Late last week I noticed some thistles growing in the gravel beside a walk and I pulled them out by their roots. Thistles are a bane to this area, a noxious weed, and I detest them. I dropped them, roots and all, on a paved walkway intending to dispose of them after they'd died.
I was near that part of the back yard today and checked on them. Not only are they not dead, they're blooming. After having been pulled up by the root. I admire tenacity and perseverance, I do. Is there nothing that will kill a thistle short of burning?
7 comments:
Agent Orange. If you need something that you can actually get your hands on, I've had good results from Roundup. What I like about Roundup is that after a month, it's gone redueced to it's base chemicals and inert. In the meanwhile it kills plants and drives Greenie Weeinies out of their itty bitty minds. Both are features, not bugs.
Gerry N,
That one, (or two, as it is more than one plant) is as nasty as they come, being one of those plants is canada thistle. I don't know the name of the other off the top of my head. Being a former crop sprayer, Gerry has it right, Glysophate aka Roundup is the answer. The closest thing to Agent Orange still available, is Paraquat, a contact killer, not a systemic like Roundup and it doesn't kill the root. The root system of most thistles resembles a jungle and tap roots that go down sometimes 20' or more. "Pulled out by the root" for most thistles is not possible without a backhoe.
I should have added, all thistles will produce seed even after they have been pulled.
Maybe there's a way to cook thistle......
Um... no... burn then distribute the ashes, just in case...
NFO, those leaves look edible to me....
Gerry, roundup decomposes in ten days, according to my horticulturist at Drake's Seven Dees nursery.
Some thistle is resistant to Roundup as applied from the store. "Kick it up" with the addition of some Dawn or Joy to make it penetrate the thick, waxy leaves.
If Roundup doesn't work, go to one of the blackberry killers.
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