How to deal with Hogweed and how to destroy a poisonous weed on the site

How to get rid of a hogweed on a plot is perhaps one of the main headaches for gardeners and truck farmers. Sosnovsky's hogweed is a perennial plant brought to Russia from the Caucasus about 70 years ago. The herb has a pleasant light aroma, large leaves and powerful roots. Abundant flowering is observed in the first summer months.

The cow parsnip is dangerous for both humans and nature. Upon contact with the plant, burns, poisoning, and allergic reactions are inevitable. Environmental problems are associated with the rapid development of the population, the displacement of neighboring plants and the preservation of dominant positions in the occupied areas. This article describes in detail, how can you get rid of hogweed and resist its reappearance.

Features of the fight against Sosnovsky hogweed

To prevent the hogweed from becoming the owner of the personal plot, you need to know the varietal characteristics of the plant and how to get rid of it.

There are the following varieties of weed:

Wild hogweed grows in the southern regions and foothills. An adult specimen reaches 2 m.
Sosnovsky's species is an annual crop, reaching a height of up to 3 m. It grows in a well-lit place, along roads, in fields and household plots. The inflorescences are large, painted in snow-white or pale pink.
Manteggatsi is the most dangerous species. The height of an adult hogweed can reach 6 m. The species can be found in large numbers in the Caucasus and in the southern regions. Huge umbrella inflorescences are white. After flowering, up to 70,000 seeds ripen on 1 flower, which are spread over long distances by wind and insects.
Siberian is a safe weed that is widespread throughout Russia. The plant is small, forms green or canary-colored umbrella-shaped inflorescences.

Important! Safe species include dissected hogweed, growing in Siberia, and shaggy, growing in Crimea.
It is difficult to distinguish hogweed by varieties, but poisonous species can be recognized by their appearance:

the plant reaches 2 m or more;
the leaf plate is wide and large, and the edges are torn and rough;
the stem is covered with a small fluff with lilac spots.

Sosnovsky's hogweed is a poisonous, common species, reaching a height of 3 m. During the growing season, the plant grows a powerful aboveground part and produces large snow-white or pink inflorescences. The culture is self-pollinated, from 20,000 to 70,000 seeds can ripen on one flower. If we do not get rid of the weed in a timely manner, then it can fill the entire area and spread over long distances.

To get rid of the hogweed, you need to know what the culture loves and does not tolerate:

The hogweed does not reproduce vegetatively - the aerial part does not appear if all dormant buds located on the rhizome are removed.
Lives from 2 to 15 years, but fruiting occurs once in a lifetime. Therefore, if you adopt the right tactics, you can stop further development.
The cow parsnip prefers to grow in a sunny place, but does not tolerate strong waterlogging of the soil.
The poisonous culture safely tolerates drought and severe frosts.

Since the cow parsnip has adapted to unfavorable conditions, you can get rid of it with a set of measures:

chemical;
agrotechnical;
mechanical;
biological.

Description

Let's start with a close acquaintance. The hogweed belongs to the umbrella family. There are about 42 plant varieties. Most often found in the Eastern Hemisphere. The hogweed variety includes varieties such as:

silo;
decorative;
edible;
poisonous.

We are interested in the last group. Unknowingly, many summer residents come into contact with poisonous grass. But you can get harm to health. To prevent this from happening, we will tell you how to get rid of the cow parsnip on the site. The photo will help you recognize the weed and remember it.

How to destroy hogweed forever

Getting rid of hogweed is very difficult, but possible. There are different ways to kill weeds. They are effective, and if carried out correctly, you can permanently get rid of the hogweed on the site.

Digging or mowing

You can get rid of the hogweed using the digging method. The method is effective, but laborious. The digging procedure is best done in late spring or early June, until the hogweed has released the inflorescences. Since the roots of the hogweed are powerful and go deep into the ground, they need to be removed with a sharp bayonet shovel. To do this, dig in the soil, exposing the roots, and gently pull out the young sprout by the stem. If the root is broken off, then you need to dig a second time and try to remove the entire rhizome entirely, since dormant buds may remain on a small part, which will wake up over time and start growing.

Important! Since the stem and leaves contain poison that can cause burns, work must be carried out with rubber gloves.

Mowing is carried out if a poisonous crop has occupied most of the infield. Disposal of hogweed in the country begins before the appearance of the first inflorescences. The first mowing is carried out in the spring, during the emergence of sprouts, the further procedure is carried out systematically once a month.

After mowing, the aboveground part grows quickly, therefore mowing must be combined with other methods of control, for example, using herbicides or folk remedies.

Important! Cut shoots and dug out rhizomes are folded into a bag and burned. Young foliage can be composted, since the plant contains a rich chemical composition, it is often compared to manure.

Plowing and disking

This method is very time consuming and suitable for empty areas. The procedure is carried out several times per season:

in early May, after the emergence of seedlings, digging is carried out followed by disking;
only disking is carried out every month.

Thus, you can destroy even large hogweed plantations on the site and do your favorite job next year.

Mulching

Since the cow parsnip is a light-loving culture, the absence of the sun leads to its death. You can get rid of hogweed only if you follow certain rules:

In early spring, the plot is plowed up.
The prepared soil is covered with a geotextile of at least 100 g per 1 sq. m.
The material is pressed down with a 3-5 cm layer of soil.
A grazing mixture of grass is sown into the ground (1 kg per hundred square meters).

At the end of the season, lawn grass appears, which destroys the hogweed on the site. This method is bad in that after it for 2-3 years it is impossible to use the site for growing vegetables and berries. During this time, until the seeds lose their germination, only mowing the grass is carried out.

Black polyethylene with a density of at least 100 micrometers will help to destroy Sosnovsky's hogweed faster. Air and moisture do not pass through it, so the seeds quickly lose their germination. You can get rid of the cow parsnip as follows:

In early summer, the seedlings are mowed.
The film is stretched over the area and pressed with stones or sandbags.
The covering material is left for a year.
In the next season, the film is removed, and the site is dug up.

This method is effective in that in the first year the roots with dormant buds die, and the next year the seedlings that have emerged from the seeds stop growing and developing due to the lack of moisture, air and sunlight.

Pruning inflorescences

If time is lost, and a poisonous culture has opened an umbrella-shaped inflorescence, then digging and mulching will no longer help. To prevent reproduction by seeds, the buds and inflorescences are removed by hand. To do this, put on rubber gloves, grab the inflorescences with your hand and cut them off with a sharp knife or sickle under the base. The cut flowers are bagged and burned.

Important! Cut inflorescences are not used for compost, since the seeds remain viable for 5 years.

Burning out

This method is dangerous and is suitable only for a large area, when the hogweed appeared far from buildings and fruit and berry plantations. You can get rid of the cow parsnip as follows:

The green mass and the soil around it are poured with gasoline or liquid for lighting a fire. During combustion, it is necessary to ensure that the fire does not spread over a long distance, and, in case of rapid growth, extinguish it with a jet of water.
After burning the hogweed, the plot is dug up and covered with fresh soil. On this land, agronomists do not recommend planting vegetables and fruit crops for 1 year.

Herbicides

You can get rid of hogweed with the help of chemicals. This method is used only in cases where other methods are not effective.

To destroy hogweed, the following means are used:

Roundup. The drug is used at the initial stage of the growing season. To remove hogweed, a single application is sufficient. To do this, dilute 120 g of the drug in a bucket of water. Mix thoroughly and pour into a garden spray bottle. Processing is carried out in the morning and calm weather. The consumption of the working solution is 5 liters per 100 sq. m. Since the drug Roundupt can harm the body, spraying of cow parsnip is carried out in a respirator or cotton-gauze bandage.
Tornado-500. At the beginning of summer, hogweed is sprayed once with a solution prepared as follows: 50 ml of the drug is diluted in 3 liters of water. 100 sq. m consume 2 liters of medicine.
Hurricane Forte. The hogweed is sprayed in sunny, calm weather, once. Dilute 90 ml of the preparation in a bucket of water. 100 sq. m consume up to 3 liters of solution.
Sprut-Extra for single spraying of hogweed and soil near it. Dissolve 84 ml of the preparation in a bucket of water. 100 sq. m use at least 3 liters of working solution.

Important! When using chemicals, you must follow the safety rules.

All of the above preparations contain glyphosphate, so the prepared solutions do not harm pollinating insects and warm-blooded animals. But the treatment can harm nearby growing crops, therefore, in case of minor damage to the weed, it is better not to spray, but to apply the solution with a wide paint brush.

Plants remediators

Also, on the personal plot, which has become the home for the hogweed, you can sow remidiator plants. It is best to use seeds from fast-growing cereals and legumes. Also, to get rid of the weed, it would be nice to plant potatoes or Jerusalem artichoke after a strong digging.

Important! These plants will not only help get rid of the hogweed, but also enrich the soil with the necessary macro and microelements.

Experienced gardeners know from personal experience that raspberry bushes will help get rid of the hogweed. This berry crop has strong, branched roots that take up a large area and prevent seed germination.

Natural enemies

The hogweed moth is a winged insect that quickly eats a poisonous weed.But before you launch an assistant into the garden, you need to know that the moth will not only help get rid of the weed, but will also exterminate all the umbrella garden crops.

Multiple mowing

If the garden is heavily littered with germs of herculean grass, but managed to catch the moment before going into the tube and flowering, you can try the method of multiple mowing:

the first - in early spring on the shoots;
subsequent - every 3-4 weeks.

Practice shows that mowing is not the most effective way to get rid of hogweed. In 2006-2008, a similar experiment was carried out at the experimental sites of the Institute of Biology of the Komi Republic. From June to September, the fields with Sosnovsky's hogweed were mowed at intervals of 25-30 days. The grass restored its vegetative mass without loss, wintered well and resumed its growth in the spring.

Such a disappointing result allows us to conclude: mowing can be used to prevent flowering and seeding of a hogweed, but should be combined with other methods of disposal.

The cheapest, at the same time useless and time-consuming method - manual mowing is virtually useless.

How to remove a hogweed from a site using folk methods

To get rid of the hogweed plant, many gardeners resort to folk remedies.

Treating the site with salt

In places where hogweed grows, salt is scattered and deep loosening is carried out. At least 1.5-2 kg of coarse salt is consumed per 1 running meter. The method is effective, but not safe. After such treatment, the soil will not be suitable for growing vegetables, berries and ornamental crops.

Vinegar essence

There are several ways to use acid:

After removing the umbrella, vinegar is poured into the stem tube. After a short period of time, the acid will take effect and kill the weed.
You can also draw vinegar essence into a syringe and inject acid into plant tissues. After this procedure, the plant does not bloom and dies quickly.
You can prepare a special solution to get rid of the hogweed. To do this, mix 1 liter of vinegar, 2 packets of citric acid, 50 ml of alcohol and 4 tsp of detergent in 1 liter of water. Everything is thoroughly mixed and poured into a garden sprayer. The prepared solution is sprayed on the weed in calm morning weather.

Important! The vinegar solution must be applied very carefully, since when spraying it can harm vegetable and fruit crops. To protect the garden from death, it is better to mow the weed, expose the roots, and shed the soil with vinegar essence.

Anti-fight

You need to get rid of the plant, but not with the following tools:

do not cut the hogweed with a trimmer;
it is not recommended to shake the plant, it begins to scatter its seeds;
do not try to burn the root that is in the ground.

We suggest that you familiarize yourself with: Is it possible to kill bedbugs with a steam cleaner

It is worth telling more on the last point. Burning a plant is unsafe because you spoil all the soil around. And also during the procedure, it begins to exude essential oils of an unpleasant odor, from which you can get poisoning.

A plant that has not been harvested in time will gain more strength in the new season. If you cannot independently master the procedure of how to get rid of a cow parsnip in the country, you can turn to knowledgeable people.

Wear gloves and a mask. Protect your eyes too.
Clothing made of waterproof material is preferable.
It is desirable that the sleeves have elastic bands, so the juice cannot flow into the sleeve.
Tuck your pants into your boots.
No T-shirts, shorts and sandals - you will then heal burns for a long time.

Biological

Combined methods

A good result is given by this combination:

In early spring, after emergence, the weed is treated with herbicides.
A month later, plowing and disking are carried out.
If, after the performed manipulations, single shoots appear, then the top 2 points are repeated throughout the season, with an interval of a month.

You can also combine mulching with sowing remidiators. After removing the black cover, the plowed land is sown with goat's rue, mustard, cereals or legumes. After germination, the grass will help not only get rid of the weed on the site, but also restore the structure of the soil.

What you need to do when fighting hogweed:

Do not mow the weed after the inflorescence has opened. Since spilled seeds, even in an immature form, contaminate the soil even more.
All mowed and cut parts of the plant are burned without fail. The stem contains a large amount of nutrients, which are enough for the seeds to ripen.
When getting rid of the hogweed, it is necessary to observe safety measures.

Safe garden

If you find hogweed in your garden, try to remove it in the following ways:

If the plant is small, cut off the stem and root with a shovel. In this case, you must be in closed clothing, shoes and protective gloves.
If an adult plant has appeared in the garden, then mow its leaves first.
Turn off the light to the hogweed. To do this, cover the place of its growth with a dense black film.
In this form, it is necessary to leave a piece of land for several seasons.
If you cannot leave the soil under the material for a long time, then plant any cereal or potatoes here. This method is only suitable for a young plant.

The hogweed root goes deep into the ground. It will not work to dig it out with a shovel the first time. Now you know how to get rid of the cow parsnip.

In the fight against the plant, there are methods that are undesirable to use.

Safety precautions for the destruction of hogweed

When getting rid of the hogweed, you must follow the safety measures:

It is better to work with chemicals in a respirator and glasses, in the morning, in calm weather.
Since the plant is poisonous, it is best to cut down with rubber gloves and waterproof clothing. The juice is quickly absorbed into the tissue and, under the influence of sunlight, can burn the skin.
When mowing a hogweed, manual brushcutters and trimmers should not be used, since chopped grass, which is difficult to protect from, scatters in all directions.

Hogweed is a poisonous plant and precautions must be taken when destroying it. But if the juice gets on the skin, then in the open sun it causes a burn. If the skin turns red and there is a slight itching, then you need to take emergency measures:

The affected area is washed with warm soapy water.
A sterile napkin is moistened with Furacilin and applied to the affected area.
After 30 minutes, Panthenol is applied to the burn site and covered with a gauze bandage.
To eliminate itching, antihistamines are taken (Tavegil, Suprastin).

Important! If the hogweed inflicted severe burns, then it is imperative to seek help from a specialist.

An alternative way to control harmful weeds is to contact special services. The cost of destroying hogweed varies, depending on the area and degree of thickening.

First aid

Before we understand how to get rid of a cow parsnip at the site, we will learn all the subtleties of first aid. If you have been in contact with a weed, you need to do the following:

The skin affected by hogweed should be quickly washed with running water and soap.
Treat the area with alcohol, potassium permanganate or furacilin. This will help defat your skin and reduce the negative effects of the herb.
Avoid exposing infected skin to direct sunlight.
Be sure to give the victim an antihistamine medication to drink.
It is recommended to lubricate the burn site with a medicinal ointment, for example, "Panthenol".

First aid does not relieve you of going to the doctor.This should be done especially quickly when the plant has infected the mucous membrane. And for prevention, be sure to get to know your children what this poisonous weed looks like. Let's move on to our main question: how to get rid of the cow parsnip on the site.

Replacement seeding

Baltic farmers have accumulated extensive experience in the destruction of hogweed. In particular, they are actively practicing the method of displacing hercules with remediators.

Remediators are plants that are highly aggressive towards weeds. In Estonia, the goat's rue (aka medicinal galega) is used in this capacity - a perennial herb from the legume family. Farmers of the Kaliningrad region adopt this experience, sowing fallow fields with goat's rue.

To displace hogweed, awnless rump is also recommended.