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, the cow parsnip should somehow be similar to Hercules? This is exactly so: like an ancient hero, this plant is very tenacious, grows rapidly and reaches enormous sizes. The height of the hogweed can be up to four meters, while its leaves reach an area of 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.
Cow parsnip was imported to Russia in the middle of the last century from the Caucasus (although some sources claim that it was bought in North America) to help the agriculture of our country, since then they saw it as a good fodder base. Also in a number of regions of the country it was eaten - as an additive they put it in pickles and soups, but before that it was soaked in order to get rid of essential oils and coumarone compounds. Animals do not neglect this plant and consumehogweed for food, especially it helps to restore strength to elks, bears, goats, cows and sheep. Its medicinal properties were also noted: purulent wounds and ulcers were treated with hogweed juice; it helped with asthma and epilepsy. 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 hogweed 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, despite all its useful qualities, is not suitable for use as food for both people and farm animals. Why? The thing is that the plant is poisonous. The milk given by cows after such food, obtained even in the form of silage, gives off bitterness. It cannot be eaten. And touching the cow parsnip generally threatens with burns, which are not so easy to get rid of! What is the cause of burns? It's all about essential oils and coumarone compounds, which, when in contact with the skin, weaken its ability to protect itself from the sun's rays, which give severe burns. But it is worth noting that all these horrors are associated primarily with Sosnowsky's hogweed, an artificially bred variety that is successfully able to fight for survival with other weeds in our area. As it later turned out, it was impossible to use it in agriculture, but it was too late: the plant successfully took root. Even more than successful.
How to deal with hogweed?
Start with a single plant battle method, then move on to larger ones.
1. Single
The fight against Sosnowski's cow parsnip is not an easy task. Its juices are dangerous for us, so precautions are necessary: clothing should completely hide our skin. With a shovel, it is necessary to cut the plant at the very root, then pour something very strong on the top of the root: vinegar essence, Tornado or Roundup herbicides. We put a bag on top and tie a stump with a bag with an elastic band.
2. On the roadsides
How to deal with cow parsnip along roads and in wastelands? Here science recommends resorting to "Roundup" - dilute, according to the instructions on the package, and spray the young plants. According to the instructions for this tool, these procedures kill only one generation of plants. Dissatisfied customers claim that it is of little use.
3. At my dacha
How to deal with cow parsnip in your native territory, where the plant has already grown? Here we are advised to get a lawn. To do this, first we mow the cow parsnip, then lay the geo-canvas here and pour 5 centimeters of earth from another area where there are no cow parsnip seeds. On top of this, we plant a 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 cow parsnip.
