Buttercups -any advice?

[Ozric Jonathan]

I hate to disagree with Danny but I'm sure that it says somewhere on the Tortoise Trust website that there has been a confirmed case of a tortoise that died after eating a large amount of buttercups. It might not be possible to be certain that the buttercups caused the fatality. And it was apparently a really large amount of them that had been eaten.

The creeping buttercups are hard to get rid of. The roots can easily break when you pull them and a new plant will re-generate from a fragment. In heavy soils it can be very hard to pull them cleanly. And of course they send out those horrible runners all the time.

[yuna1971]

My lawn has loads of the stuff...and believe me I've read lots if articles on how to get rid. And not a lot if success...even with weedkiller (which I'm sure you don't want to use with your torts roaming about).
I've read that even when people have dug right down to dig them up...seemingly thinking yay their gone. They sprout back.
Lily munches a bit now and then...as it's in a lot of areas. I don't like it but the job to get rid and implications might be a lot worse.
Be thankful it's not Japanese knotweed, goodness knows what people do with that stuff!! xx

[Hanako]

Thank you for your advice! I bought a weedkiller and sprayed it. I will have to make sure that my tortoises won't go to the areas that have been sprayed. After perhaps a month I will move the tortoises to the part of the garden that have been sprayed (hopefully a month should be enough to be washed off and safe for the tortoises) and do the other half of the garden. On the weedkiller there is written that you can plant at the same place that has been treated after a few days. So if it is safe to plant there new plants and it won't kill them, it should be safe for tortoises to go there after a month, hopefully.

[Ozric Jonathan]

Hi Hanako that area may be unsuitable for a while longer. Glyphosate based weed killers such as Roundup work by coating the leaf with the chemical and the plant absorbs this over a period of time and this kills the plant and the root. It works when the plant is growing. Stubborn weeds like buttercups will take some time to get killed off and the chemical might be active within the plant for a while so any animal that eats the weed leaves might be harmed. To kill buttercups you do need something like a Glyphosate based product. The makers will say that if the chemical is washed off the leaves by rainfall within a day or two of treatment then it won't work and you have to spray again.

Others might have other views or experience of doing it but if it was my garden and my tortoises I would keep the animals off that patch right round to the following spring if I sprayed it now.

[ClareandCo]

Originally Posted by Ozric Jonathan

Hi Hanako that area may be unsuitable for a while longer. Glyphosate based weed killers such as Roundup work by coating the leaf with the chemical and the plant absorbs this over a period of time and this kills the plant and the root. It works when the plant is growing. Stubborn weeds like buttercups will take some time to get killed off and the chemical might be active within the plant for a while so any animal that eats the weed leaves might be harmed. To kill buttercups you do need something like a Glyphosate based product. The makers will say that if the chemical is washed off the leaves by rainfall within a day or two of treatment then it won't work and you have to spray again.

Others might have other views or experience of doing it but if it was my garden and my tortoises I would keep the animals off that patch right round to the following spring if I sprayed it now.

Totally agree - the tortoises should not be allowed back on the sprayed areas. That is why I asked if you were able to put up some photos first. I would never recommend spraying in this situation. Do your tortoises go directly on to the grass?

[yuna1971]

I would just keep pulling them up. It's a right pain I know but I agree with the others above, I think spraying (unless the area is segregated) might cause more harm than good. They could also just sprout back anyway. I just mow over mine, yeah doesn't get rid but they all are chopped at the leaf. Lawn still looks ok after. xx