What is this plant? To do this, get acquainted with its scientific name - Heracleum. This name sends us to the Greek hero Hercules, famous for his strength and endurance. Accordingly, should a hogweed be something like Heracles? This is exactly so: like an ancient hero, this plant is very tenacious, grows rapidly and reaches enormous size. The height of the hogweed can be up to four meters, the leaves reach one square meter, and the central flower - an umbrella - can grow up to more than half a meter in diameter. This plant can rightly be called one of the largest in our area.
Hogweed was imported to Russia in the middle of the last century from the Caucasus (although some sources claim that it was purchased in North America) to help our country's agriculture, since then they saw a good forage base in it. It was also eaten in a number of regions of the country — as an additive, it was put in pickles and soups, but soaked before it, in order to get rid of essential oils and coumaron compounds. Animals do not neglect this plant and consume hogweed for food, especially it helps restore strength to moose, bears, goats, cows and sheep. Its medicinal properties were also noted: purulent wounds and ulcers were treated with hogweed juice; he helped with asthma and epileptic illness. A decoction was made from its roots in the fight against pain in the liver. The bactericidal properties of hogweed have also been used to treat animals.
But why should we fight this giant?
The fight against cow parsnip has become an urgent issue in the last decade, the reason for this is the revision of its useful qualities. At the end of the last century, it was decided that hogweed, in spite of all its useful qualities, is not suitable for use in food for both humans and farm animals. Why? The thing is that the plant is poisonous. Milk given by cows after such food, obtained even in the form of silage, gives bitterness. It can not be eaten. A touch of the cow parsnip generally threatens with burns, which are not so easy to get rid of! What is the cause of burns? The thing is in essential oils and coumaron compounds, which, when in contact with the skin, weaken its ability to defend itself from sunlight, which give severe burns. But it is worth noting that all these horrors are associated primarily with the hogweed of Sosnowski - an artificially bred variety that is successfully able to fight for survival with other weeds in our area. As it turned out later, it was impossible to use it in agriculture, but it was already too late: the plant successfully took root. Even more than successful.
Let's start with the method of fighting with a single plant, then move on to larger ones.
1. Single
The fight against the hogweed of Sosnowski is not an easy task. Its juices are dangerous for us, therefore precautions are necessary: clothes should completely hide our skin. It is necessary to chop a plant with a shovel at the root itself, then fill the top of the root with something very strong: vinegar essence, Tornado or Roundup herbicides. Put a bag on top and tie a stump with a bag of elastic.
2. On the side of the road
How to deal with hogweed along roads and wastelands? Here, science recommends resorting to the Roundup - dilute, according to the directions on the packaging, and spray young plants. According to the instructions for this tool, these procedures kill only one generation of plants. Dissatisfied buyers claim that it is of little use.
3. In his country house
How to deal with cow parsnip in their own territory, where the plant has already grown? Here we are advised to get a lawn. To do this, first mow the hogweed, then stele the geo-cloth here and pour 5 centimeters of land from another site where there are no hogweed seeds. On top of this we plant strong lawn grass using a large number of seeds.
We hope that in this article you have found all the information you are interested in and decided how to deal with the cow parsnip.