The ABC of Ragwort Control

Ragwort is not a weed that lets you get away with a spur-of-the moment approach.  

There are two reasons for that.  First is that this normally biennial plant has the ability to morph into a very hard-to-kill multi-crown perennial if it’s been mowed, slashed or ineffectually sprayed.  And each mature plant can produce 200,000 or more seeds.  Seeds that remain viable for 10 years.

The second reason ragwort is a punishing opponent is that if you don’t deal with it before flowering, it no longer responds as well to the effects of herbicides, thus becoming much more difficult to kill.

So the right approach is to be ready early with a planned seasonal control programme and to execute each step on time and thoroughly.

There are three stages in an effective ragwort control plan:

A. Autumn

Spot treatment of all erect and multi-crown ragwort plants.  Use GrassMate or MSF600 for spot spraying, and BuckShot for dry spot treatment. GrassMate is grass friendly.  MSF600 is not.  Both will kill clover but if spot-spraying this is not such an issue.

Rainbow & Brown 2,4-D 720 Amine at 55ml/10L will control seedlings but will suppress clover.  

Blends of Dicamba 500 SL and either MCPA750 or 2,4-D 720 Amine can also be used and are pasture friendly but will kill clover.

B. Winter

Boom spraying of seedling and rosette stage ragwort plants.  Rainbow & Brown 2,4-D 720 Amine at 3.4L/Ha will control seedlings well.  Pasture-friendly and clover damage is minimised where clover is largely dormant or has been hard grazed shortly before spraying.

Or use a blend of Dicamba 500 SL – 100ml plus 260ml MCPA750 in 100L water per hectare, or Dicamba 500 SL – 120-140ml plus 595ml 2,4-D 720 Amine per 100L water per hectare.  These are also grass-friendly but will kill clover.

C. Spring

Spot treatment of any surviving plants before flowering.  Use GrassMate or MSF600 again for spot spraying, and BuckShot for dry spot treatment.

Neglecting any one of the three steps will have very unpleasant consequences:

• Slack autumn spot treatment will mean that many plants become too large for control by the winter rosette spray programme.

• Missing the winter boom spraying will mean that all those rosettes will grow into the harder-to-kill erect plants with active seed heads.

• And failing to tidy up any survivors in early spring will add enormously to the seed bank, as well as producing a new generation of multi-crown perennials.