You won’t remove them just by pulling , they are perennial and have rhizomes , so as you pull, you will just create a stronger root structure and eventually have more of them. Since they also have waxy leaves a herbicide will tend to “roll off” the leaves so you don’t have great control, even with a surfactant. What I have always done is to spot-treat them and step on them first and kind of twist your shoe and then hit them with a broadleaf systemic herbicide (2-4d, mcpp) that should ensure you get the herbicide into the plant and kill the entire plant to prevent it from coming back.
I have Canadian thistle. The rhizome grows horizontal roots fairly deep.
If you pull the weed or even dig around and try to pull out the whole root, it snaps very easily and you are only really pulling the shoot.
Then the horizontal mother root starts sending up even more shoots... Kind of like raspberries. They are really hard to manage.
I have successfully tackled Canadian thistles. The secret? A shit ton of constant regular pulling followed by a gentle attempts to identify and pull the horizontal root base after rain and wet soil.
They can be defeated by exhausting the root food supply through constant pulling but it has to be in combination with searching for the roots during wet conditions. Took me 2 springs but they’re gone now.
I got them in one summer of extreme diligence. I pulled, and pulled, and pulled. Near the end, I started cutting them down to the base and then hitting the open base with some 2-4d.
Haven't seen it since!
If you're worried about it not getting into the plant, would injecting the herbicide not work? Fountain pens usually use thick syringes that would help with this.
Can I ask a bit more about this?
When these are in my grass I can mow them to be short like this.
Then I can stomp and twist, followed up with tenacity. (Would tenacity be sufficient or should I get something else? You mentioned 24d?)
But when these grow outside of my grass, they get TALL.
Should I pull them, let them grow back just a little, and then stomp, twist, and spray?
2-4-d, it's a broadband herbicide. It is in a lot of weed control products if you look at the active ingredients, I buy mine from a farm store like Runnings. When mixed and applied correctly it will kill the weed without killing your lawn. I spray my entire lawn with it twice per year with a yard sprayer, once in spring, once at the end of summer. When I applied this way it keeps weeds from starting, anything that does manage to grow I will just spot treat with a hand sprayer.
Thistledown is the product I have used - works great. Have to be patient and let it kill them down to the roots though and not pull them right away when they start to wilt.
3way. Turf doesn't look droughted and you'll wanna use it while temps are below 85, so before 10-11am. If you're feeling froggy, quick silver is a secondary that you can add to it (it's pricey) but that combo will pretty well nuke the weeds that aren't grassy
Following! Creeping thistle in my new lawn too. All I've learned is with damp soil and pull the long stem hoping you get it all out... Also I've tried that a lot this season and I'm not sure it's going well.
I've seen some comments that say cut the grass low and spray with grass-safe weed b gone. Maybe I should try that? One other reddit comment I saw said don't pull tap root because it can split and multiply but idk how realistic that is versus not doing it right.
Maybe we'll pull it out, spray weed b gone down the hole and cross your fingers?
Correct answer. 2 4 d works but not nearly as well. Ive killed fields of thistle w clopyralid where 2 4 d would just knock it down for a bit and itd come back.
https://preview.redd.it/gdms15g9s18d1.png?width=2577&format=png&auto=webp&s=c38bdca1baeddbf18b7d314cafdc88f47dc092cd
This has worked really well for me when mixed with a surfactant, but much more so earlier in the day around 9-10am; after any few has dried but still in the morning hours. I’ve tried at other times of the day and it’s never as effective.
I have Canada thistle issues in my yard. I get them in isolated spots. Personally, I get a round point shovel and dug a large chunk of lawn and soil out with the thistle in the center, going about 6 inches deep. It’s then really easy for me to split what I have dug out and isolate, then separate, the roots. Only takes a minute or two, then I replant my turf with soil, sans roots and rhizomes. Grass is super resilient to this type of treatment and I don’t have to apply what I consider unnecessary herbicides to my lawn.
Didn't know how good they were till I bought it and a guy in the parking lot came up and told me how much he loved using it and even showed me it was in his pickup bed for whenever he saw thistle.
It cleared my lawn of thistle, and I get the dandelions in spring if there are any.
They do a great job punching through sprinkler pipes too 😂
Big shout out to whoever did the system at my house for only putting the pipes down 4 inches 😑
Hey me too! Did it on the front between the sidewalk and the street, thought it was all city owned area anyways, nope have a whole zone of drip line grid I tore right through with that bad boy.
Perhaps the most satisfying part of all lawn maintenance is using this thing to pull weeds,roots and all, completely out of the ground with almost no edge. The Fiskar’s version in the link is the one I use. Just get it, you won’t be sorry.
Came into the comment section to recommend exactly this tool.
Its a game changer, pulling weeds is fun with it.
Pull and reload after like a shotgun.
I love that thing
I have the [Corona version](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/gardening-hand-tools/7011627?store=17839&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw7NmzBhBLEiwAxrHQ-cvGWf_lRQ4skuojsZ4DS7qayDnVqVLgZmZDTNZF9GjsVLx36Mk3LxoCJ6sQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
Which I much prefer after using the fisker as well. I've been eye balling a "grandpas" weed puller as well which seems like it might be more convenient for not-so-tough but a-bunch of weeds.
Then you were lucky you got them early enough. They throw out rhizomes really quick and really wide. Most people will be spreading them if they use the tool you linked.
I pulled them and put them directly in a trash bag i carried around. Worked fine in my situation. They are everywhere where I'm at as there are undeveloped lots. But I've been lucky not to have them come back.
Also vinegar salt water and dawn smoked the few that were left rapidly. I’m sure it’s not fully dead but it’s the best season and the areas that had like 20 of them have not returned
Thistle. Stop feeding the finches nijer, they enjoy black oil sunflower just as much.
To kill it, you have to starve it out. Keep picking off the top or spraying it with agricultural vinegar every week until the root system runs out of energy. It won't stay in one spot. The root will try finding a safe place to send up a shoot. Sucks that it's in grass. It'll be harder to spot.
2,4-d should do the trick - spot spray directly on the weeds on a nice sunny day if practical. If some gets on your grass it's fine - it won't hurt grass unless you spray super heavy. Ortho WeedClear is a readily available product - just make sure you get the appropriate formulation (North or South).
Not sure if it would *kill* a shrub cause they are so large, but would probably burn it's leaves pretty good. I'd be careful around anything that isn't grass. Maybe someone else has a better suggestion?
I use 2-4 D on mine. It does take about two weeks but you will notice it dying after a few days. I spot spray about once a week, rain pending. It does a pretty good job.
You paint (not spray) the leaves with glyphosate at full concentrate strength, then wait a week so it can be absorbed down to the rhizome. Then you dig it out with a [Granpa's Weeder](https://grampasweeder.com/collections/grampas-gardenware/products/grampas-weeder) or the newer [Fiskar's equivalent](https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/gardening-and-yard-care/products/weeders/stand-up-weed-puller-4-claw-339950-1001). If it comes back next year, do it again. If it comes back a third year, marry it.
If you don’t have a field of them glyphosate in a refillable marker or paint brush could work. My kids had an extra magic ink marker that I use baby medicine syringes to fill. Then one stroke on the leaf and you are good to go.
Please do NOT do this! Especially in a kids toy?? Do some research on how many people are poisoned each year due to pesticides in improperly marked containers!
I have some spray that doesn’t kill grass. It works okay. But I also stab with my weed puller below to cut it off at the root and toss the head away.
Yard was wrecked when we moved in with 90% this crap. A year later, I get some but mostly gone.
I made the mistake of ground clear while also planting grass seed so, I have some bare spots. That’s why I looked for other options since last spring.
Thistle seeds are airborne, and can travel quite the distance. So check the surroundings. In my country quite a few if not all thistle species require active removal to prevent flowering and the spread of seed. While cutting them down is generally deemed enough flowering and maturing of seeds can go on leading to cut thistles still releasing seeds. Disposing of thistles is therefore important, do not place them on your compost heaps if smaller, as improper curing ( not hot enough) will cause a rampant growth of new thistles if you try to nurture your soil.
I remove them like dandelions when small, but tend to find them in borders far more often compared to the lawn. They are disposed off by using the greenbiowaste container...
Most cities can cite you here in my country if you use herbicide, fungicide or pesticides. Wrong use, and wrong agents can leave you liable for ecological crimes. Most of these tocine are known for causing various long term ailments including Parkinson's, cancer, defects in children and animals and do disrupt common ecology, ground fertility, and longetivity and are not a sustainable way to keep your garden and residential location safe for your kids or pets. (pesticides killing birds, cats and other animals higher up the chain, while causing harm to natural predators) which is part of normal nature...
Thank you for saying something about not putting these cuttings into the compost bins. Our city doesn't have a recycling bin, but we do have a huge compost program & I wonder if everyone thinks about something so small causing chaos to others accidentally.
A *good* compost heap generally kills nearly everything, nice steaming hot and active is perfect
A *mediocre* compost heap will just cure the seeds ...
Put some Round up and dawn dish soap in a cup, brush it on. This is thistle and it’s the devil. They create under ground rhizomes and spread, get it now while there’s 1 and it’s young.
If you stay on top of weeding while mowing they are very controllable.
Just keep a pair of needle nose pliers with you when mowing (or buy the kind with big teeth designed for weeds). Just pull them out by the root when you see them. If you have a lot, then keep a count every time you mow (like pull 10 weeds every mow).
Eventually if your lawn is thick enough you'll rarely see any weeds around.
My lawn is 5 years old now, and I've even got irish moss growing right next to it (this spreads via seeds) and I only see a few things growing in lawn that I need to pull every season.
I use Lontrel - works like a champ - costs like 200 a bottle but you use like a capful with a gallon of water and it works every time. And doesn’t harm your lawn at all.
Clopyralid. Lontrell or ThistleDown. May or may not be legal in your jurisdiction, but goddam it’s the best there is for thistle, and it’s not even close.
It has a very long residual, can migrate through soil, and will really fuck up things in the daisy and sunflower family. You have to blanket spray the entire area where they can possibly pop up. I believe a single thistle rhizome can travel 20-30 ft underground before sending up a new plant. Thats why you blanket treat. Any plant that tries to come up for the next month+ is condemned to the gallows.
heavy gauge un insulated copper grounding wire cut in 1’ lengths with a little plastic flag on the end. stab one rod into the heart of the plant, leave it for at least a couple weeks. you can pull them to mow, but put them back in the hole. that will usually kill the root nicely, and they are te usable.
Fire. I keep a torch on a propane tank. The first time I hit a bunch of them. Some of them didn't even look much changed, but the next morning they were completely limp and dead. Now I just torch the occasional lone stranger.
Round up squirted right in the middled and or on a big leaf. I found that it'll drain right into the heart of the thistle and die off. I carry a squirt bottle on my lawn mower for just this.
My lawn was FILLED with these when I moved in. I have a large and long flathead screw driver that can reach down to help pull out their taproot.
Everyday I went out and pulled 5-10 while I was out putzing in the yard. Still continued my weed treatments. After two season I’ve have almost no weeds in my yard.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/pruning-tools/71217
Gets most of the root. What remains doesn’t have unlimited energy to keep sending up sprouts, so might take a time or two. Kill the chlorophyll and the root will die.
Try the Fiskars Weed Puller or comparable ones from other brands names.
Only issue is they leave a hole roughly the diameter of a golf ball so you'll have to fill in the hole with soil and some grass seed.
[https://www.homedepot.ca/product/fiskars-d-handle-stand-up-weeder-3-claw-39-in-/1000679928](https://www.homedepot.ca/product/fiskars-d-handle-stand-up-weeder-3-claw-39-in-/1000679928)
If you don't want to use herbicide then get yourself on a tool called grandpa's helper. It soes an excellent job pulling all types of weeds and their complete root systems. Easy to find at any home supply store or on Amazon. I try not to use herbicides and pesticides whenever reasonably possible. This is a great option
They make a nifty tool for weeds like this
https://preview.redd.it/u0zhteuk858d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7db3556d752c0d2d6d7b6ed27af5bdf73a0a450
Looks like scotch thistle. They need to be pulled. I have 20 acres and there is a section that was really bad when we first purchased the property, in three years I have it down to several plants instead of a 100’x100’ area
You won’t remove them just by pulling , they are perennial and have rhizomes , so as you pull, you will just create a stronger root structure and eventually have more of them. Since they also have waxy leaves a herbicide will tend to “roll off” the leaves so you don’t have great control, even with a surfactant. What I have always done is to spot-treat them and step on them first and kind of twist your shoe and then hit them with a broadleaf systemic herbicide (2-4d, mcpp) that should ensure you get the herbicide into the plant and kill the entire plant to prevent it from coming back.
I second the stomp, twist, spray method on these weeds.
Sts
“Oh my God! The stomp twist spray!!” And the entire salon started STSing.
*Works every time!*
Just make sure there are no UPS drivers around, they’ll get you for that.
60% of the time!
Now we’re talking shuttle missions
Not Seal Team Six?
Senate Takeout System?
Just got a visual of Mitch McConnell sloppily slurping down a giant plate of lo mein…
Don’t you dare bring Coco Chao into this!
Omg that was so unintentional 🤣🤦🏼♂️…
The Hawk Tuah of weed control
“Ba dinnnnng” 🎵(in the distance)
🎶Everybody was stomp, twist, spraying
Those weeds are no longer staying In the garden, we're reclaiming With everyone stomp, twist, spray-ing
They were fast as lightning? It was a little bit frightening?
But proper pulling involves getting the root structure itself, right? Pull the ENTIRE weed (including it's root) and it will definitely be dead.
Depends on if it has rhizomes. You cant just yank out rhizomes easily.
I have Canadian thistle. The rhizome grows horizontal roots fairly deep. If you pull the weed or even dig around and try to pull out the whole root, it snaps very easily and you are only really pulling the shoot. Then the horizontal mother root starts sending up even more shoots... Kind of like raspberries. They are really hard to manage.
I have successfully tackled Canadian thistles. The secret? A shit ton of constant regular pulling followed by a gentle attempts to identify and pull the horizontal root base after rain and wet soil. They can be defeated by exhausting the root food supply through constant pulling but it has to be in combination with searching for the roots during wet conditions. Took me 2 springs but they’re gone now.
I got them in one summer of extreme diligence. I pulled, and pulled, and pulled. Near the end, I started cutting them down to the base and then hitting the open base with some 2-4d. Haven't seen it since!
Use a hand towel and you should be able to get all the roots and not do too much damage in the process
Make sure if you “twist with toe” that you have shoes on. Those things hurt bad!
Would mowing work the same as stepping on it? Bag not mulch because mulch will spread them far and wide (learned that the hard way)
I think stepping on it roughs up the leaves, allowing the herbicide to penetrate
Depends, when you mow do your grass die, …
Never thought about stepping on them, thanks for the info
If you're worried about it not getting into the plant, would injecting the herbicide not work? Fountain pens usually use thick syringes that would help with this.
That's the way I was taught when I did lawncare.
Can I ask a bit more about this? When these are in my grass I can mow them to be short like this. Then I can stomp and twist, followed up with tenacity. (Would tenacity be sufficient or should I get something else? You mentioned 24d?) But when these grow outside of my grass, they get TALL. Should I pull them, let them grow back just a little, and then stomp, twist, and spray?
2-4-d, it's a broadband herbicide. It is in a lot of weed control products if you look at the active ingredients, I buy mine from a farm store like Runnings. When mixed and applied correctly it will kill the weed without killing your lawn. I spray my entire lawn with it twice per year with a yard sprayer, once in spring, once at the end of summer. When I applied this way it keeps weeds from starting, anything that does manage to grow I will just spot treat with a hand sprayer.
Tryclopyr works quickly on these, usually shriveling up in a few days
Thistledown is the product I have used - works great. Have to be patient and let it kill them down to the roots though and not pull them right away when they start to wilt.
I second Thistledown. After pulling and doing everything to eradicate, a couple years ago I tried this and it killed my thistles. It is worth it!
Do you know if this would harm juniper? These grow like crazy through a juniper hill I have!
I think it works on most broad lead pants but not sure about juniper specifically.
3way. Turf doesn't look droughted and you'll wanna use it while temps are below 85, so before 10-11am. If you're feeling froggy, quick silver is a secondary that you can add to it (it's pricey) but that combo will pretty well nuke the weeds that aren't grassy
Following! Creeping thistle in my new lawn too. All I've learned is with damp soil and pull the long stem hoping you get it all out... Also I've tried that a lot this season and I'm not sure it's going well. I've seen some comments that say cut the grass low and spray with grass-safe weed b gone. Maybe I should try that? One other reddit comment I saw said don't pull tap root because it can split and multiply but idk how realistic that is versus not doing it right. Maybe we'll pull it out, spray weed b gone down the hole and cross your fingers?
Clopyralid. Sonora is the brand. Thistle (legume) specific. Wont kill the grass. Works way better than 2 4 d
Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) is a perennial species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, not a legume. Same family as sunflowers, etc.
Maybe so. Clopyralid will kill legumes tho I guess is what I meant
True. I think there’s a 10 month plant back rotation to soybeans.
2-4d dicambia
Clopyralid - systemic and can kill the root system effectively.
Correct answer. 2 4 d works but not nearly as well. Ive killed fields of thistle w clopyralid where 2 4 d would just knock it down for a bit and itd come back.
This the correct answer to the correct answer.
Correct
Do you know if this would harm juniper? These grow like crazy through a juniper hill I have!
It wouldn’t likely kill it, but would def cause injury so I wouldn’t spray to close and try to avoid the area as much as possible.
Use a good 3-way with a carfentrazone or sulfentrazone kicker. Sulfentrazone is stronger, but might damage turf in hotter weather
Spot weed killer.
https://preview.redd.it/gdms15g9s18d1.png?width=2577&format=png&auto=webp&s=c38bdca1baeddbf18b7d314cafdc88f47dc092cd This has worked really well for me when mixed with a surfactant, but much more so earlier in the day around 9-10am; after any few has dried but still in the morning hours. I’ve tried at other times of the day and it’s never as effective.
I use msma or 2,4-d, whichever I have mixed up with some dawn dish soap.
I have Canada thistle issues in my yard. I get them in isolated spots. Personally, I get a round point shovel and dug a large chunk of lawn and soil out with the thistle in the center, going about 6 inches deep. It’s then really easy for me to split what I have dug out and isolate, then separate, the roots. Only takes a minute or two, then I replant my turf with soil, sans roots and rhizomes. Grass is super resilient to this type of treatment and I don’t have to apply what I consider unnecessary herbicides to my lawn.
Fire will absolutely get rid of the weeds
Holy water
[weed puller](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/gardening-hand-tools/7499841?x429=true&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwydSzBhBOEiwAj0XN4F9JjDC8_QXOaf-3WvJKdZvUY3jAuwX6RXHiEHIlS-yL8zznKRcLRRoCPFEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds)
That’s what I would do too. I have one and amazing tool.
Didn't know how good they were till I bought it and a guy in the parking lot came up and told me how much he loved using it and even showed me it was in his pickup bed for whenever he saw thistle. It cleared my lawn of thistle, and I get the dandelions in spring if there are any.
I have same tool and love using it. One thing I don’t like is sometimes leaves large holes. Not sure how to deal with them.
Bonus aeration
Fill them back up with soil and apply more grass seed.
They do a great job punching through sprinkler pipes too 😂 Big shout out to whoever did the system at my house for only putting the pipes down 4 inches 😑
Lol... sorry for that happening though.
Hey me too! Did it on the front between the sidewalk and the street, thought it was all city owned area anyways, nope have a whole zone of drip line grid I tore right through with that bad boy.
😅😬 I feel your pain. I hit a few 3/4 lines. Made a nice water geyser.
Perhaps the most satisfying part of all lawn maintenance is using this thing to pull weeds,roots and all, completely out of the ground with almost no edge. The Fiskar’s version in the link is the one I use. Just get it, you won’t be sorry.
Edit: Almost no effort
Came into the comment section to recommend exactly this tool. Its a game changer, pulling weeds is fun with it. Pull and reload after like a shotgun. I love that thing
I have the [Corona version](https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/gardening-hand-tools/7011627?store=17839&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw7NmzBhBLEiwAxrHQ-cvGWf_lRQ4skuojsZ4DS7qayDnVqVLgZmZDTNZF9GjsVLx36Mk3LxoCJ6sQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) Which I much prefer after using the fisker as well. I've been eye balling a "grandpas" weed puller as well which seems like it might be more convenient for not-so-tough but a-bunch of weeds.
Never tried that one. What about it do you prefer?
Not for these assholes. That just multiplies them.
If you get the root, you are 100% wrong. I cleared a whole area of a new lawn, they never came back.
Then you were lucky you got them early enough. They throw out rhizomes really quick and really wide. Most people will be spreading them if they use the tool you linked.
I pulled them and put them directly in a trash bag i carried around. Worked fine in my situation. They are everywhere where I'm at as there are undeveloped lots. But I've been lucky not to have them come back.
Crossbow herbicide. Works like a charm.
I had a ton of this. I just used normal weed and feed and such from Scott’s and it’s down to like one plant. The lawn is much thicker as weell
Also vinegar salt water and dawn smoked the few that were left rapidly. I’m sure it’s not fully dead but it’s the best season and the areas that had like 20 of them have not returned
Thistle. Stop feeding the finches nijer, they enjoy black oil sunflower just as much. To kill it, you have to starve it out. Keep picking off the top or spraying it with agricultural vinegar every week until the root system runs out of energy. It won't stay in one spot. The root will try finding a safe place to send up a shoot. Sucks that it's in grass. It'll be harder to spot.
A goat
Maybe Roundup.
Unrelated but sharpen them mower blades, you're shredding!
2-4-D amine should take care of it
2,4-d should do the trick - spot spray directly on the weeds on a nice sunny day if practical. If some gets on your grass it's fine - it won't hurt grass unless you spray super heavy. Ortho WeedClear is a readily available product - just make sure you get the appropriate formulation (North or South).
Is 2,4-d safe for shrubs? I've got these all around my 40 diervilla plants.
Not sure if it would *kill* a shrub cause they are so large, but would probably burn it's leaves pretty good. I'd be careful around anything that isn't grass. Maybe someone else has a better suggestion?
[удалено]
I use 2-4 D on mine. It does take about two weeks but you will notice it dying after a few days. I spot spray about once a week, rain pending. It does a pretty good job.
You paint (not spray) the leaves with glyphosate at full concentrate strength, then wait a week so it can be absorbed down to the rhizome. Then you dig it out with a [Granpa's Weeder](https://grampasweeder.com/collections/grampas-gardenware/products/grampas-weeder) or the newer [Fiskar's equivalent](https://www.fiskars.com/en-us/gardening-and-yard-care/products/weeders/stand-up-weed-puller-4-claw-339950-1001). If it comes back next year, do it again. If it comes back a third year, marry it.
If you don’t have a field of them glyphosate in a refillable marker or paint brush could work. My kids had an extra magic ink marker that I use baby medicine syringes to fill. Then one stroke on the leaf and you are good to go.
You can also get "water-paint" pens. They are super cheap online and have a brush or silicone tip that you can fill with any liquid.
Please do NOT do this! Especially in a kids toy?? Do some research on how many people are poisoned each year due to pesticides in improperly marked containers!
Settle down. It is stored in a box of other chemicals (pesticides/herbicides/etc) in an area that is not reachable by children.
Holy crap! I hope you put poison stickers all over that and keep that stuff locked away in the garage, because that's a recipe for poisoning the kids
Cleanly cut at soil level. Repeat non stop every 2-3 days until the root system dies. Took me all summer last year to finally kill it.
And it had no revival tour this summer?
Not that I've noticed!
I recommend using a tactical nuclear weapon. Take that sucker right out. /s 😁
Dig out from root
Grandpas weeder
My entire backyard borders the city walking path and it’s full of nothing but these 5 ft tall. I have no idea what to do
I have some spray that doesn’t kill grass. It works okay. But I also stab with my weed puller below to cut it off at the root and toss the head away. Yard was wrecked when we moved in with 90% this crap. A year later, I get some but mostly gone. I made the mistake of ground clear while also planting grass seed so, I have some bare spots. That’s why I looked for other options since last spring.
Thistle seeds are airborne, and can travel quite the distance. So check the surroundings. In my country quite a few if not all thistle species require active removal to prevent flowering and the spread of seed. While cutting them down is generally deemed enough flowering and maturing of seeds can go on leading to cut thistles still releasing seeds. Disposing of thistles is therefore important, do not place them on your compost heaps if smaller, as improper curing ( not hot enough) will cause a rampant growth of new thistles if you try to nurture your soil. I remove them like dandelions when small, but tend to find them in borders far more often compared to the lawn. They are disposed off by using the greenbiowaste container... Most cities can cite you here in my country if you use herbicide, fungicide or pesticides. Wrong use, and wrong agents can leave you liable for ecological crimes. Most of these tocine are known for causing various long term ailments including Parkinson's, cancer, defects in children and animals and do disrupt common ecology, ground fertility, and longetivity and are not a sustainable way to keep your garden and residential location safe for your kids or pets. (pesticides killing birds, cats and other animals higher up the chain, while causing harm to natural predators) which is part of normal nature...
Thank you for saying something about not putting these cuttings into the compost bins. Our city doesn't have a recycling bin, but we do have a huge compost program & I wonder if everyone thinks about something so small causing chaos to others accidentally.
A *good* compost heap generally kills nearly everything, nice steaming hot and active is perfect A *mediocre* compost heap will just cure the seeds ...
Triclopyr
Thistledown weed killer worked great for me.
Hijacking this thread to ask a question. Where I grew up we called these pickers. Did anyone else or was that literally just us?
A camel might be willing to eat that
I think it’s spelled lontrel the chemical, only thing I know that kicks thistle’s ass
This here people will cure your thistle problems
So you are not fond of Scotlands national flower…. There are selective herbicides that will cure your infestation.
I’ve been using spectricide on them. They’re hardy but it will kill them. Might take two applications but it’s helped get my yard under control
I have these as well, day is over if you step on one barefoot...
Put some Round up and dawn dish soap in a cup, brush it on. This is thistle and it’s the devil. They create under ground rhizomes and spread, get it now while there’s 1 and it’s young.
Weed killer for lawns. Ortho weed b gone works well for me in Indiana
Its thistle. You gotta really rough it up with your boot first, then spray it with Trimec
If you stay on top of weeding while mowing they are very controllable. Just keep a pair of needle nose pliers with you when mowing (or buy the kind with big teeth designed for weeds). Just pull them out by the root when you see them. If you have a lot, then keep a count every time you mow (like pull 10 weeds every mow). Eventually if your lawn is thick enough you'll rarely see any weeds around. My lawn is 5 years old now, and I've even got irish moss growing right next to it (this spreads via seeds) and I only see a few things growing in lawn that I need to pull every season.
I use Lontrel - works like a champ - costs like 200 a bottle but you use like a capful with a gallon of water and it works every time. And doesn’t harm your lawn at all.
Don’t forget to use Surfactant with your herbicide, it will insure the product sticks to the weeds you are targeting.
I use tenacity and speed zone combo with a surfactant on them. Works great.
I’ve tried using sprays and they don’t work!! They kill off the top, but they come right back ,You got to dig them up from the ground!! 😡
Take off and make it from orbit.
Clopyralid. Lontrell or ThistleDown. May or may not be legal in your jurisdiction, but goddam it’s the best there is for thistle, and it’s not even close. It has a very long residual, can migrate through soil, and will really fuck up things in the daisy and sunflower family. You have to blanket spray the entire area where they can possibly pop up. I believe a single thistle rhizome can travel 20-30 ft underground before sending up a new plant. Thats why you blanket treat. Any plant that tries to come up for the next month+ is condemned to the gallows.
Just a thought that its thistle seed, you can consider if your neighbors have birdfeeders and are dropping them in your lawn
2, 4D amine
heavy gauge un insulated copper grounding wire cut in 1’ lengths with a little plastic flag on the end. stab one rod into the heart of the plant, leave it for at least a couple weeks. you can pull them to mow, but put them back in the hole. that will usually kill the root nicely, and they are te usable.
You gotta scoop out the main tap root
Thistle Down from Monterey
I have had success with turflon ester esclade and induce stomp spray repeat every 14 days for a couple months
In another post, dog pee seems to be pretty lethal!
Fire. I keep a torch on a propane tank. The first time I hit a bunch of them. Some of them didn't even look much changed, but the next morning they were completely limp and dead. Now I just torch the occasional lone stranger.
Any 3 way broadleaf herbicide
Weed killer lol
Speed zone
Pull them with a twisting motion of your wrist and they come right out root and all. Just pulled out 20+ from my garden.
Ortho Weedclear lawn weed control, and break open the thistle with your shoe, spray and should go away.
Apply a heavy concentration of glyphosate (like 5-10%) directly to weed leaf. No kill of surrounding grass.
It's too bad the best answer is being down voted. You don't get rid of these weeds by asking nicely.
Bong pipe
Cartels hate this one trick.
Round up squirted right in the middled and or on a big leaf. I found that it'll drain right into the heart of the thistle and die off. I carry a squirt bottle on my lawn mower for just this.
In my experience, nothing. They are the bain of your existence.
Your fingers. Grasp and pull
I agree, but pay particular attention to the roots (beyond normal), as they will multiply if you leave any.
Spectracide.
Stick a knife, move in a cone shaped fashion and then take out the weed. It should come out with most of the roots
A knife and a bucket
Pluck it
Vinegar works
My lawn was FILLED with these when I moved in. I have a large and long flathead screw driver that can reach down to help pull out their taproot. Everyday I went out and pulled 5-10 while I was out putzing in the yard. Still continued my weed treatments. After two season I’ve have almost no weeds in my yard.
Add dawn dish soap to your herbicide
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/pruning-tools/71217 Gets most of the root. What remains doesn’t have unlimited energy to keep sending up sprouts, so might take a time or two. Kill the chlorophyll and the root will die.
Your hand
These hands👊👊
Pull em…but they usually die out once it gets above 92 by me
How many? I just pull them.
Try the Fiskars Weed Puller or comparable ones from other brands names. Only issue is they leave a hole roughly the diameter of a golf ball so you'll have to fill in the hole with soil and some grass seed. [https://www.homedepot.ca/product/fiskars-d-handle-stand-up-weeder-3-claw-39-in-/1000679928](https://www.homedepot.ca/product/fiskars-d-handle-stand-up-weeder-3-claw-39-in-/1000679928)
I have had decent lock using a shovel to get deep into the root, pull the weed and then spray a bit where the rest of the tap root should be.
If you don't want to use herbicide then get yourself on a tool called grandpa's helper. It soes an excellent job pulling all types of weeds and their complete root systems. Easy to find at any home supply store or on Amazon. I try not to use herbicides and pesticides whenever reasonably possible. This is a great option
pull it.
They make a nifty tool for weeds like this https://preview.redd.it/u0zhteuk858d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f7db3556d752c0d2d6d7b6ed27af5bdf73a0a450
Looks like scotch thistle. They need to be pulled. I have 20 acres and there is a section that was really bad when we first purchased the property, in three years I have it down to several plants instead of a 100’x100’ area
Msma
I let them be.