Hi, new to this but heres goes. Does anyone have any clues about removing 20 acres of heavily infested groundsell? I have been cutting it off near the base, but have resisted spraying roundup on the stump which was recommended by my local council. Also, the groundsell is growing in a paddock of 7' high grass which hasnt been slashed in 3 yrs and is extremely thick. Whats the best way to deal with this? Regular slasher or a hay cutter or???(Please dont suggest bushfire)! Thanks.
It appears to be toxic to horses, cattle, sheep, goats & chickens, but more problems are reported with sheep & goats because they will eat it, and the other animals won't. From The North Coast Weeds Advisory Committee at https://www.northcoastweeds.org.au/site- ... el_rcp.pdf : “Groundsel bush [Baccharis halimifolia] is relatively easy to control through either herbicide or mechanical techniques” but it doesn’t say exactly how. But it does say that it has to be done before it goes to seed, as one plant can produce over a million seeds. It says that it was imported from the U.S., but groundsel here is usually Senecio vulgaris (although they resemble each other). At Natural Resources, Mines & Water at https://www.nrm.qld.gov.au/factsheets/pdf/pest/pp13.pdf there was more useful information. Burning it doesn’t kill it, as it just takes the top off. Pulling the small plants by hand, grubbing out the larger plants or chopping them off at least 10cm below ground level appears to be the main recommendation. But it appears that you have to keep doing it as the seed germinates (seed is viable for at least 2 years). And the more times you let seed set, the longer you will have to keep doing it. For 20 acres, I would think you would have to look at mechanical means, and the grass may hinder doing that. Sue
g'day willi, brahman cattle will graze it down as well so maybe agist the 20 acres to someone with brahmans maybe any of the brahman crosses will work as well droughtmasters will as well. then work from there we had some on our ploace but by the sounds not like you i used to pull new stuff out after rain the rest i walked around or rode on the tractor and sprayed it with that glypho' stuff mixed at the woody read rate with a bit of detergent added, i think either 10 or 15 mm of glypho' to the litre of water i think worked a treat just needed to give all the new top growth a good spray and it all was dead in 2 weeks. len