A bunch of different items for today:
1)Last year I talked about my battle with Canada ThistleĀ and it is even worse so far this year. Like close to pushing me over the edge worse.
That ornamental grass above is in danger of being fully enveloped by these bully weeds. Just yanking them out of the ground hoping to get the entire root system has not worked.
Here’s my plan (which was really the original plan last year) going forward.
2)My latest Social Media obsession is Snapchat. I’m still trying to grasp how to utilize it for gardening and plant purposes but I will get there. Take a deep breath and give it a whirl won’t you? And if you do, add this wanna-be-15-year-old-who-looks-more-and-more-like-a-43-year-old-every-day.
3)Within the next week or so, I will be fortunate enough to trial an “automower” from Husqvarna.Ā Much more to come on this one and yes, it is a robotic lawn mower. How cool is that?
4)Have I mentioned just how over the top pumped I am for my three Andropogon ‘Red October’? And they all just emerged within the past few days.
5)Mia is still kind of awesome …
… and spoiled
I am outraged and offended by the quantity of unwelcome invaders on your behalf. Good lord, why so many seedlings? I know that you personally never let some big mother (fill in a word if you want) get full grown and go to seed. I don’t blame you for being disgusted. Good luck with your science experiment.
Thanks Michaele! If the experiment takes too long, time to give a vinegar based solution a shot.
Just taking a break from working in the garden and guess what I was doing? Yeah, digging out that loathsome thistle. It’s really in the pathways between my raised beds, so I’m thinking that maybe dousing it well with great quantities of white vinegar may discourage it.
Adrienne – Vinegar is plan B for me. Simply pulling it seems to only be a temporary solution for me. Ahhh!!
Canadian thistle is the bane of my existence! Worse is that it grows mixed into my poppy patch which looks so similar when they first imerge I don’t know which is which. Hate them, hate them, HATE THEM!
Glory – I fear it is only going to get worse as time goes on. I wonder if smothering with cardboard would work?
Last year on your blog you mentioned trying this cutting off the plant at the surface level and I have been waiting for your update. I also started to cut them off this way. At a master gardener class I was told digging them out only makes them multiply. Last year I visited a large private garden taken care of by a horticulturist. I did not see any Canadian thistle so I asked if he used your method. No, and he did not think it would work. He carries a small bottle of Round Up and an eyedropper. He puts a few drops on the top of the plant and it kills the whole plant, roots and all. I have not tried this, fearing accidentely killing a favorite plant by some type of clumbiness on my part. I continue with your method which works so well when they grow close to or into another plant. It goes without saying you never let them flower. Wish I could say the same for my neighbors.
I have the problem of grass growing in parts of my flower beds. Too bed your thistle method won’t work on it.
Alice – I didn’t follow my own advice and let my anger get the best of me so I ripped them out by their roots which of course was dumb and doubled my problem. I’ll keep up with the method this time and document it hopefully with a happier ending. This stuff is a nightmare!