# Worst Plant In Michigan?



## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

Amen to the phragmites. Yecch.


----------



## Splitshot (Nov 30, 2000)

Purple Strife


----------



## jimbobway (Mar 19, 2002)

Poison Sumac


----------



## dzag23 (Jun 30, 2004)

Another vote for fragmites or phragmites...I can never remember how to spell it. 

--Dave


----------



## fairfax1 (Jun 12, 2003)

Honest *****? Deer like 'em? How do you know?

I've got way too many. Planning to bless them with gylphosate next spring when they get about a foot high.

As far as being high-iron greens. I like spinach. Don't need no more.

Cordage? Got bungees.

As you can guess, I'm a tough sell on the merits of keeping my collection of nettles.

My current thinking is that the nettles are so dominant in many parts of the property that no other....more beneficial....plant can compete. Netles shade all ground cover. Plus, the goshdarn things hurt.

Question: For those of you who have killed off nettles with glyphosate (or some other herbicide) .... what did you use? and at what concentration?


----------



## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

fairfax1 said:


> Honest *****? Deer like 'em? How do you know?
> 
> I've got way too many. Planning to bless them with gylphosate next spring when they get about a foot high.
> 
> ...


You'd need a couple of big guys to hold me down to make me eat nettle leaves (but it'd be the same for spinach too).


----------



## Rondevous (Mar 14, 2005)

> My current thinking is that the nettles are so dominant in many parts of the property that no other....more beneficial....plant can compete. Netles shade all ground cover. Plus, the goshdarn things hurt.


Deer love the tender shoots, and not much else can provide the minerals nettles can.
Deer love to use nettles for bedding areas and the fawns seek shelter in them.
But go ahead a spray them and plant soybeans or whatever,.
You pay the taxes so you can play God with your land.


----------



## bishs (Aug 30, 2000)

Nettles, poison ivy and oak. Multiflora Rose will tear you up, if you walk through it


----------



## mike hartges (Jun 9, 2003)

FL, is catchweed bedstraw the weed that gets a pink colored seedhead that protrudes upward from the top of the plant? That stuff has invaded my clover big time. The clover was sprayed with glyphosphate in May and everything was going well till this particular weed sprouted and now it's everywhere. It seems to form a mat and mowing doesn't hurt it at all.


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

Interesting topic,

The plants mentioned as the scourge of mankind mentioned here are in the most part very benificial to deer. Kudzu is a legume high in protein, which is eaten by deer in a big way. Poison ivy is a prime choice forage for deer. Rondeyvous knows his plants, for stinging nettle is very nutritious and deer sure do bed in a nettle field. When you find their beds you will note that as they lay in their beds they reach out as far as they can to eat the nettle.

Nettle prefers wet areas and this can be a blessing in disguise. If you have an area that stays flooded until mid summer, things can get interesting. Soon as this low area dries and exposes soil, a flush of nettle pops up. This can be a good thing for the nettle is young and growing when the rest of the forest ground cover is getting course and unpalatable. As Rondeyvous noted, nettle is nutritious.

An option for you and as easy as making an apple pie is to go out in that newly emerged nettle and spray it with Roundup. Then follow (the same day)with a broadcasting of fertilizer and forage rape without an ounce of tillage. It doesn't matter if the conditions are dry, for you went into this area as soon as the nettle emerged to a short height of 3-4 inches and the soil is still moist. Expect the forage rape to emerge as soon as three days. I have had in a dry summer the following experience. The mid summer (from July to early September) planting of forage rape in this moist and nutrition rich flood plain can catch up and pass up earlier planted rape. In fact this coming Labor day weekend I intend to do exactly this very type of planting. You can cover a lot of ground with a backback sprayer and hand broadcasting seed and fertilizer. I intend to use my quad and plant at least an acre of this super effective food plot in my sons firearm site. Let me say this, my son seen deer most of the day every day and passed on several bucks (5) during the 2004 firearm season. 

What's that saying? "There is more than one way to skin a cat'.


----------



## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

I wish people would reconsider before they start spreading fertilizer, much less other chemicals on a flood plain. This progression towards fenceless deer farming is leading to the wanton speading of herbicides and fertilizer, with little regard to the impact they will have upon wildlife other than deer. IE fertilizing on a floodplain can lead to excessive aquatic weed growth and subsequent eutrophication of the watershed.


----------



## 1wildchild (Apr 14, 2003)

Grape Vine! My yard is starting to look like the Kudzu pictures. My shed can be covered in 3 weeks time if I don't cut back. The main vine is in my neighbors yard and they like it! For some reason, it grows over to my yard and does not spread in theirs. I have had to fight it off my tomatoes all summer.


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

For the uninformed and quick to criticize, I went to the local extension MSU agent and asked him for his thoughts on my swamp plot ideas before any action on my part several years ago.

We visited the area and he said, "Why not", this is a temporay wet spot and a shallow one at that. He had no problem with Roundup (it becomes inert the moment it contacts soil) and the low amount of fertilizer broadcast would in most part be taken up by the forage rape. What he was excited about was the very nutritious forage rape being available for wildlife throughout the winter. 

This agent was against the practice of baiting and mentioned that this idea was much better than baiting for it afforded fresh and nutritious forage at the right time, when natural forage was getting scarce and less nutritious. Also this forage was available for deer and other wildlife for a long period after the season was over (not so bait). Another feature is that it can be done in a very short time.


----------



## johnhunter (Jun 17, 2000)

Esox, nice trip down memory lane in your signature. I was a big FZ fan back in the day. Now...is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?  

FWIW, *real* "fenceless deer farming" would be most closely associated with our old friend, Traditional Deer Management.


----------



## sporty (Jun 24, 2004)

Esox,

I can't believe you would say such a thing. It is so odd that if you spread fertilizer and roundup it will just be absorbed immediately and be harmless. If you don't believe me, just as the high priests and the D.E.Q.. :lol:


----------



## Ed Michrina (Dec 25, 2002)

While not the worse plant, ferns are a pain in the behind. I have a nice 2 acre field on the edge of our swamp that is taken over by ferns. I wonder if I cut that field for a few years will I knock down the ferns and eventually kill them? I also plan on making the soil sweeter by using lime/ the soil right now is to acid to grow anything good for deer to eat 

When I get this field planted, it won't be a field, I hunt over. I'd just like to supplement the fall to winter deer/animal food l.
Once I get rid of the ferns I'll do a search on this site for some good food for the deer.


----------



## answerguy8 (Oct 15, 2001)

Ed Michrina said:


> While not the worse plant, ferns are a pain in the behind. I have a nice 2 acre field on the edge of our swamp that is taken over by ferns. I wonder if I cut that field for a few years will I knock down the ferns and eventually kill them? I also plan on making the soil sweeter by using lime/ the soil right now is to acid to grow anything good for deer to eat
> 
> When I get this field planted, it won't be a field, I hunt over. I'd just like to supplement the fall to winter deer/animal food l.
> Once I get rid of the ferns I'll do a search on this site for some good food for the deer.


Good point about ferns. If they were suddenly introduced here we would all be screaming about what a terrible invasive plant they are, how they take over an area and that they have no benefit to animals.


----------



## Rondevous (Mar 14, 2005)

ROUND UP IS NOT SAFE!


That is fact and there are plenty of people who can prove this.

Among others please take the time to read

http://www.pitt.edu/~relyea/



> I went to the local extension MSU agent and asked him for his thoughts on my swamp plot ideas before any action on my part several years ago.


Did you happen to ask how qualified to make that decesion he was?

The fact is too much of the time the easy way is round up soooo if everyone else is doing it I can too.

Monsanto is a big player don't you think they have connections in Gov't that help insure they get to market their products.

There are many ways of dealing with assumed problems so try to find all the facts before you spray.

Areas that hold water, even for a week or so can be important to all wildlife.

I wish people would consider even turning their low lands into water/marsh habitat.
We are losing that type of habitat faster than any other types.
PLUS you don't have to worry about maintenace year after year.
A nice natural water hole could boost ducks, amphibians/reptile, birds and mammals populations.

Many of you are blessed with land ownership, please try and set the best example for your grandchildrens benefit.


----------



## Guest (Aug 29, 2005)

Round Up not safe eh?


So what is safe, vioxx, lipitor, asprin, coffee, steak done on a charcoal grill etc. Name a food or just about anything that we use in abundance that is not critized by some as being unsafe. 

I follow the labeling instruction on all of my herbicide applications and nowhere does the Round Up label instruct that it should not be applied on stinging nettle. First there is no water present when the herbicide is applied so what amphipians are we refering to? Second the average cost of getting a herbicide appoved by the USDA cost 300 miillion with endless trials. Who should anyone believe, our very demanding government agencies or a free lance scientist that has his own agenda? By the way it is a proven fact that Round Up once it contacts soil, it firmly adheres to the soil particle and stays there under all circumstances until the active ingredient is rendered harmless through natural chemical changes. This is fact that no one has ever been able to disprove, period. This is not the first time someone critized Round Up with no background on the subject. I have checked with the experts (USDA and Monsanto) on this subject some time ago . Why don't you?

There is no end to the subject of an environmentally safe product and we all know that. So what makes the self proclaimed experts on this site more knowledgeable than the hundreds of USDA scientists whose living is verification of safety.?

I trust the real experts not wanna be's.


----------



## MSUICEMAN (Jan 9, 2002)

these "wanna-be's" are more qualified to make the decisions than most all of the people making the legal decisions.... but anyways, do what you want, obviously you like to go by the "yeah, but that is REALLY bad for you" mentality, which is your choice, more power to ya.


----------

