Thistle epidemic... how to handle?
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hawkeye08
Elite Member
I need to turn my neighbor in, he is upwind from our property and each year, he has large patches of Canadian thistle bloom and spread over our property. I mow and spot spray.
jeff9366
Super Star Member
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NOT applying herbicide and permitting thistle seed to blow in the wind would be better?
At any rate, wipe the thistles two times, or as necessary, before they seed.
Last edited:
Soggy Bottom Outdoors
Gold Member
Roundup, maybe maybe not, 2,4-D is a better choice IF you use crop oil or a "sticker" with it. Crossbow is even better but still use a "sticker" like "Preference", "Cimarron" is your best choice. It's very expensive but you use very little. This coming from practicial experience of using the previous products.
AchingBack
Veteran Member
Mow the thistles before they go to seed. For now they are just doing the job they were created for; covering barren soil, protecting it from the hot sun, and erosive rain, and wind. The condition is one of a temporary nature, and the thistles will go away in large part once the grasses take over. Weeds are the Guardians of the Soil.
Weeds, Guardians of the Soil
Weeds
Guardians of the Soil
by
Joseph A. Cocannouer
Contents
1. Weeds and Youth
2. Weeds and Weeds
3. Weeds and the Soil World
4. The Fertility Chain and Soil Balance
5. Plant Roots
6. Weeds as Mother Crops
7. Weeds in the Rotation
8. Weeds and Pasture Improvement
9. Weeds in the Compost
10. Weeds as Food
11. Weeds and Wildlife
12. Sponge Structure versus Dams
13. Here and Yon
14. Nature's Togetherness Law
Publisher's Preface
SO FAR as we are able to determine this is the first book to be written in praise of weeds. Many are the books which treat weeds as pests, and each season sees an advance in anti-weed campaigns and techniques; a host of chemicals, mechanical eradicators and even flame throwers are making life increasingly hard for nature's greatest and most widely dispersed group of plants -- the plants which stand condemned because they are deemed "out-of-place."
That the ordinary garden and roadside weed might have a vital function in the scheme of things and be of inestimable value to mankind seems not to have occurred to most agriculturists, whether in the classroom, the departments of agriculture or on the farm.
The author of this book has been teaching conservation and biology for close to fifty years. But he has been a student as well and a keen field man who has specialized in the ways of weeds, not only in his home state of Oklahoma where he has spent much time learning from the Indians, but in other parts of the world -- in Europe, India and the Philippines, particularly.
According to Joseph Cocannouer, weeds -- the common ragweeds, pigweeds, pusleys and nettles, to mention four -- perform the following valuable services among others:
1. They bring minerals, especially those which have been depleted, up from the subsoil to the topsoil and make them available to crops. This is particularly important with regard to trace elements.
2.When used in crop rotation they break up hardpans and allow subsequent crop roots to feed deeply.
3. They fiberize and condition the soil and provide a good environment for the minute but important animal and plant .life that make any soil productive.
4. They are good indicators of soil condition, both as to variety of weed present and to condition of the individual plant. Certain weeds appear when certain deficiencies occur.
5. Weeds are deep divers and feeders and through soil capillarity they enable the less hardy, surface feeding crops to withstand drought better than the crop alone could.
6. As companion crops they enable our domesticated plants to get their roots to otherwise unavailable food.
7. Weeds store up minerals and nutrients that would be washed, blown or leached away from bare ground and keep them readily available.
8. Weeds make good eating -- for man as well as for livestock. The publisher can vouch for the superiority of lamb's quarter -- a favorite of the author -- over any other domestic form of spinach or cooked greens.
No, Professor Cocannouer does not believe that weeds should be allowed to go rampant and take over our farms and gardens. The function of this book, a pioneering work, is to demonstrate how the controlled use of weeds can be sound ccology, good conservation and a boon to the average farmer or gardener.
D. A. G.
Weeds, Guardians of the Soil
Weeds
Guardians of the Soil
by
Joseph A. Cocannouer
Contents
1. Weeds and Youth
2. Weeds and Weeds
3. Weeds and the Soil World
4. The Fertility Chain and Soil Balance
5. Plant Roots
6. Weeds as Mother Crops
7. Weeds in the Rotation
8. Weeds and Pasture Improvement
9. Weeds in the Compost
10. Weeds as Food
11. Weeds and Wildlife
12. Sponge Structure versus Dams
13. Here and Yon
14. Nature's Togetherness Law
Publisher's Preface
SO FAR as we are able to determine this is the first book to be written in praise of weeds. Many are the books which treat weeds as pests, and each season sees an advance in anti-weed campaigns and techniques; a host of chemicals, mechanical eradicators and even flame throwers are making life increasingly hard for nature's greatest and most widely dispersed group of plants -- the plants which stand condemned because they are deemed "out-of-place."
That the ordinary garden and roadside weed might have a vital function in the scheme of things and be of inestimable value to mankind seems not to have occurred to most agriculturists, whether in the classroom, the departments of agriculture or on the farm.
The author of this book has been teaching conservation and biology for close to fifty years. But he has been a student as well and a keen field man who has specialized in the ways of weeds, not only in his home state of Oklahoma where he has spent much time learning from the Indians, but in other parts of the world -- in Europe, India and the Philippines, particularly.
According to Joseph Cocannouer, weeds -- the common ragweeds, pigweeds, pusleys and nettles, to mention four -- perform the following valuable services among others:
1. They bring minerals, especially those which have been depleted, up from the subsoil to the topsoil and make them available to crops. This is particularly important with regard to trace elements.
2.When used in crop rotation they break up hardpans and allow subsequent crop roots to feed deeply.
3. They fiberize and condition the soil and provide a good environment for the minute but important animal and plant .life that make any soil productive.
4. They are good indicators of soil condition, both as to variety of weed present and to condition of the individual plant. Certain weeds appear when certain deficiencies occur.
5. Weeds are deep divers and feeders and through soil capillarity they enable the less hardy, surface feeding crops to withstand drought better than the crop alone could.
6. As companion crops they enable our domesticated plants to get their roots to otherwise unavailable food.
7. Weeds store up minerals and nutrients that would be washed, blown or leached away from bare ground and keep them readily available.
8. Weeds make good eating -- for man as well as for livestock. The publisher can vouch for the superiority of lamb's quarter -- a favorite of the author -- over any other domestic form of spinach or cooked greens.
No, Professor Cocannouer does not believe that weeds should be allowed to go rampant and take over our farms and gardens. The function of this book, a pioneering work, is to demonstrate how the controlled use of weeds can be sound ccology, good conservation and a boon to the average farmer or gardener.
D. A. G.
jeff9366
Super Star Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Messages
- 12,777
- Tractor
- Kubota Tractor Loader L3560 HST+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3,700 pounds bare tractor, 5,400 pounds operating weight, 37 horsepower
Redneck in training
Elite Member
Thistle is illegal in Iowa. We had several acres infested with it. Since it didn't bother us we didn't pay much attention to it. Well until "weed police" showed up and educated us about legality of having them. He said it will take about three years of work to get them under control. We used pull and burn them method. They are easy to pull after rain when the soil is soft. I think if all put together the pile would be double garage size the first season. Once the ground cover such as grass takes over the thistle more or less disappears. We still have some that I pull and burn. Mowing work only till early summer. Once they bloom and start developing seed mowing them makes the matter worse.
creekbend
Super Star Member
Thanks for posting. I learned something. I love TBN.
TomSeller
Super Member
There is a pre-made one of those for about $110. Also Smucker makes one
http://www.agrisupply.com/rope-wick-string-wing/p/71934/
http://www.smuckermfg.net/Pages/WeedWipers.aspx