Arch Nemesis – Dock

Weeds are always an issue for landholders. In the three years we have been here, we have been able to control the lupins by slashing and the melons and deadly nightshade by hand picking.  We are lucky not to have much dock as it is a perennial with a tap root that also spreads thousands of seeds, and once it takes hold it can become rampant. (“All species of dock are prolific seeders.  Some 40,000 seeds having been counted from one plant of curled dock.”)

Many of the paddocks round the Shire are covered with it and are less productive as a result.  No-one will pay good money for hay with dock in it.  This one weed will halt me in my tracks as I cannot leave it there to disperse its seeds.  Late in spring I went out with a garden fork and bagged any that I found, roots and all, while the seed heads were still green and undeveloped.  Any stragglers I find now, I carefully bag and snap off as the seed heads are almost explosive with a hair trigger.

I think kangaroos are a culprit bringing seed in on their fur as the last 2 plants that I found were in flattened grass with poop nearby.

Our next major weed of concern is the related sorrel which is blowing in from our southern neighbour. It basically looks like a miniature version of the dock, and grows in patches.  We will be spraying that early in the growing season next year. Where we could, we slashed them before the seed heads ripened and I am hand weeding the summer paddock where there is a low infestation.