Well we here prefer to think of the perennial Canada Thistle (Cirsium avense) as European in origin. Damn those Europeans. :^)
Trying to get rid of it by not letting it go to seed won't work. It has a fleshy root system which produces multiple offshoots. Spot spraying with Roundup is effective.
I have this Canada thistle everywhere and I'll assume it's from my finch feeder?
Anyway, I read where you can get rid of it by not letting it go to seed.....is that true?
Just cut it before it seeds and it won't propagate any other way?
Damn that Canada.
just dig it at the base. If you break the roots, most thistles won't come back from them. Just get a long shovel, poke it into the dirt just below it, reach under the damned thing and carry it off.
We had, thanks to the previous owners of our house, about 30 of the suckers this year - some made it to over a foot across before we got them.
-theoneflasehaddock
What the f*ck do you need roundup for? Just dig the damn thing. It doesn't even take any longer than it does to use your goddamn chemicals.
-theoneflasehaddock
I use 2,4-d to spot-treat thistles and dandelions. It doesn't kill the grass like RoundUp. In the garden, I pull them up.
Bob
The "thistle" seed you feed to birds (goldfinches?) is a misnomer. It is not a thistle but a member of the sunflower family. I've feed it for years with no thistle problems. Canadian thistles do not come from this "thistle" seed.
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