thistle's

[Sutty]

I have a carp load of them in my yard. Do I spray them with roundup than pull? do I spray the leaves or the base if that is the answer.

Thanks

[Quetico]

Pulling them works great if you get the entire root. Round-up will work just be not to get the grass. Round-up will kill grass on contact.

[glenn57]

i just used weed-b-gon and its killing it.

[Dotch]

The biennial thistles like musk, plumeless and bull thistles should all be easily controlled by 2,4-D containing products like Weed-B-Gone or Trimec. If you're dealing with a perennial thistle such as Canada thistle though, those products will generally offer supression. Almost need to go to a product containing clopyralid to keep them at bay. Haven't got my hands on any to experiment with yet but the aminopyralid containing products such as Milestone and Forefront are rumored to be even better. Application of these products combined with regular mowing schedules, the problem generally takes care of itself. In your urban & suburban settings, suspect Canada thistle is less apt to be a problem. However, in more rural areas where you have lawns bordering fields or pastures like moi, they do tend to creep in along the edges.

[Sutty]

I tried weed b gone last year and maybe I just didn't stick with it long enough

[Fish Toys]

You want a healthy growing plant so the plant can absorb the chemicals. How long after you sprayed them did you mow? You want to make sure there is plenty of time for them to translocate the chemical to the roots. CurtailM is another good thistle killer. With 2-4D try and get the one with Amine instead of the ester. Different thistles do take different chemicals. There are other chemicals out there also. Whatever you are using put on the leaves so it soaks it in. If you use roundup you can use a chemical resistant rubber glove and put a cloth glove over it and soak it in the roundup and wipe it on the thistles. The rubber glove protects your hand from the chemical. This works good when you have plants and weeds close to each other when spraying isn’t applicable. Let us know what you do and how it turns out. Being the thistles are in the yard I wouldn’t recommend spraying roundup being it’ll kill all the green vegetation where you sprayed!

[Sutty]

OK I'll report back , just got back from a 4th of july vacation and am off to michigan for some salmon fishing I'll try to get r done before I go.

[Daze Off]

Related question. I've got a ton of thistles and other weeds in my landscaping berms between and within both shrubs and perenniels. This occurred because I let the mulch layer deteriorate too far. I have now completely pulled these weeds from the landscaping.

The question becomes: If I cover the space between and around existing plants and shrubs with landscaping fabric and 3-4 inches of shredded mulch, will that prevent these weeds from returning or will they find a way to get through and come up thru the fabric/mulch? When I first installed the berms I spread pre-emergent (Preen) and then spread the mulch without fabric and this worked fine until the mulch decayed. The last two times I re-did the mulch were much less effective at weed control which is why I am adding the fabric. The mulch is all gone now too so I am at bare soil. I will also spread Preen again but that will only keep seeds from germinating, not prevent weeds from returning by growing up from segments of roots left in soil.

How should I proceed?