Not sure if this is the right section to post this query, or whether I should have used "best practices". Anyway, this summer I had a lot of ragwort growing behind the shed, and when I eventually got round to clearing the area I put all the ragwort on the compost. A friend has now recently said that I should not have done so, as ragwort is toxic. Help! Do you think that the heat generated will kill the toxins? Or should I abandon the whole lot and start a new compost pile? Any advice will be welcomed, as I don't want to poison my patch!
Thanks,
Lyn.
Ragwort
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
Hi Lyn
I reckon that as long as the ragwort has thoroughly broken down in your heap by the time you come to use it, the toxins won't pose any threat. However, you do have to be careful when weeding it and should wear good gardening gloves and to cover exposed skin as it can cause severe rashes. Personally I woun't compost ragwort becuase of the danger of spreading seeds should the heap not heat up as much as expected and if I couldn;t get to it while still small would sooner burn it(it's one of the few things I would still burn).
I reckon that as long as the ragwort has thoroughly broken down in your heap by the time you come to use it, the toxins won't pose any threat. However, you do have to be careful when weeding it and should wear good gardening gloves and to cover exposed skin as it can cause severe rashes. Personally I woun't compost ragwort becuase of the danger of spreading seeds should the heap not heat up as much as expected and if I couldn;t get to it while still small would sooner burn it(it's one of the few things I would still burn).
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sally wright
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Dear Lyn,
Ragwort is very toxic to livestock and anyone with it on their land who has horses and other herbivores should take every step to remove it. The creatures will ignore it when it is living but when it it dead they will eat it with mostly fatal consequences. It is a slow lingering death and can be costly as I don't think most insurers will pay out for any losses, especially if you have the stuff on your land and have not cleared it.
The most effective way to get rid of small infestations is to dig it out. Have a party and get everyone to bring a spade or fork, it is surprising how may you can dig out. A bottle of plonk for the one with the most is a good incentive. For very bad and large areas it would be sensible to get in a chap with a sprayer who can do the job effectivly. Just remember it will not be possible to use the land for stock for quite some time so be very sure that this the option for you.
As for putting the stuff on a compost heap I don't see any problems with that except if you put on the seed heads and the heap does not get hot enough to kill them. It would be wise to wear gloves when handling it. The best time for digging it out is just before flowering as the plants are easier to see.
A final note, this is one of the notifiable weeds and you can be made by law to remove it.
Regards Sally Wright
Ragwort is very toxic to livestock and anyone with it on their land who has horses and other herbivores should take every step to remove it. The creatures will ignore it when it is living but when it it dead they will eat it with mostly fatal consequences. It is a slow lingering death and can be costly as I don't think most insurers will pay out for any losses, especially if you have the stuff on your land and have not cleared it.
The most effective way to get rid of small infestations is to dig it out. Have a party and get everyone to bring a spade or fork, it is surprising how may you can dig out. A bottle of plonk for the one with the most is a good incentive. For very bad and large areas it would be sensible to get in a chap with a sprayer who can do the job effectivly. Just remember it will not be possible to use the land for stock for quite some time so be very sure that this the option for you.
As for putting the stuff on a compost heap I don't see any problems with that except if you put on the seed heads and the heap does not get hot enough to kill them. It would be wise to wear gloves when handling it. The best time for digging it out is just before flowering as the plants are easier to see.
A final note, this is one of the notifiable weeds and you can be made by law to remove it.
Regards Sally Wright
Hi Sally,
I agree with you posting and would just like to stress the point about using gloves when handling it as it can have harmful effects on us as well.
I always dig or pull Ragwort and if it is in flower I always put the head into a small polythene bag and bend the plant down and this way if there are any seed they have a good chance of being contained.
I always leave it in large black dustbin bags in the tunnel and when it is dried out I incinerate the whole lot. I appreciate that the burning of plastic is a little unethical but it really is only a very small amount after all.
Talking of notifiable weeds there is a 1948 Law which make Docks and Thistle not notifiable but you can be prosecuted for having them on your land.
Since the Law was passed I do not think that there has ever been a single prosecution. Good intention but we would all be criminals by now.
I agree with you posting and would just like to stress the point about using gloves when handling it as it can have harmful effects on us as well.
I always dig or pull Ragwort and if it is in flower I always put the head into a small polythene bag and bend the plant down and this way if there are any seed they have a good chance of being contained.
I always leave it in large black dustbin bags in the tunnel and when it is dried out I incinerate the whole lot. I appreciate that the burning of plastic is a little unethical but it really is only a very small amount after all.
Talking of notifiable weeds there is a 1948 Law which make Docks and Thistle not notifiable but you can be prosecuted for having them on your land.
Since the Law was passed I do not think that there has ever been a single prosecution. Good intention but we would all be criminals by now.
JB.
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sally wright
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Dear Johnboy,
I think the act has been updated since then, in the 80's I think. I cannot remember exactly what it is called now but people have been done under its rules. It now includes those alien lovelies the giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam.
Regards Sally Wright.
I think the act has been updated since then, in the 80's I think. I cannot remember exactly what it is called now but people have been done under its rules. It now includes those alien lovelies the giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan balsam.
Regards Sally Wright.
re the advice to wear gloves, i thought ragwort was only toxic if eaten. ive allways pulled it up bare handed, but will say that we only usually find one or two plants at a time and normally would not have a pair of gloves immediatly to hand.
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Beccy
While not true with all 'toxic' things, many plant toxins affect different people differently, so it is probably better to be safe than sorry. And sometimes they can even affect the same person differently, for instance if they are phototoxins, in other words you could be ok on a cloudy day, but not a sunny one.
For some reason I'm now allergic to goose grass (cleavers, sticky willie), but I played with it happily as a kid.
For some reason I'm now allergic to goose grass (cleavers, sticky willie), but I played with it happily as a kid.
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fen not fen
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We have been advised to wear gloves and long sleeves etc when pulling ragwort as it apparently can be absorbed through the skin and then affect the liver of the puller! I'm not convinced but we have ten acres with a light infestation which is actually a lot of ragwort, so we have taken these precautions to be on the safe side. But I must admit if I'm walking the field and see one plant I'll pull it barehanded just to make sure it is pulled.
As for prosecutions, the prosecuting body should be the local authority but they are often the worst offenders! (although ironically in the largely livestock-light lincolnshire the council do pull/spray roadside ragwort, but when i lived in the livestock-heavy pennines the roadside verges were covered in it)
As for prosecutions, the prosecuting body should be the local authority but they are often the worst offenders! (although ironically in the largely livestock-light lincolnshire the council do pull/spray roadside ragwort, but when i lived in the livestock-heavy pennines the roadside verges were covered in it)
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Jenny Green
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Beccy wrote:
For some reason I'm now allergic to goose grass (cleavers, sticky willie), but I played with it happily as a kid.
Me too! Any bare skin gets itchy and inflamed for days. But it's such fun pulling out great handfuls of the stuff and so hard to keep your arms covered.
Just a word in defense of ragwort,it is a major foodplant for the caterpillars of the Cinnabar moth and they have been used for control of the weed.So where there is no danger of livestock grazing it a little live and let live provides a balance.
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secret guest
Ragwort has in its sap, alkaloids, which damage the livers of mammals. It is absorbed through the skin, so that you should wear gloves when handling it. It is a notifiable weed, and should be pulled up and burnt at every opportunity. It sets enormous amounts of seeds that are dispersed by the wind over a wide area, and if you have them in the a field which is being cut for hay, the hay then becomes highly toxic to anything that eats it.
I really would urge people not to covet this plant, even if it does provide food for cinnabar moths.
If you have it in your compost, I would burn the whole lot, the thought of getting ragwort in your land is to awful to contemplate.
This is from someone, who battles to maintain a garden and field free of ragwort.
I really would urge people not to covet this plant, even if it does provide food for cinnabar moths.
If you have it in your compost, I would burn the whole lot, the thought of getting ragwort in your land is to awful to contemplate.
This is from someone, who battles to maintain a garden and field free of ragwort.
I'm glad somebody mentioned the cinnabar moth. It will find a home on grounsel but I have yet to see it there, suggesting that it prefers the ragwort.
Back to ragwort, if it is all that terrible why is it still so conspicuous on many a roadside verge, all of which comes under the responsibility of public bodies who one assumes would be fully aware that they are setting a very poor example to the general public. Perhaps the horse owners should be monitoring the situation in their own locality and making sure that there is no risk to their 'pets' the days of horse transport are just about finished. Wild ponies are a different matter.
Allan
Back to ragwort, if it is all that terrible why is it still so conspicuous on many a roadside verge, all of which comes under the responsibility of public bodies who one assumes would be fully aware that they are setting a very poor example to the general public. Perhaps the horse owners should be monitoring the situation in their own locality and making sure that there is no risk to their 'pets' the days of horse transport are just about finished. Wild ponies are a different matter.
Allan
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secret guest
The reason it is so conspicuous is because it seeds prolifically and once established is very difficult to eradicate short of physically digging it out.
'Pets' horses may be, but in large areas of the country they are a multi million pound enterprise and a lot of farmers are finding it is the only profitable side to their businesses.
It's not just horses,it is dangerous to all mammals.
'Mammals' being gizmos that give birth to live young.
'Pets' horses may be, but in large areas of the country they are a multi million pound enterprise and a lot of farmers are finding it is the only profitable side to their businesses.
It's not just horses,it is dangerous to all mammals.
'Mammals' being gizmos that give birth to live young.