Goat head weed

I hate goat head weed. This thing has the nastiest seeds I've ever encountered: they are shaped like pyramids with a thick, SHARP thorn at each point. The result is that they act like a biological "caltrop". These are big enough to pop bicycle tires and send the poor dogs limping. I don't know if they're native or not, but I hate 'em.

There has been a patch of them at the beginning of the trail into the park near Calicougar's place and I had been meaning to go investigate them in the daylight. A preliminary investigation showed me what the plants look like: ground hugging spidery plants with a central root and leaves that look like an acacia or sensitive-plant's leaves.

I went out today armed with a hoe to hack at what I thought were a few dozen plants. Once I started to cut them down, I realized that there were a lot more than I thought. A LOT more. Two hours of work with a ridiculously small-bladed hoe (perfect for a few dozen, not for acerage) and I got about a dozen piles of weed, but just couldn't bring myself to attack the jungle of them covering about a 12X12 foot area. So tomorrow I go back with gloves, a proper hoe and a couple of garbage bags.

Phoo.

Goat head weed

I hate goat head weed. This thing has the nastiest seeds I've ever encountered: they are shaped like pyramids with a thick, SHARP thorn at each point. The result is that they act like a biological "caltrop". These are big enough to pop bicycle tires and send the poor dogs limping. I don't know if they're native or not, but I hate 'em.

There has been a patch of them at the beginning of the trail into the park near Calicougar's place and I had been meaning to go investigate them in the daylight. A preliminary investigation showed me what the plants look like: ground hugging spidery plants with a central root and leaves that look like an acacia or sensitive-plant's leaves.

I went out today armed with a hoe to hack at what I thought were a few dozen plants. Once I started to cut them down, I realized that there were a lot more than I thought. A LOT more. Two hours of work with a ridiculously small-bladed hoe (perfect for a few dozen, not for acerage) and I got about a dozen piles of weed, but just couldn't bring myself to attack the jungle of them covering about a 12X12 foot area. So tomorrow I go back with gloves, a proper hoe and a couple of garbage bags.

Phoo.

Goat head weed

I hate goat head weed. This thing has the nastiest seeds I've ever encountered: they are shaped like pyramids with a thick, SHARP thorn at each point. The result is that they act like a biological "caltrop". These are big enough to pop bicycle tires and send the poor dogs limping. I don't know if they're native or not, but I hate 'em.

There has been a patch of them at the beginning of the trail into the park near Calicougar's place and I had been meaning to go investigate them in the daylight. A preliminary investigation showed me what the plants look like: ground hugging spidery plants with a central root and leaves that look like an acacia or sensitive-plant's leaves.

I went out today armed with a hoe to hack at what I thought were a few dozen plants. Once I started to cut them down, I realized that there were a lot more than I thought. A LOT more. Two hours of work with a ridiculously small-bladed hoe (perfect for a few dozen, not for acerage) and I got about a dozen piles of weed, but just couldn't bring myself to attack the jungle of them covering about a 12X12 foot area. So tomorrow I go back with gloves, a proper hoe and a couple of garbage bags.

Phoo.