how to get rid of roses?

Mulegirl · #21 04/14/11, 07:11 PM

You can tie a single goat out if you're afraid the fencing won't hold it--just don't tie two out close enough to get tangled in one another.

There are people out there renting out goat herds for brush clean-up--maybe they bring fences too?

||Downhome|| · #22 04/14/11, 10:00 PM

goats then pigs!

Wisconsin Ann · #23 04/14/11, 10:21 PM

believe it or not, chickens will also remove the roses. We have a field that's surrounded by thousands of rose and raspberry bushes. Where the chicken coops are (the chickens free range) there are no raspberries nor roses any more. Took them a full year, but after that first year any thorny bush putting up a sprout gets eaten quickly

but...Goats. yup. or if you're liking cows, try a highland cow or two. Neighbor we drive by every day has highlands, and NO rose bushes. seems the coarse hair allows them to push further into the bramble?

Jena · #24 04/14/11, 10:34 PM

Rose hunting was a wintertime sport for me. I would take a thin metal rod and whack all the branches off so I could be in the middle without being permanently entrapped by thorns in my hair. Then I'd wrap a chain (Yes, a CHAIN) around the root ball. Then I'd attach said chain to a four wheeler or truck and yank it the heck out. If there was anything at all left in the ground, I'd give it a good drink of crossbow and call it good.

Paquebot · #25 04/15/11, 02:35 AM

Around 20-25 years ago, uncle couldn't figure out why some of the cows were coming home with cut teats. With two-thirds of the farm being pastured woods, hard to know what was growing everywhere. I was first to find multiflora rose on the farm and it was growing into a main trail. Cousin went down and sprayed it with 2-4-D. Got rid of that big one but then started seeing a lot of smaller plants. For next few years, I'd carry pruning snips whenever I was hunting so as to cut each one off that I'd find. Didn't work. Eventually about 20 acres had to fenced off and that blocked access to an additional 40 acres. Used to be open woods and now deer can't even go through it. Just one more reason why the 4th generation of our family was the last for that land.

Martin

ChristieAcres · #26 04/15/11, 03:56 AM

Best solution? Ding ding ding, goes to:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ||Downhome||

goats then pigs!

You then will have nice fertile soil, without chemicals! Chickens are great, but the goats would mow 'em down faster, and those pigs should take care of the roots. That is how a lot of locals clear areas of their land of blackberry vines, wild blueberries (tough to dig up, trust me), and all the rest of the dense vegetation that grows here.

Quote:

Paquebot Around 20-25 years ago, uncle couldn't figure out why some of the cows were coming home with cut teats. With two-thirds of the farm being pastured woods, hard to know what was growing everywhere. I was first to find multiflora rose on the farm and it was growing into a main trail. Cousin went down and sprayed it with 2-4-D. Got rid of that big one but then started seeing a lot of smaller plants. For next few years, I'd carry pruning snips whenever I was hunting so as to cut each one off that I'd find. Didn't work. Eventually about 20 acres had to fenced off and that blocked access to an additional 40 acres. Used to be open woods and now deer can't even go through it. Just one more reason why the 4th generation of our family was the last for that land.

Martin

That is sad, sorry to hear about your family's land

I sure don't want any Multiflora Rose on our property!

salmonslayer · #27 04/15/11, 09:13 AM

We have wild roses and blackberries all along one side of our perimeter main pasture fence and they seem to just grow along the fence line (we do brush hog the pasture in the fall) and they act like a natural barrier. It looks like they have been there for years but we have only lived here a year, are yours growing in the middle of your pasture?

gwithrow · #28 04/15/11, 10:02 AM

yes, in the middle...the ones on the fence line are not the issue...but this is neglected pasture that we are trying to restore.....there are many areas with big clumps of roses...like 25 feet across....the small ones here and there we can manage by pulling or killing ...but I want all the grassland we can get...and if the roses are not eliminated, they encroach more each year...the cows do not like them and right now the fencing won't hold goats....we will win, it may take awhile, but they are going!

Paquebot · #29 04/15/11, 12:18 PM

One reason why they were introduced to this country was as a living fence. No cow will ever go through such a fence. That effectiveness does not end with growing as a fence. The hooked thorns are just as mean when the plants are in the middle of a pasture. The rate of growth and how quickly it spreads was one of its "good" points when grown as a fence. But then birds eat the hips and spread them all over. I've seen some Interstate fences in this state and Illinois which were solid multiflora rose. If you've got it, I pity you. If you haven't got it, you don't want it!

Martin

7thswan · #30 04/15/11, 01:49 PM

Well sinse they are my Favorite Flower, if I were close I'd come over and Look at them. They would die instantly.

marinemomtatt · #31 04/15/11, 03:08 PM

Those underground runners are insidious (sp?). First one rose then 10 feet away another popped up then 3 feet between the two another appeared.
I have problems which I hope Crossbow will remedy.

gracie88 · #32 04/16/11, 01:08 AM

I feel your pain. Someone planted our entire back fence line with them way back in the day. On purpose. We also had scotch broom and blackberries, so goats were a no-brainer for us. My goats love roses, even more than blackberries and scotch broom. The roses are now completely gone on our side of the fence and the goats are cleaning as far as they can reach on the neighbor's side. They have been reduced to a few pretty drifts in the trees and in another year or two, those will probably be gone too. I understand that your situation may not allow for goats, but if it does, they are by far the easiest.