Weed Control

Geese, and goats love weeds! Of course, they also love garden veggies and plants that you are growing on purpose! But they can be very helpful with noxious weeds, and in keeping weeds under control in many situations.

Mulch is also a good option for keeping weeds down around plants that you can't turn geese loose with. Pretty much any combination of grass clippings, leaves, or straw will help. Don't use hay, it will leave seeds in the ground and eventually they'll make things worse.

Get the weeds under control when they are small. Regular weeding in the garden is really the best option. If you have patches of noxious weeds (thistles, Russian knapweed, Bohemian vine, etc), then goats and geese or ducks can really help. Ducks love tumbleweeds and lambs quarter - so do chickens. Goats will gobble down small bushes and trees as well - which works nicely if you have alders or suckers coming up around fruit trees (just protect the trees you really want to keep, goats love tree bark!).

We'd recommend avoiding herbicides, even "natural" ones. They are more likely to harm than help, and are rarely effective long enough to justify the cost.

For the most part, our best recommendation for weed control is to feed it to something whenever possible. Then the weeds are controlled, and are converted into something useful.

 

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