Hogweeds also known as cartwheel flowers are perennial toxic and invasive plants that are very harmful to humans and the environment. Their toxic sap can cause extremely painful phototoxic burns and contact with the eyes can lead to blindness.
Hogweeds can commonly be found in lawns, fields and nearby moving water. They are very tall, around 4-5 meters, have large, shiny, hairess leafs, white flowers and a hairy stem covered in white hairs .
Manual weeding commonly referred to as hand weeding can be effective for small areas with post emergent weeds since they can be grasped and removed easily. However, it is not effective for perennial hogweeds , even if a small portion of the root is left on the soil the entire plant can easily regrow from it .
Different machines can be used for weeding such as weed cutters or mowing machines . However both of these machines should be used when the hogweed has not yet started to produce seeds. It takes around 5 year for the giant hogweed to grow and produce seeds so it is better to use machines in the early stages and remove the root manually using gloves.
Glyphosate and triclopyr are the most effective systemic herbicides for giant hogweed. Triclopyr weed killer works by interfering with the growth cells of the giant hogweed by mimicking a type of growth hormone and causes uncontrolled growth of the weed causing the plant to die within weeks.
The herbicide should be sprayed when the plant is actively growing. It is essential to cut the flower heads of the giant hogweed to ensure that the seeds don't start spreading.
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