Poke Berry Taking Over

lhoffmanfritz

Sadly, the best method is to pull them by hand when they are young, if older plants, you must dig out the roots.  The roots are long and tap deep when older.   We spent many of days here and there at our old place pulling and pulling.  Took two summers, but got rid of it.  We are talking 6 acres worth!  The birds bring in the pokeweed by eating the pokeberries.  When they poo on your land, pokeweeds pop up.  Mowing is a temporary help to keep poke from rising if you choose not to pull.  I had not found any non-toxic way to rid of pokeweed.  Sorry.

Poke is poisonous to livestock too.  That's the reason why we pulled and pulled.  Only when poke is really young in the spring as a new plant can livestock nibble on it without complications.  Likewise, yellow buttercup flowers have a similar effect.

lhoffmanfritz

That's great to know they are poisons to livestock too!  I guess I will just have to roll up my sleeves and start pulling.

 

What did you do with what you pulled up to keep it from coming back?  Do I need to burn it?  After all of the work I definitely don't want to have to start at it from square one each year.

bmaverick

At that time we lived in TN.  Just stack out in the hot sun to dry.  Then burn.