Advice needed - thistles

mick23

Hi all

Just looking for advice please .

Behind my back garden is wasteland which has in the past 2 years (particularly this summer ) grown 6 foot thistle with purple flowers stalks all at back back wall . It is completely overgrown and the purple flowers are now dying and producing the white seed feathers which this morning have totally covered all my back lawn and in amongst flowers etc .

Is there anything I can do to kill the thistles even at this stage when they are so mature ? How can I prevent same thin. Happening again next year ?Is there any weed killer I could use rather than digging them out as it's a very inaccessible wasteland ?
Is there anything I can do to prevent the seeds infesting my lawns garden ? I'm going to cut it tomorrow but there are so many thistles behind the wall more will come over the next few days .

looksee

I suppose you could spray the thistles with glue, stop them blowing about. Sorry, but there is not much you can do at this stage. Can you get in to them?

mick23

looksee wrote: »

I suppose you could spray the thistles with glue, stop them blowing about. Sorry, but there is not much you can do at this stage. Can you get in to them?

Would love to glue them lol ! Yes I have limited access however extremely thorny . I cut two of the tallest ones yesterday however the thistle obviously got angry and released all of its seeds into my garden . Is there anything I can do to kill the thistles now ? Ie a weed killer ?
Next year before they start growing aggressively is there anything I can do ?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

If in seed already then no point spraying. Round up or such next year will do the trick,

magicbastarder

what difficulty does it cause you though? i'd far prefer to see the thistles there, if it was me, than a wasteland of dead flowers. also, you have to consider what might grow there if the thistles are killed.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

magicbastarder wrote: »

what difficulty does it cause you though? i'd far prefer to see the thistles there, if it was me, than a wasteland of dead flowers. also, you have to consider what might grow there if the thistles are killed.

In fairness, a mass of thistles next door today means a garden full of them next year.

jprboy

magicbastarder wrote: »

what difficulty does it cause you though? i'd far prefer to see the thistles there, if it was me, than a wasteland of dead flowers. also, you have to consider what might grow there if the thistles are killed.

Noor Ripe Silhouette wrote: »

In fairness, a mass of thistles next door today means a garden full of them next year.

We had two very large thistles at the back of our garden this year but we have a lot of space so didn't trouble us.

One of them grew to approx 7 ft and was very impressive, a ferocious beast that you wouldn't tangle with! They added colour and variety in that part of the garden. Hacked them down a few days ago as they were starting to shed their seeds.

So, maybe leave them next year and take them out before they go to seed?

ganmo

There are selective sprays that will kill the thistles and leave the grass alone...but it's too late this year to use them (best used at the rosette stage)

Now...cut them, it might stop some of the seeds spreading.

FYI thistles are covered are noxious weed act

jprboy

ganmo wrote: »

FYI thistles are covered are noxious weed act

I sometimes wonder when the last prosecution was taken for failing to deal with noxious weeds?

jprboy

jprboy wrote: »

I sometimes wonder when the last prosecution was taken for failing to deal with noxious weeds?

Some relevant articles here:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/farming/news/karen-walshgood-year-for-the-noxious-weeds-425569.html

https://www.ifa.ie/news-article-5303/#.WYUMSlGGPIU

Verdict: prosecution unlikely !

Oldtree

Marsh thistles tend to be very tall. I used to have a few but goldfinches polished of the seeds. Now I just get the odd one.

One way to stop the spread is to.just knock them down just before the seed matures and they then don't get to disperse their seed.

ganmo

jprboy wrote: »

I sometimes wonder when the last prosecution was taken for failing to deal with noxious weeds?

The method of enforcement isn't prosecution.

When a complaint is made the dept of ag send out an inspector, they then contact the owner giving them a few weeks to sort it out or the dept will bring in someone and then go to court to get the cost of the contractor.

jprboy

ganmo wrote: »

The method of enforcement isn't prosecution.

When a complaint is made the dept of ag send out an inspector, they then contact the owner giving them a few weeks to sort it out or the dept will bring in someone and then go to court to get the cost of the contractor.

According to the link I posted above less than 30 notices issued by the Dept each year.

Any idea how many (if any) end up with court orders?

ganmo

jprboy wrote: »

According to the link I posted above less than 30 notices issued by the Dept each year.

Any idea how many (if any) end up with court orders?

No idea. Sounds something a foi request might answer