# Butter Cups Butter Cups and MORE Butter Cups!



## corgi (Nov 3, 2009)

They are all over our fields too! They are so pretty. I had no idea they were poisonous to horses until the farm owner told me. She doesn't seem concerned. She said the horses wont eat them and she's been doing this for a very long time so I guess she would know. I figure I will only worry if she worries.


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## smokeslastspot (Jan 11, 2012)

We use a variety of chemicals on our pasture including Cimarron (sp?) and 2-4-D which will kill buttercups on our pasture. My dad is very picky about how the property looks, plus Thor is allergic to some types of grasses so we try to only have bermuda. We always follow the directions and have never had a horse get sick from it.


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## jphshs (Feb 25, 2012)

We use 2-4-D also and it will get rid of them. You may have to spray the area a couple of consecutive years to get them for good. You can graze back on this chemical pretty soon after spraying. Maybe you could divide your pasture and do it in sections.


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Well it looks like temporary pasture for Rascal *sigh* They are all over his pasture and I'd like to get them gone in one swoop. Thanks for the chemical suggestions  Now if I can just get that patch of briars with the same stuff LOL


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## AengusOg (Jan 18, 2010)

Your pasture is acidic and needs an application of lime.


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## Sweeney Road (Feb 12, 2012)

AengusOg said:


> Your pasture is acidic and needs an application of lime.


Yup.

Lime won't get rid of them completely, but it will change the soil acidity enough so that the buttercups won't grow very well.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Yup and yup. 

Buttercups are opportunistic, and will take over when the good grasses are threatened. They are a sign of both poor soil and overgrazing. Managing the pasture so the desirable grasses can thrive is a much better option than spraying weed killer, IMO.

Take a soil test and run it through your local extension agent and get fertilizer and lime recommendations, and apply both as needed this fall. 

I'd also recommend rotating your pasture - if need be run temporary fence down the middle and only graze half at a time.


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## smokeslastspot (Jan 11, 2012)

I second getting a soil analysis, although that will not solve the problem completely it will help to have a better balanced pasture. We get a soil test regularly from our extension service (as well as hay and grass analysis, hey it's free knowledge so why not?) and luckily the plant that sells bulk lime and fertilizer is a few miles from the house. We have two horses on ten acres and the buttercups always start appearing along the shared fence line with one particular neighbor whose spare field is full of them. So frustrating! There are worse plants out there though so I count myself lucky its just the occasional buttercup popping up.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Will 2-4-D kill briars?


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## Daeraelle (Apr 30, 2012)

Vinegar is safe and will kill any plant, only if the plant has a deep established root it may come back. I don't know anything about buttercups. However, if you want them all gone fast, use plain white vinegar, then work on making your soil less favorable for the buttercups. However, vinegar will kill ANY plant. So, if you soak with vinegar it will kill everything. Then you can start over, work on making the soil less favorable to them and then replanting grass. Maybe at least if they grow back out they will be in small enough patches they can be pulled up and removed by hand.


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## jphshs (Feb 25, 2012)

We used it on briars, poison ivy, honeysuckle.....takes a while to see it do it's thing but it works. Again, the extention agent can recommend what is best for your problems and your area. Use them or the Government will think they aren't a necesary agency and they may be gone! Our agents are extremely helpful.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

jphshs said:


> We use 2-4-D also and it will get rid of them. You may have to spray the area a couple of consecutive years to get them for good. You can graze back on this chemical pretty soon after spraying. Maybe you could divide your pasture and do it in sections.


From the Ag Coop Extension article I read...

_For non-lactating animals (horses) there
are no grazing restrictions for any of the herbicides
with the exception of Roundup. However, it
may be advisable to remove horses for 1 to 3 days
from a pasture treated with herbicides._


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

AengusOg- SweeneyRoad -I forgot lime this spring DOH! Thanks, it is on the honey do list.

Maura- The soil sample goes in tomorrow. I totally forgot the extension agent. I am doing some temporary fencing this weekend.
We have only been here since the fall. When we moved in the pasture was grown up over my head (5'3") with weeds. We cleared it, fertilized it, and have hand pulled weeds all fall, winter, and spring so far. I cut it every other week with the lawn mower. It keeps it down some, tears up the briar patch, and when I lower the blade the bagger spreads poop pretty well. 

Smokeslastspot- To true about the worse weeds. I can get lime pretty cheap, so no biggie. I totally over looked doing the pasture when I did the yard last fall. I fertilized the pasture, but no lime.

Daeraelle- I hadn't heard that about the vinegar. Will it draw more flies?

PaintHorseMares- Thanks for looking that up  I am seriously thinking about the vinegar for weed killing. It is cheap enough to try on a large scale, if it works GREAT! If not, well at least maybe I killed some fungus laying in the ground.


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## Daeraelle (Apr 30, 2012)

I think vinegar is a deterant to a lot of things. It isn't toxic so if your horse does take a nibble it won't hurt. I don't think it would attract anything. It kills off the plant above ground and shallow roots. White vinegar has been used as a green herbicide for a while. It also will kill off all the grass and any other plants it gets on. I haven't used it myself, and I don't know how long you would wait to reseed with grass.


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## RoosHuman (Dec 27, 2011)

We have limed and mowed the field already this Spring, and we still have the little boogers!


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

Thanks, and I will ask about the ground pending the outcome of the soil test. How long does it actually take for the test results? I will get it limed in the mean time. I need to do the yard again anyways.


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## maura (Nov 21, 2009)

Roos, lime isn't a quick fix. I've heard estimates of 1 -3 years before spread lime actually changes the soil chemistry. 

And once you have them, besides the lime and fertilizer, you have to either rest or rotate the pasture to give the desirable grasses to out compete them. 

Horses don't eat them unless they're desparate, so if the pasture is grazed, the good grasses will continue to be pressured and the buttercups and other weeds will flourish.


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## Rascaholic (Oct 4, 2010)

maura said:


> Horses don't eat them unless they're desparate, so if the pasture is grazed, the good grasses will continue to be pressured and the buttercups and other weeds will flourish.


We did overgraze it in the fall last year. Fencing wasn't in the budget, and I won't touch the emergency fund. I honestly didn't even think of stressing it. Hmm what is it they say about hind sight... Temporary fencing it is till this recovers enough to eradicate them without leaving a mud bog if it rains.


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## Royal Pine Buck (May 28, 2011)

usually horses won't touch buttercups as they are extremely bitter (if the horse is starving they might try to eat them ,but that is probably not your case  )

routine mowing a fields is good management against weeds. it doesn't have to be mowed low, but mowed often.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Royal Pine Buck said:


> routine mowing a fields is good management against weeds. it doesn't have to be mowed low, but mowed often.


That is what we do...doesn't get rid of all the weeds, but it does help from them choking out all the grass.


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## kiwi79 (Nov 11, 2011)

I use a broad leaf spray called Tordon Pasture Boss which is great for killing off buttercup. Unfortunately it also kills the kikuyu grass which isnt the best grass but great for summer because its so hardy and keeps growing in drought situations. 
If I cant be bothered spraying then I just take the tops off with a weed eater to slow it down and let the other grass grow through. 
I have never tried using vinegar though, will definitely have a go!


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