What's the best way to get rid of stickers?

[Jade1096]

If the whole inheritance/selling the farmhouse saga works out, I would like to have a garden next spring.

The problem is that the fenced garden plot hasn't been used in several years and has been completely taken over by grassburrs. They are absolutely awful and everyone says extremely difficult to get rid of.
The plant resembles bermuda grass and has about 8-10 stickers at the top of each runner.
Some people are saying it can only be eradicated by chemicals. I would really prefer not to put something like that in my garden area. Another person said to use 6 inches of mulch, which isn't really cost effective and would be pretty labor intensive in the springtime I think....

any ideas?

[TurnerHill]

The best way is roundup. It is not persistant; it will be gone way before spring.

In fact, you could spray in the morning and plant in the afternoon.

[Ross]

Could you cut and rake off the worst of it to compost, then use a controlled burn to sweeten the soil and eradicate most of the residual? Not sure about how the plant propagates.

[DW]

We have them BAD and I will not use chemicals. I am thinking we should go to all raised beds. We have 2 raised beds w/no stickers. No stickers in the berries. Whenever you disturb the ground, here come stickers. I still have a good garden...the stickers drive me crazy. I plan on experiementing again next yr. I am curious about what suggestions you will get here.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

burn and till and til and till then keep up with your weeds and mulch
bun it to get rid of the grass you don't want there then till when things start to grow again and you have littel seedlings all over till it again and in a few more weeks when they are started again till again

you can lay clear plastic over bare dirt also it makes the soil warm and things germinate then they bake from the heat and dry out or black plastic can be used everything below bakes and is starved light

when people start gardens they often mow and area short then cover in black plastic for a few weeks it kills the grass below then they can till it and start thier garden bed.

[cowcreekgeeks]

I like the idea of burning. It kills the weed seeds so there will be less weeding when it's time to grow your garden.

Another idea is to put a small flock of chickens on the area where the garden will be. The area will be bare within a month...and fertilized.

[danielsumner]

Vinegar is a great weed killer. The household type that you use for canning and salads. Spray before it goes to seed head. Takes a few times, but it works. Also spread a sheet of black plastic, (trash bags work) on the ground and weight it down with rocks ect. The heat of the sun will kill everything after a couple of days.

Daniel

[Jenn]

I lived 5 years in TX. In the 4 year place (Fort Hood area) I pulled the occasional sandbur everytime I saw one. They diminished with time but were only a few hundred plants in 6 acres.

In Galveston we moved into a home with a nice looking lawn in back but full of sand burrs. I was heavily pregnant and we'd moved from 6 acres to a tiny yard with two dogs. They couldn't walk in our back yard without needing their paws deburred poor things. We mowed religiously and I took dozens of old socks, put them on over thick sneakers, and shuffled over every inch of that lawn picking up each hard seed burr. After that few weeks we pulled each sand burr plant as we recognized it by its stalk/green burr. Do not know what the lawn did the following year but we were able to let our dogs out on it all year after that.

After that whenever I find a sand burr (especially when i found them in our van or in clothes in England) I grab it carefully and take it to the gas stove and burn it into ash. Sure did not want to spread them around in England.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by cowcreekgeeks

I like the idea of burning. It kills the weed seeds so there will be less weeding when it's time to grow your garden.

Another idea is to put a small flock of chickens on the area where the garden will be. The area will be bare within a month...and fertilized.

This will have the opisiot effect on sand burs. If you burn them in in a small fire it will make the shells to open up and the seed to germinate. If you burn them use a propane torch to get it really hot to kill the seeds.

[Tricky Grama]

10% vinegar. Spray as much as you can afford. Then buy a 50# bag of dry molasses (feed store is best place to find). Other things to add would be lava sand, TX green sand, compost, manure, etc.
I wouldn't use round up-gets in the ground water & changes. It's carcinogenic.

Great website for TX gardens is dirtdoctor.com you can go on & look in the 'library' for nearly anything w/o having to join. Just can't 'post' w/o joining.

Patty

[shelljo]

The only thing we've found that really works for sand burrs is to pull the plants before they drop the burrs.

And, the burrs can "live" for 10 years before germinating. So, it's a long process getting rid of them. DH and I are slowly getting them out of our yard--sandburrs and texas tacks (or goat heads, or 3 cornered stickers.)

We'll never be completely be rid of them becasue they grow in the grader ditches.

Sand burrs can be killed by anything that kills grass, since they are a type of grass. But, you have to apply it repeatedly throughout the growing season. That's why we find it easier to just pull the darn things.

[ronbre]

now is the time to use the round up..and then again first thing in the spring when you notice the new babies from seed sprouting..and you should get them all..do NOT till the soil..you'll just get more seed up every time

[ladycat]

I've heard they don't like to be fertilized. Supposedly, if you fertilize well, it will discourage them.

But with or without fertilizer, mow well and often until they stop coming back.

[Windy in Kansas]

For any weed control---first identification. Sounds exactly like you have grass sandburs aka grassy sandburs.


A good way to find a chemical to use it to consult with your local noxious weed department most will have a very large book to consult which will give a list of chemicals for control. Read labels of herbicides to see if that particular chemical will eradicate the target weed. Then follow label directions to the letter. More is not better as you will only burn down the tops---USE AS DIRECTED in order to get the job done and to protect yourself and the environment.

MSMA is labeled for grass sandbur control. A very dangerous chemical, use ONLY as labeled or not at all. I was told a couple of years ago it was being taken off of the market but find it still in stores selling yard chemicals such as Walmart. Again, don't use if you are unwilling to follow directions.

[chamoisee]

I also would make a chicken yard there for a few years, and then move the chicken yard to another area, leaving you with a pre-fertilized garden area. Or, you could heavily mulch with cardboard and make raised beds with new good soil and compost.

[Bearfootfarm]

do NOT till the soil..you'll just get more seed up every time

That's absolutely correct

Tilling will NOT do anything but make more come up
Pulling each plant you see will do it over time, as will close mowing before they seed

[NCLee]

But, if repeated tilling keeps bringing up the seeds, eventually they will be depleted, if no more plants are allowed to set seed. However, it means that the area will have to remain unplanted for at least a season. Till it again, every time there's a new crop of sprouts.

Even if this doesn't get all of them, it will make hand weeding the remainder much more managable, as there are far fewer seeds left to sprout.

Solarizing with heavy duty black contractors plastic is another good option, during the summer. The down side to that is that it also kills all the good living organisms in the soil, along with the seeds. The soil will need be replinished with that life by using good weed seed free compost and other organic matter.

Lee

[deaconjim]

Walk through the area and pull up as many of the plants as you can find, and bag them. Mow the area well. Do it with a string trimmer if it is a small enough area. Rake up all of the clippings and bag them for disposal. This will get rid of the latest seedheads. Till the area well, and give the rest of the seeds time to germinate. Before the new plants are big enough to produce seed, till again. Repeat this process as many times as you can before you plant your garden. This will deplete the supply of seed pods in your soil. Once the garden is established, be very vigilant about weeding. Don't let any new weeds mature enough to produce seed.

It will be a slow, labor intensive process, but you will eventually get rid of them. I used this method to completely eradicate cockleburs from an 8 acre field that was overgrown with them. Over time, I learned to spot a cocklebur plant from all the way across the field and pull them up by hand before they could go to seed.

[just_sawing]

Mow, vacuum Mow Vacum. The wood chippers on the marekt ahve a good suction for leafs. If you mow vacuum and water it will shoot the growth. Identifiy and eradicate. But if you do not remove the burrs they just sit dorment. When you have them under control till the top inch of soil and reseed what you want to grow.

[motdaugrnds]

You have a choice of either get rid of ones bothering you now "or" get rid of every bur plant for an extended period of time.

Deaconjim is absolutely correct. Yes it would take time; however, in the long run (down the years), you will be glad you did it that way.