Good morning,
Looking for some thoughts as despite having my PA1/ PA6 i’m low on experience.
Basically I have a 50m ditch in a commercial site I look after. They want it kept totally free of vegetation as last year there was a freak incident where a half hour of rain caused the ditch to overflow leading to some localised flooding. (I don’t think it was the ditch at fault but blocked drains further down the road).
The ditch is dry most of the time and seldom has water water in it.
I treat the hard surfaces on site with glyphosate and Paradise several times a year but am aware that whilst glyphosate is ok to use near water (so should be safe to spray when dry with my current training) but paradise isn’t.
I’m assuming that as the ditch can carry water I need to treat it as if it had water in it?
Any advise from those with more experience appreciated, would be nice to reduce frequency of spraying if there is something else residual that can be mixed in.
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Yes you must treat it as a waterway, so no chikara / paradise as very toxic to fish. You are correct that glyphosate is regulated to use near and in water.
I'm not aware of a residual weed control thats OK for aquatic life. Would be interested to hear about that if it exists.
The non herbicide route could be to cover with matting - black plastic or natural jute as examples.
Andrew is right - no residuals approved for use in or near watercourses. The limit of spraying being 1m distance from the top of the bank (site specific details, surfaces etc may dictate a wider buffer zone to prevent run off )
Not all glyphosates (or Roundups) are aquatic approved - always check the label...amenity approved Roundp will be suitable.....If you have diifcult weeds in the ditch try adding TopFilm - terrific adjuvant that sticks the herbicide to the leaf like babys doo-doo on a blanket..!
I always think of this incident when looking at spraying anything near water / drainage - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23852295
Also to spray on or near a water course you need a PA6W, the normal one does not allow sparaying within 1 mtr of a water course.
Evening. Thanks everyone for your helpful responses and suggestions.
I’d totally missed the fact that the ditch (even though almost always totally dry) would still be classed as a water course. I’d been thinking that if spraying the ditch when dry and with products safe for aquatic life I’d be on the right side of regulations but see the sense that with the normal PA6 I won’t be!
I’ll probably strim down and rake the weeds this time round and see if I can add the watercourse part to my PA6.
Many thanks,
Justin.
just a thought if the ditch is totaly void of vegitation the banks could erode and collaps into the bottom
Hi David, I had the same concern. When the ditch was dug out (after the flooding) the sides were left very close to vertical and I did mention to the customer that without some vegetation they may get the sides of the bank eroding from rain and water flow causing soil to wash in and build up but their lease states clearly that their responsibility is to keep the ditch clear at all times and they read that to mean free of vegitation, debris, rubbish etc. If they do this and there is local flooding again then they feel they can’t be held responsible.
Although it would do me out of some money I suggested they talk to the landlord about the possibility of piping it, it’s not a historic ditch and was just dug when the land was built on 20 years ago. It’s also uphill if the building and carpark so takes no run off from site, it just links a ditch from a disused field to the drains set into the road on the opposite side of the site.
thanks.