- 1). Till the area in June or July with a tiller. The soil needs to be disturbed every three weeks to interrupt the rosettes before they can bolt. This needs to be done as long as there are 15 daylight hours.
- 2). Use a rake to remove any ripped-out or loose thistle pieces. Some thistles, such as Canadian thistle, can reproduce from seed. One little piece will start more thistle plants.
- 3). Apply a 2,4-D, glyphosate or amine herbicide to the bed. Spot-treat the visible rosettes. Mix a 2 percent solution of the herbicide in the backpack sprayer, and fill the remainder of the reservoir with water. Spray in midmorning when the dew has evaporated but when the hottest part of the day hasn't arrived. Make certain you have six to eight hours without rain following application. Allow 14 days before you plant anything in the area.
- 4). Use a systemic herbicide like glyphosate to spot-treat in the fall. This will catch most of the newly sprouted thistle, and you can get any rosettes that survived and went to seed. These should have their tops cut off and disposed of so seeds don't spread. Then treat the remaining rosettes. Use the same 2 percent solution.
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