My neighbor has a zero turn that won't mow this

[D2Cat]

A couple of years ago he and his wife purchased this home in the country with a few acres and a pond. He had lived in the city, so he asked a neighbor what he mowed with and then bought the same mower for himself.

He wasn't able to get this mowed because of a water problem from his pond. I dug a ditch to help with drainage, but he never purchased any pipe so the ditch could be backfilled, graded, planted and be part of his yard.

So this is what has grown there. Johnson Grass and weeds. The johnson grass is a noxious weed in this county. I talked to them and told them they need to eliminate the johnson grass since it is a noxious weed and no farmer wants the seeds off of their crop in their hay field. They didn't know it was a noxious weed, and they only had a zero turn and it wouldn't mow it! Well, really? Not now it won't, but if it was mowed early on it wouldn't be this tall.

So I told them I'd mow it. It's only about 400' x 50'.

 

[mickeyd]

Looks like he needs to spray it to kill it off..

 

[totitan]

Noxious weeds suck. My wife and I just finished digging up hundreds of scotch thistles on our property before I mowed. They are a truly an evil plant.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Noxious weeds suck. My wife and I just finished digging up hundreds of scotch thistles on our property before I mowed. They are a truly an evil plant.

We call them bull thistle here. 2-4-D before they go to seed.

 

[nickelplated5s]

I spray once a year but then i go after them by hand or shovel. My neighbor on the other hand won't do either. Himalayan blackberries are invasive here too and he gets Ally on the fenceline whether he likes it or not.

 

[SDT]

A couple of years ago he and his wife purchased this home in the country with a few acres and a pond. He had lived in the city, so he asked a neighbor what he mowed with and then bought the same mower for himself.

He wasn't able to get this mowed because of a water problem from his pond. I dug a ditch to help with drainage, but he never purchased any pipe so the ditch could be backfilled, graded, planted and be part of his yard.

So this is what has grown there. Johnson Grass and weeds. The johnson grass is a noxious weed in this county. I talked to them and told them they need to eliminate the johnson grass since it is a noxious weed and no farmer wants the seeds off of their crop in their hay field. They didn't know it was a noxious weed, and they only had a zero turn and it wouldn't mow it! Well, really? Not now it won't, but if it was mowed early on it wouldn't be this tall.

So I told them I'd mow it. It's only about 400' x 50'.

Johnson grass is an invasive species here, as well.

Round Up will kill it but it will take multiple applications. DO NOT let it seed out.

Johnson grass spreads both by seed and ryzomes. It CANNOT be controlled by mowing.

SDT

 

[RCW]

Tall stuff..was is that, 8 feet+?

Seed and rhizomes?!?! Geez, sounds like a real joy...

I've seen so much Wild Parsnip here lately. Miles of it along the roadsides. Like Giant Hogweed, causes burns if you get the sap on skin - - i.e., hit it with string trimmer.

Farmer just down the road found a small patch of Hogweed on his place and was asking me about control, etc.....bad stuff...

 

[D2Cat]

I guess I was holding the camera wrong when I took the pictures. I usually don't take pictures when I'm working because I just never think about it. I've got to remember horizontal for Windows 10!


That's my L4240, so some of the stuff is at least 7'. I had the loader about 3' off the ground usually. I know there is nothing there except the crumbs I took out of the ditch. He's done nothing that would be an obstacle!!

 

[Utopia Texas]

I have lived in a rural subdivision with 5-8 acre plots for 50 years and have been amused over time at the city folks who move “out to the country” and expect a riding lawn mower to take care of pasture that needs a small tractor to do the work. Lawn mowers are designed for turf that is kept short and manicured on a regular basis......

 

[SidecarFlip]

2-4-, Roundup Ultra (if you want to kill everything) or Lasso. I'm into chemical weeding myself.

 

[Redlands]

Johnson grass is hard to kill. If I understand it correctly Roundup just kills what you see down to the first node in the root system. Then it sprouts right back up. Seeds spread and germinate easily. There are a couple of sprays that work decent on Johnson grass but they are expensive, takes multiple treatments, and you have to keep a careful eye out to quickly treat as needed. Basically forever........

 

[bxray]

I have lived in a rural subdivision with 5-8 acre plots for 50 years and have been amused over time at the city folks who move “out to the country” and expect a riding lawn mower to take care of pasture that needs a small tractor to do the work. Lawn mowers are designed for turf that is kept short and manicured on a regular basis......

Green acres is the place for me!

 

[Russell King]

Be sure to blow off your tractor before driving back onto your property. The Johnson grass seed will travel with you.

Blow and rinse off if possible

I killed Johnson grass with glyphosate (round up regular purple top bottle). Mix it to the weaker solution and spray the top. It may take a while but stay after it every year for two or three years and it will collapse. They have wiper application things to use if spraying is too problematic.

The beat time to spray is early in the year when it is a foot to foot and half tall.

After you get it knocked back some then you may need to just wipe or spray individual plants each year.

The second year of growth is when it really starts to spread by ryzhomes (sp?) and needs spray.

You can plow it into oblivion but it needs to freeze the roots so timing is important. I think you can just plow every week or so and kill it but that is a lot of work.


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[torch]

He wasn't able to get this mowed

I think I see the real problem. It's that 200% grade.

 

[shiraz627]

Not for nothing but round up does not seem to work as good as it used to.

 

[Russell King]

Not for nothing but round up does not seem to work as good as it used to.

They just have many different formulations with different color caps. I think the premix stuff seems to be less effective than the concentrated type. I try to stick with the plain glyphosate since it is cheaper and does not get into the soil and travel downhill.

I also know that the round up resistant plants have breed with the weeds and make them more resistant. Johnson grass is a sorghum and has easily cross pollinated with the resistant sorghum plants sold to farmers.


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[sheepfarmer]

D2 this is a little late to make this suggestion, but could you bale up all that stuff with its seed heads and then burn the bales before starting in on an eradication plan?

 

[mattwithcats]

I use the yellow top Round Up...

Has 2% Triclopyr 18% Glyphosate

https://www.roundup.com/en-us/produ...iller-products/roundup-concentrate-poison-ivy


https://www.roundup.com/en-us/products/concentrates

 

[SidecarFlip]

I use the Ultra Max but I don't believe you can buy it retail, least not here in Michigan without an applicators license I get it in 2.5 gallon jugs and take a pint and mix it with 5 gallons of water and 2 8 ounce cups of high nitrogen fertilizer and make it into a solution. The high N fertilizer causes the plants you want to eliminate to uptake the glyphosate quicker. Sort of supercharges the Glyphosate. I believe you can do that with any vegitation killer, not just roundup. 2-4-D or any spray on killer.

I get a good price on Max but if I didn't, I'd buy generic. Glyphosate is glyphosate no matter what it's packaged in or made by.

The one issue with Roundup and roundup clones is the Glyphosate binds with the soil and can alter it's genetic makeup plus it's a known cancer causing compound so I'm always careful with it and wear proper PPE when using it. You don't want to be inhaling it.

Around here we bale Johnson grass for cattle feed.

 

[D2Cat]

I know is some states johnson grass is fertilized, baled and sold. So I looked up buying seed.

I need to plant a few acres down below the barn where nobody can see, harvest the seed and sell it, feed the leaves to the cattle. 50# sells for $160.

https://mbsseed.com/johnsongrass-50-lb-bag.html