How do you keep grass under the fenceline/around fenceposts under control?

[BCGirl]

I have done quite a few searches on this and have found some information, but nothing conclusive! I apologize if there is an obvious thread out there that I missed.

After many years of leasing the farm out, we are in the process of renovating it as a boarding operation we will run ourselves. Step 1 of this is the fencing, which is finally complete and all told amounts to about 5 miles of fencing. As we have never had this much fencing to take care of, we aren’t sure how to handle it!

We have loads of hills, so I am worried about the round-up route causing an erosion problem. Five miles is definitely too much fence line to consistently weedeat so we are looking for other ideas!

What do y’all do? We have seen a few references/people talk about the pull-behind weed eater, but no where in our area (Loudoun County) or nearby carries them and we can only find them online.

Something like this is what I am referring to:

http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?Name=FT1-3PT-Fence-Line-Trimmer

Any ideas are appreciated and if anyone has any experience with this type of equipment I would love to hear your opinion! Or if you know where I can go look at one in my area!

Thanks!

[gumtree]

5 miles of fencing in Loudoun must be a nice place. Congrats, love the area. At this time we only have about 2 miles to deal with until we fence off more. I just weed eat the lines that are in “my eye”. And the rest from time to time. Others with long fence lines spot spray with “ground clear” under the fence line when needed. Which is pretty much the norm. I suppose it depends on how you feel about herbicides. I don’t have a problem with them when used correctly and judicially. I like the look of the PTO driven line trimmer you referenced. I have a commercial leaf vac made by Dr. Powers that I use a lot and not just for leaves. I vacuum up the “piles” in our small paddocks with it also. It is well made. If I had the fence lines you are dealing with I would buy it. The price seems reasonable and free shipping. It has a 22” cutting with so won’t have to get too close to the fence. But close enough to “catch” a post if not careful. I would like to see it with a “fence guard” on it. If I bought it I would MacGyver something. I have been on the Doc Powers site in recent months and this is the first time I have seen it so it must be brand new? No reviews yet. An internet search for reviews? I’m going to keep my eye on this. If you get one let us know how you like it.

[Guilherme]

First Choice: RoundUp.

There were a couple of second choices (Swisher Postmaster and Washburn Posthog) but they appear to be discontinued.

I’ve got a Postmaster and it works OK (but no better than) on flat ground. On rolling ground it varies from marginal to unsatisfactory.

Don’t know anything about this one but that it’s available. http://www.drpower.com/prdSell.aspx?Name=FT1-3PT-Fence-Line-Trimmer

These guys still seem to be in business but I can’t find a U.S. distributer. http://www.vanwamel.nl/English/fruitteelt_home.htm

The choices are, sadly, few.

G.

[crosscreeksh]

“Kilall” spray. Lasts longer than mowing/weedeating.

[Justa_Bob]

When you consider your time and tools investment, and the size of the area – herbicides applied judiciously can be a good choice. Herbicides are much different than pesticides and glycoshphate (round-up) has fewer negatives vs other some other herbicides.

[TheJenners]

Diesel. Per DH, who is “old skool.”

[BCGirl]

Gumtree- we are very happy and lucky!

Thanks for the suggestions! I am not totally opposed to using RoundUp (or a cheaper version of it). Of course, I prefer to avoid herbicides, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. My only concern with them is that I have come across some talk on here of ending up with erosion and washout on hills where you have sprayed it as there is no longer any root structure to keep the soil in place. This makes sense and is my main concern with going the RoundUp route.

I will do some more checking into the Dr Power attachment, I just wish I could find someone who has one! It seems really silly there aren’t more of these on the market; especially with all of the organic farmers out there now…maybe they use sheep and goats?

[trubandloki]

We did the herbicide route the first year. Then the hubby went to weed whacking. Now he uses his lawn mower. He has a pretty large zero turn style lawn mower where the mowing deck extends well past the wheels. It allows him to easily mow under the bottom board/strand of the fence. Once every other week he goes all the way around (he mows both inside and outside because he likes to mow). With the mowing all he has to do is use the herbicide around the base of the posts.

[walkinthewalk]

We used Roundup and it didn’t work this year. Killed the weeds but the grass is growing.

Since that spraying event I’ve been reading up on Monsanto and diesel is starting to look a whole safer, as a weed killer, than Roundup.

Nothing beats a weed whacker, I guess but sometimes health reasons stand in the way of using one.

If you’re able to mow next to the fences, drop the mower deck as low as you can, without cutting rocks in half and get it under the fence. If you can mow the fence row from both sides, it does a fair job of keeping the weeds at bay.

[Guilherme]

[QUOTE=walkinthewalk;7047631]
We used Roundup and it didn’t work this year. Killed the weeds but the grass is growing.

Since that spraying event I’ve been reading up on Monsanto and diesel is starting to look a whole safer, as a weed killer, than Roundup.

Nothing beats a weed whacker, I guess but sometimes health reasons stand in the way of using one.

If you’re able to mow next to the fences, drop the mower deck as low as you can, without cutting rocks in half and get it under the fence. If you can mow the fence row from both sides, it does a fair job of keeping the weeds at bay.[/QUOTE]

The mis- and dis-information about RoundUp is massive. Mostly it’s spread by people with Agendas who are parroting other people with Agendas. Used correctly it is safe and effective.

Diesel is about the most expensive thing I can think of for use on a fence line (@ $3.75/gal.). Not only that it’s a violation of a bunch of State and Federal laws to use it for weed control.

Talk to your County Agent. They will give you suggestions that work in your area.

G.

[The_Crone_of_Cottonmouth_Count]

Maybe this will sound like an Agenda (perhaps because it is), but if you’re on well water, consider the possibility that whatever you pour into the ground (like diesel, holy crap!) will end up in your faucet. I know a dude who almost croaked because it turned out his well was contaminated with petroleum.

I have used Roundup on fencelines with the unpleasant result that weeds died but grass seemed to go gangbusters. Now we mow with a big Deere ZTR.

[walkinthewalk]

[QUOTE=Guilherme;7047689]
Talk to your County Agent. They will give you suggestions that work in your area.

G.[/QUOTE]

They did — Roundup:o Believe me, I don’t put weed killer down without asking “what’s new and wonderful this year?” I am fortunate to have a top notch Co-op and the best Ag Guy. We’re very rural and basically a cattle county. Lots of beef, sadly down to only one or two major producing dairy farms.

This year Roundup killed the weeds but the grass grew back. I even asked Mr. WTW if he was sure he bought All Kill, so he got the un-used container out to be sure.

It did not work this year and the grass that’s growing back isn’t even a normal green. I can look straight down the driveway edges and see where the Round Up Grass begins and ends:confused:

I’m not a fan of Monsanto, especially after the GMO Wheat Field incident in Oregon. I’m not a fan of anything GMO or Hybrid but in this day and age, with less farms and more people to feed, there probably aren’t any other options.

Makes me glad I’m old and, growing up, drinking raw milk straight from the cow on a dairy farm was the norm, if you lived on a farm:yes:

[McGurk]

We only Round Up right around the posts, we specifically bought a mower where the mower deck extended past the wheel base for this precise reason. A Zero turn is terrific, or you can shop for a much cheaper riding mower that has an extended deck.

In wet weather, we weed eat rather than RoundUp around the posts, but in general, I’d rather have dental work than weed eat.

We have a spray tank that mounts on the golf cart or 4 wheeler so we can drive along the fence lines and spray at the same time - huge time saver.

[morganpony86]

[QUOTE=trubandloki;7047592]
Now he uses his lawn mower. He has a pretty large zero turn style lawn mower where the mowing deck extends well past the wheels. It allows him to easily mow under the bottom board/strand of the fence. [/QUOTE]

This is what I do. And weedeat around the posts.

@Guilherme;7047689

The mis- and dis-information about RoundUp is massive. Mostly it’s spread by people with Agendas who are parroting other people with Agendas. Used correctly it is safe and effective.

Effective? Perhaps. Safe? It hasn’t been proven that it’s safe. Detrimental effects are still not clear, but here are a couple links to recent studies… (1) (2)
Epidemiology studies do not see any connections yet (here and here). So to each their own in terms of what you want to believe. Just as you don’t want people broadly saying it’s unsafe, you should be careful broadly saying it is safe.

[TheJenners]

@McGurk;7047790

[snip]… in general, I’d rather have dental work than weed eat.

I won’t weed eat unless there is absolutely no other option. I have an obsessive thing with my eyes, I can’t even handle sprinkley rain on my face because it sprinkles on my eyelids. The mere thought of weed eating makes me twitch.

However, DH’s BO’s DH was mowing the other day and a neat contraption on his face, it was like a construction helmet with a flip down clear plastic face shield. I could maybe weed eat in that.

[Ruth0552]

I think you need to show pictures of your fence.

Is there low electric wire? Very low boards? I’m having trouble thinking of a situation in which horses do not eat every blade of grass that they can get their teeth on. Perhaps you need a pony?

[qtrhrslvr]

I was told just today that a spray of white vinegar will make everything in it’s path shrivel and die. I did smell the vinegar along the stone path I was walking but there were no weeds or grass.

[tinah]

[QUOTE=Ruth0552;7048397]
I think you need to show pictures of your fence.

Is there low electric wire? Very low boards? I’m having trouble thinking of a situation in which horses do not eat every blade of grass that they can get their teeth on. Perhaps you need a pony?[/QUOTE]

25 acres and two horses.

[nashfad]

I did read recently to spray weeds (prob the root area?) with vinegar-----not toxic. I have a guy that comes and weedeats about 1 mi of fencing for me.

[melhorse]

I would round up to kill everything and plant a low growing moss/grass/flower/whatever is available to you. Also burning the ground with a propane torch will get rid of any plant life-just be careful around your fence