alpha010

I have a bit of a weed problem that is a bit umm, problematic.....wild thistle. I can't seem to get rid of this terribly invasive weed, no matter what I do! I used to have it in my main front and back yards and it only popped up occasionally in my beds, but, I had a company for 2 years fertilize and weed my yard. But, they were bought by chemlawn and I never got the same results with them so I dropped 'em. NOW, I do the weed n feed myself (I use Scotts brand and apply every 6 weeks on the major holidays). Since I bought the half lot next to me and had it graded and I put grass in, the thistle is taking that over but not the established lawn...yet. The scotts doesn't seem to be affecting it and now it is popping up in my garden and everywhere else in the half-lot no matter how many 12" long roots I pull up or how many times I break one over and spray root-kill herbicide down the hollow center.

Any ideas or testimonies of what works against this? I'm looking for everything short of total erradication with commercial herbicide of the entire area and pulling out the top 18" of soil and sterilizing and refilling.

Thanx
Shaggy

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ron_mcb

there are thousands of weeds but only a few are common on maintained lawns. sometimes you can mow em to keep em from seeding. the ones that have a short lifespan can die off before they get to re-seed if you mow em.

some are like the terminator. you can pull em but you dont usually get the whole root system and they can regenerate from a piece of root. then they can seed as well.

well i think the best thing to do is p.m. you with ideas..if anyone is advocating a method that isnt popular (chemical). there will be people who say its wrong and then there is usually a long debate. the debate lasts long after the asker has decided who to listen to.

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Lagniappe

An organic method I've read a lot about is to use white vinagar.....never tried it but it sounds promising.
I use brush killer myself. In my dry creek bed I just spray it on , but I use a paintbrush when going after weeds that are too close to my plants.

stumpy4700

Paintbrush!!!!!!! Great Idea.

Bananaman88

Most thistles have a long tap root-sort of like a dandelion. The best method is to pull them when they are young, making sure you get all the root. Obviously, this isn't an option if you have hundreds of them. I occasionally use a product called "Weed B Gone" by Ortho. It is selective for broadleaf weeds, meaning you can spray it on any broadleaf growing in your lawn and it won't harm the turf. 2, 4D is the active ingredient and it works pretty good.

alpha010

Ron, feel free to p.m.
Pete, thanks for the tips, will be selecting a paintbrush to keep as my terminator.
Brent, I have tried weed-b-gone, works well on clover and dandelion, but this thistle is just as ron stated "Terminator". weed-b-gone only makes it brown out the bottom 2 or 3 leaves then it seems to grow even quick since it was threatened.

Keep posting your own remedies and ideas! The more the merrier!

Shaggy

P.s. I really don't intend on turning this thread into chemicals versus organics, I am not partial to either method and will use both.

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saltydad

I second Pete's method of brushing in Brush B Gone with a paintbrush. I do this on poison ivy.

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goats

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harveyc

LOL, Jarred, your suggestion reminds me of my neighbors who bought 10 goats to help control the Johnson Grass and wild blackberries growing in their 2 acre cherry orchard. The bought the goats and the guy selling them said the goats would prefer the blackberry vines despite the thorns over the cherries. After they brought the goats home they decided to do a little more research and learned that goats might eat the branches on the cherry trees and, worse yet, the bark contained something toxic to the goats. So now they spray the weeds and buy feed for the goats!

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alpha010

If I was allowed to, I'd do one better and buy pygmy fainting goats! talk about some silliness!

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bepah

Thistles present one of the worst problems in weed control. They put out millions of seeds, which greminate over a long number of years. Thistle seeds have been seen to be viable for over 20 years......

Unless you are willing to scrape 4 to 6 inches of dirt and replace it with new soil (and this may not work either), you will probably have thistle seedlings for some time.

You also may try soil sterilization by covering the affected areas with black plastic during the heat of the summer, no water, and hope that temps get warm enough to sterilize the soil.

Good luck, you have a particularly difficult problem.

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Chironex

Pitching wedge!

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Scot

alpha010

Scot, I'd say thanks for that one but I already have enuff chunks of grass missing to warrant my lawns as Dorf's retreat!

Bepah, you make me sad.....I will keep the sterilizing in mind incase I decide to go that route.

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harveyc

Shaggy, there are quite a few different weeds called "thistle". Do you know exactly what you have? Control can vary very much, depending on what you've got. I've got some start thistle around my farm and that's one that can be controlled easier when young and later on I pull it up. To prevent new seedlings from coming up next year, spray early with a pre-emergent herbicide if that's not something you're opposed to. Frequent low mowing can also help to prevent many weeds from going to seed.

Good luck!

Harvey

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alpha010

Not sure the type of thistle, all I know is that it can get up to about 1-1/2 to 2 feet tall, purple flower, and extremely annoyingly sharp thorns throughout the entire lifespan, taproot, and low mowing does nothing to it but make it keep growing. I havent seen one flower in about 2 years so I am absolutely certain that it is spreading from rhizomes (unless birds are pooing thistle seeds all over everything in my yard only and not any of my neighbors). Plus, some that get into my flower beds can even get the strength to lift up the weed barrier and 3-4 inches of mulch a couple of inches up before I move the stuff and yank about 1 lb of one plant.

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lorax

You know, you could always just get rid of all that grass and plant more bananas....

harveyc

lol, Beth. That reminds me that Microfarmer hasn't been here for quite a while and I hope he's okay. His signature line is a quote from Jon which says he hasn't mowed grass for 20 years!

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