How to get rid of the Hogweed at the dacha

The plant hogweed appeared in Russia in the middle of the twentieth century. Then it was cultivated for feeding livestock. But soon, realizing that the bush brings a lot of harm and the milk from cows gets an unpleasant taste, this idea was abandoned.

Plantations with a hogweed stopped working, so it quickly spread to places with comfortable conditions for it. Today, the plant is recognized as dangerous to health and is being combated. It is worth noting that not all varieties of this shrub are harmful. Only the hogweed of Sosnovsky has poisonous properties.

Hazardous Properties of Hogweed

Those who have ever encountered this plant, knows that it needs to be immediately withdrawn. Hogweed grows quickly, unpretentious to weather conditions, and its juice destroys all life around.

The danger of the hogweed:

1. Getting on the skin, the juice breaks the protective layer of the dermis. If a person is in the sun at this time, deep burns will occur.
2. Inhaling vapors from the plant, you can get a burn of the lungs and poisoning of the body.
3. On the soil where the hogweed grows, all other plants die.
4. The shrub is difficult to destroy, as its seeds ripen even after separation from the stem.
5. Each hogweed bush scatters seeds within a radius of 5 meters, and they are also transported over long distances on wheels of cars, bicycles, soles from shoes, birds, animals, and water bodies.
6. Hogweed will grow until all the seeds have ripened, if you cut off the tip, it will grow again. The same will happen if you chop off at the root.
7. One shrub can produce up to 70,000 seeds.

Remember how this plant looks and, having seen it on your plot or not far from it, immediately inform your neighbors and begin the fight.

How to withdraw hogweed

To date, there are several proven methods that give a positive effect. But remember that it is necessary to protect the skin and lungs from poisonous juice and vapors. It is best to get rid of hogweed, while he is young and does not bear much danger. It is also rational to do this in cloudy, but calm weather so that the sun's rays do not fall on the skin.

After eliminating shrubs, you should forget about sowing the soil for at least one season.Experience shows that all plants planted in the course of the first year, die. And those that do grow will be toxic.

Digging up
In small areas, where not many hogweed grows, this method is the most optimal. If you dig up the root at a depth of 20-30 cm, the plant will die. For this fit a sharp shovel.

How to dig a hogweed:

• Wear a long-sleeved jacket, pants, gloves and a protective mask, you can buy one that is sold in a pharmacy.
• Take a shovel and dig up all the big bushes of the hogweed, folding them aside.
• Carefully remove the young shoots from the soil along with the root with your hands.
• Burn the plant away from the occupied area.
• After 15 days, dig the hogweed again if it began to sprout.
• To avoid this, you can pour the soil with plenty of water. Hogweed does not like stagnant moisture and dies.

This method has some drawbacks. You have contact with the plant, which means burns are possible. Also, he does not give a 100 percent guarantee of getting rid of this weed. The process takes a lot of time and takes power. Therefore, use it if there are 3-5 young shoots in the area and they have not yet bloomed.

Mulching
Another way to destroy a hogweed is to hide it from the sun. Ultraviolet rays help the shrub to grow and inseminate. Without them, it dies. Mulching does not require costs and is effective in small and large areas.

How to make mulching:

• Wear protective clothing.
• Cut the plants under the root.
• Burn all the stalks.
• Cover with a dense black film (not less than 100 microns) covered with a hogweed area.
• Along the edges, press cellophane with bricks, boards and other heavy objects.
• Leave the tape until next season.

Mulching completely eliminates hogweed, as well as other weeds in the area. You do not have to check every two weeks the soil for new shoots. If you have more than a dozen hogweed bushes in the garden or you have found it overgrown near the house, then use this method.

Chemical method
The use of herbicides is considered to be the most effective way to fight hogweed. These are chemicals that fall into several categories:

• general action (for all types of plants);
• selective action (on a specific type).

For large areas around industrial buildings, airports, highways, general-purpose herbicides are used that destroy all living plants around. To protect against weeds need chemicals that work selectively, destroying some plants and not damaging others.

Many gardeners oppose this method because they believe that it is harmful to cultivated plants and soil. But because of its effectiveness, chemical exposure is popular. It is best to do the processing in the spring.

How to use herbicides:

1. Hogweed has a hollow rod, so you can inject chemicals with a syringe and they immediately penetrate the root.
2. You can spray the leaves of the plant, so that the substance is gradually soaked it.
3. To work the soil less efficiently than the first two methods, and, moreover, it is more expensive.
4. After 2-3 weeks, it is necessary to inspect the plants, if new ones have started to grow, they need to be reprocessed.
5. To prevent the emergence of new shoots of hogweed, every 3 weeks plow the area.

Many firms offer herbicides for the destruction of hogweed.But they will be effective only if they strictly follow the instructions. Do not forget to also protect yourself from the harmful chemical effects.

Regular destruction of hogweed will gradually lead to its complete elimination. Therefore, do not forget that the main condition in the fight against it is regularity. Do not expect that with one time it will turn out to bring this strong plant. Try several ways at the same time and you will have to wait for success.

Video: how to get rid of hogweed