Milk Weed

[Ed Thayer]

I have a field down the street from me that was neglected for several years. I have been tilling and planting potatoes and pumpkins in a small plot of it for a few years now and it is super productive soil.

It grows beautiful grass in the spring and summer and we are actively considering haying it. However, it has an infestation of milk weed in a couple of spots and it has been kicking my but. I have been brush hogging it, weed whacking it and even pulling it by hand.

I know it is spreading underground by its rhizome root system and I don’t know how to battle it.

I know round up would work, but that’s not an option for me. How have you dealt with it in the past? Tillage, constant mowing?

Thanks,

ED

[Mark Cowdrey]

Constant mowing, at least making sure it never goes to seed. I also seem to notice less of a problem when soil pH is less acid though that may be coincidence.
M

[Does’ Leap]

In my experience battling milkweed, you have to knock back the milkweed while simultaneously providing a competitive advantage to the surrounding grasses. I try to accomplish this by using a scythe, especially before the milkweed sets seed. This seek-and-destroy approach, although time-consuming, has worked pretty well for me (I only have a couple of acres where milk weed is a problem).

Keep us posted.

George

[Author]

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