that using a digger is far too disruptive to the soil.
And considering that soil is usually scarce where Whins thrive.
I think it's a bit like getting rid of rushes. Cut/mulch ,spray ,cut again and cut regularly in the following years.
 

Whins thrive on shallow dry soil ,backs of ditches hilly rocky ground. Look at rodders picture, it looks like steep ground.
I have cleared them both by digger and by mulching.
I think that using a digger is far too disruptive to the soil.
And considering that soil is usually scarce where Whins thrive.
I think it's a bit like getting rid of rushes. Cut/mulch ,spray ,cut again and cut regularly in the following years.
I have seen them mulched and it caused them to be spread to several nearby fields. Have removed them ourselves from a hillside with a track machine and kept it clear. I found that Cutting them off is like pruning them- they come up double or treble as strong. No matter how much brushwood spray you put on, some of the stumps that you leave will resprout. I agree that the digger disturbs the soil but have found that a good driver can pull them with the ditching bucket teeth with minimal disturbance.

No matter what you do, you will always have to work on them. Best to get them to a way where you can run over any new shoots annually with a topper or disc mower until they eventually die out because they have been unable to spread their seed.
 
I have seen them mulched and it caused them to be spread to several nearby fields. Have removed them ourselves from a hillside with a track machine and kept it clear. I found that Cutting them off is like pruning them- they come up double or treble as strong. No matter how much brushwood spray you put on, some of the stumps that you leave will resprout. I agree that the digger disturbs the soil but have found that a good driver can pull them with the ditching bucket teeth with minimal disturbance.

No matter what you do, you will always have to work on them. Best to get them to a way where you can run over any new shoots annually with a topper or disc mower until they eventually die out because they have been unable to spread their seed.
I can't agree,we have reseeded places with lots of them.
There so slow to grow that they will never cause an issue again if its any bit intensively farmed.
There's a hillside near me that they were gone about 10ft high,they mulched them about 5 years ago and done nothing else. There's no sign of them now.
Any place that stock are moving about and gets the odd bit of topping they don't grow
 
I can't agree,we have reseeded places with lots of them.
There so slow to grow that they will never cause an issue again if its any bit intensively farmed.
There's a hillside near me that they were gone about 10ft high,they mulched them about 5 years ago and done nothing else. There's no sign of them now.
Any place that stock are moving about and gets the odd bit of topping they don't grow
That's not my experience of them. I know of farmers that went to law over the spreading of seed from mulching them - they grew where they were never seen before. Agree with you about topping them being able to control them but many of them grow on land and slopes where an ordinary farmers tractor and topper won't go.
 
Hard burn when there fresh
Or you could just mulch them before they go to seed

Hard burn when they get wet too as I've found out lately.

Bucket with lots of teeth on the digger does a decent job on them but the season for removal from September to March is not a great time to be at them especially in wetter ground.

Between them and sally trees :rolleyes:
 
Have mulched acres and acres of them. I have pulled some with our track machine also. Mulching is the way to go. The seeds will only get a chance if its not farmed. You will also spread the seeds with the track machine. The seeds have already been spread anyway so I wouldn't be concerned, they're not a noxious weed IMV. As someone is looking to make the land more productive, I would assume (if its safe to do that) that he is looking to grow more grass.
Mulch, sow, fertilise, graze, fertilise, cut = no whins. And by fertilise I mean fertilise.


The fear that's generated around seed dispersal spreads at much more alarming rate than the seeds themselves. If a plant is invading your pasture, I'd be asking why its growing.
 
Have mulched acres and acres of them. I have pulled some with our track machine also. Mulching is the way to go. The seeds will only get a chance if its not farmed. You will also spread the seeds with the track machine. The seeds have already been spread anyway so I wouldn't be concerned, they're not a noxious weed IMV. As someone is looking to make the land more productive, I would assume (if its safe to do that) that he is looking to grow more grass.
Mulch, sow, fertilise, graze, fertilise, cut = no whins. And by fertilise I mean fertilise.


The fear that's generated around seed dispersal spreads at much more alarming rate than the seeds themselves. If a plant is invading your pasture, I'd be asking why its growing.
X2 on this.

Our land would be covered in them given a few years. They are on one slope that we can't get a machine on, and have only decreased over the years since we took over the land and grazed it.

They aren't fast growers so just stock trampling them is sure to hinder them.



Reminds me of the woman next door. She has a huge wilderness of thorns and rubbish in her garden, gets it cut every few years and can't figure out why it grows back. Does nothing with it in the years between.
 
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I'm with @muckymanor. What worked in our case Spray with grazon in aug/september year 1.
Dig out the following march/april to remove the wood and burn. Will also take out any young plants at the base/roots and leave ground less disturbed as digger driver can see what they are doing. Grass harrrow/Roll and fertilise (as @bruceythom says) if you can after removal.
Watch for any regrowth during Summer and spot spray any affected areas again in Aug/September year 2. It'll take ongoing maintenance after that but if well grazed annually they will die out. Took us about 4 years to finally rid ourselves of them. We also know that given a chance they'll be back as quick.
 
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