A Sticky Situation

When we purchased the pecan orchard last August, FD and I were both aware the property had a thistle problem along its south and west boundaries. For much of the autumn and winter months, when the thistle plants were in the rosette stage, FD would pry the dinner plate sized plants up with a shovel and I would use a gloved hand to pull them out of the ground, exposing the roots to die in the sun. We knew we could only make a small dent in the thistle population by hand pulling them this way. But using chemical to eradicate them was out of the picture at least for the time being. With Emma and Ronnie due for release in late winter, and knowing they would be exploring the available forage as the new growth of spring arrived, I was not willing to use chemical unless absolutely necessary. Besides, the region was hampered by fallen trees and decades of woodland debris, so there was no good way to get a spray rig back in those areas anyway. The only way to apply chemical there would require hiking in with a backpack sprayer – which was not at all appealing to me.

The vibrant pink color of the thistle flower is enticing!

The next breezy summer day will have thistle seed sowing itself to the north… until the fall and winter winds toss it back to the south.

During the winter months, my biggest priority was to pick up wood and all sorts of debris in the old orchard. We would not be able to mow in the spring unless the orchard floor was cleared of decades of dropped limbs and branches. So, I gathered and burned debris all winter long and into the spring as the weather was favorable to allow me to continue cleanup. But, before long, it was also time to plant gardens and tend to the flower beds. Yard mowing started up early too. Consumed with all my spring chores, I quickly forgot all about the thistles – until they began flowering. The rosettes of fall and winter, had become tall, leggy plants with pink, globe-like flowers. Looking like alien cyclops eyes, large communities of the beasts stared as I passed by in the electric buggy. By then, it was impossible to get to them because hedge parsley and thickets of cat brier grows rampant in the same areas the thistle have invaded. While hedge parsley puts off a delicate leaf and a dainty bloom in late spring, by mid summer, those tiny flowers become a dried, sticky bur that attaches to everything! Not willing to venture into that bur-infested area, I decided to forget about eradication until the coming winter, when most of the weeds and hedge parsley will be knocked flat by the weather, and the thistle will be easier to get to. Unfortunately, the problem will be magnified by another year’s worth of thistle seed carried far and wide by the Oklahoma winds.

Ronnie can often be found in the “Land of Thistle and Hedge Parsley” on the southern border of the pecan property. He does not seem bothered by the burs that attach to his coat. Most of the time it is tasty cat brier and other good eats that draw the deer into that particular area.

Emma and Ronnie often have loads of hedge parsley attached to their coats which, of course, brushes on other weeds and drops in new locations.

I have plenty of company as I work through the tall weeds in the orchard!

Spike, Ronnie, and Emma often keep me company as I work along the slough. The broad-leaf plants in the blurred foreground are cockleburs.

The snowy egrets continue to come to the little bit of water in the slough. I love watching them work their legs for tadpoles and small aquatic life.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, I managed to finish my work cleaning the area of the orchard west of the slough that runs north and south through the eastern quarter of the orchard. A week later, FD completed mowing the last area of tall weeds in that region, and we were feeling very happy and excited to have accomplished so much over the summer months! It had been hard work, and demanded constant dedication. We had been fortunate that the weather had been so agreeable over the last year, and the slough was finally drying up in the late summer heat, allowing us to cross the now dry waterway to the east side of the orchard. But I did not see how I would manage to clean up that area until winter. Big timber would have to be moved with a tractor and a couple of dead trees needed to be cut and hauled off for sale or milling. And, of course, all of the smaller wood debris that I would be gathering by hand, was buried in tall Bermuda grass and cloaked in vast patches of hedge parsley and thistle. I had not had to deal with either of those nasty plants working in the shaded areas on the other side of the orchard. This eastern area received a lot more sun exposure, and I suppose with that, more weeds were able to sprout up.

The slough must have been grand enough to support a catfish this year. This poor soul perished when the water level became too low to survive.

Emma stays with me until the heat gets to be too much for her. Ronnie and Spike often go off together, carousing and venturing to parts unknown. Emma seems content to lay nearby and rest, keeping an eye on me while I work.

Then one evening, as we looked over the slough area and discussed the next phase of mowing – which would be to knock back a thick growth of wetlands grasses – we found yet another problem. Cockleburs were growing all along the slough. Venturing into the broad leaf plants that were more than three or four feet tall, I realized many of them were already loaded with burrs. Hundreds of others were first-year plants and would not put off a bur fruit until next year. They must be pulled this year to prevent plants with a bur crop next year. I knew that taking a brief rest before starting cleanup on the east side was now out of the question. No, my next task will be to eradicate – by hand – as much of the cocklebur crop as I can before the plants grow any larger and begin dropping bur seeds everywhere!

On my glove and pants leg is the hedge parsley flower in the bur stage. This property (and our immediate ten acres where our home is) is covered with this horrible plant. But it is not considered an invasive or noxious species in our state.

Immature cocklebur fruits still make for viable seeds for next year. This plant will be pulled and burned.

The grass bur situation is bad in the pasture area between the old river channel and the orchard. At some point, we will have to use chemical to eradicate this plant from the area.

We also have a few buffalo burs on the property. I noticed on my last walk to the river that buffalo burs are very invasive in that area. I hope we never have a problem with those!

A view of pulled cockleburs in the slough area, dying in the summer sun.

Many cocklebur plants are as tall as I am!

I will be walking to the far trees pulling cocklebur plants along the way. Cockleburs prefer wetland areas. Who knew?

The monarch seem to love the cocklebur plant. But I am not keeping the plant around for their benefit! There are many other monarch-friendly plants to choose from!

© 2017 Day by Day the Farm Girl Way…