What to do about long grass?

[ChrisB87]

Hey everyone!

So we got a large area at the back of the garden with really long grass/weeds. It grows so fast and im trying to figure out the best thing to do with it. I have no experience with this.

So, some thoughts i came up with:

1. Get a cow or goat (would this even solve our problem? I have no idea how much they eat or if they would eat til it's short enough..and what about housing the animal? Is that even neccessary?)
2. Use weed killer (but we have some mango trees upthere too and we plan to plant new fruit trees as in the future. I don't know how this would affect them)
3. Use a strimmer to cut it (but the wife gave me an earfull for trying to use her dads; appaerently its not for long really grass or i'm not experience enough to use it on the long stuff. I dunno but i got a real headache about it anyway.)
4. Plant nice grass instead (maybe that tough Malay stuff which usually doesn't allow many weeds through)

We want rid of it for good, or at least be able to manage it easily and infrequently. It's not really tractor accessable either.

Any ideas would be great

Edited October 18, 2014 by ChrisB87

[Farma]

Have you looked at the Thai style lawnmowers? They have 2 bicycle wheels, handlebars and exposed blades. I think they were known as barley slashers back home.

[ChrisB87]

I will look into that, thanks!

[ChrisB87]

This is the stuff. Lots of different kinds, but the long stuff is most disruptive.

[coobah666]

get a local to cut it with a brush cutter saves me doing it, 300bht plus fuel for 2 rai

[billd766]

When you eventually get it cut down one way or another keep it cut short.

A guy who sort of works for my neighbour does mine about 3 rai worth but waits to be told to do it.

I can't think of the number of times I have asked my wife to tell him, short grass is easier to cut than long grass, dry grass is easier to cut than wet grass.

I have tried to tell my wife to tell him to cut the grass at the shop for a couple of months now, so I got all the stuff up to the shop this morning I I will do the job myself.

I am retired, 70 years old and I will do an hour or two first thing in the morning around 6 am when it is cool.

I have one of these (below) but it is fairly heavy to push and I am trying to get a PPK 2000 H from this company but I have had no response yet.

http://www.patipong.com/ppk2000.html

[Gonsalviz]

A brush cutter works good. The same things the Thais use cutting grass on the highways. Wear good boots and long pants as well as eye protection for safety but they will cut down a 3-4 cm tree with no problem. I use one a lot.

About 3-4000 baht will buy a good one..

[slapout]

After you get the tall grass cut back you might consider spraying with this mixture to keep the area vegation free.

1/2 gallen vineger,

1 ounce orange oil

1/4 cup soap

add enough water to fill gallen container

Do not spray plants you are attached to, like or want to keep alive as this is a home made mixture equal to round up, just costs much less and not as hazardous to health.

Edited October 20, 2014 by slapout

[somo]

Paraquat will kill it.

Maybe cut it back first then spray the new growth about 10 days later.

If you have to spray again in the future use glyphosate
.

[samuijimmy]

Paraquat will kill it.

Maybe cut it back first then spray the new growth about 10 days later.

If you have to spray again in the future use glyphosate

.

Paraquat only kills the green top, or annual weeds... it does not kill the roots of perennial grass or weeds...

Glyphosate (AKA Roundup) will kill the roots in about 10 days, but it will not kill seeds, so weeds / grass should be cut back first...so they don't seed while die back is taking place.

Also, there no antidote to Paraquat... anyone using should use good safety measures....

[billd766]

Paraquat will kill it.

Maybe cut it back first then spray the new growth about 10 days later.

If you have to spray again in the future use glyphosate

.

Paraquat only kills the green top, or annual weeds... it does not kill the roots of perennial grass or weeds...

Glyphosate (AKA Roundup) will kill the roots in about 10 days, but it will not kill seeds, so weeds / grass should be cut back first...so they don't seed while die back is taking place.

Also, there no antidote to Paraquat... anyone using should use good safety measures....

The guy that usually cuts the grass for us did that up at my wife shop about 3 months ago and then cut it all down.

The scrub at the side of the shop is 3 metres tall in places and I am up there every morning by 6.30am cutting it all down again doing about 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day.

I could never make him or my wife understand that short grass/scrub is easy to cut and dry grass/scrub is easier to cut than wet.

He left last Sunday to work in BKK conveniently forgetting to clear around the shop for at least 3 months despite me reminding him and he missed doing my neighbours grass/scrub for 2 months.

The other problem when it so long you have no idea what in there. This morning I found a couple of empty beer bottles, lots of cut off cables, bits of bamboo and wood as well as the usual plastic/bottles and styrofom trash. At the edge of the shop I have to go carefully because of the water pipes.

Edited October 22, 2014 by billd766

[ChrisB87]

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After you get the tall grass cut back you might consider spraying with this mixture to keep the area vegation free.

1/2 gallen vineger,

1 ounce orange oil

1/4 cup soap

add enough water to fill gallen container

Do not spray plants you are attached to, like or want to keep alive as this is a home made mixture equal to round up, just costs much less and not as hazardous to health

Nice tip! Where do you get the orange oil?

Thanks to everyone for their ideas!

[ChrisB87]

How about growing trees that create shade?

I right in saying that if we planted big shade creating trees no grass/weeds would grow underneath?

The area of grass that is a problem is right at the back of the garden so it doesn't matter if it is well shaded with bare dirt underneath.

Are there any big fruit tree that create decent shade? I think mango and roseapple, but are there any others?

[namdocmai]

How about growing trees that create shade?

I right in saying that if we planted big shade creating trees no grass/weeds would grow underneath?

The area of grass that is a problem is right at the back of the garden so it doesn't matter if it is well shaded with bare dirt underneath.

Are there any big fruit tree that create decent shade? I think mango and roseapple, but are there any others?

Avocado, Jackfruit, but almost all of them will give shade.

In the shade of my tree's the grass won't grow even after replanting it several times.