Best brush killing spray

[Boondox]

We've been battling Canada Thistle on our property in northern VT for years. The wife is into organics, so chemicals like Roundup are off limits. Was mowing them down regularly and burning them on occasion. Lot of work. But this week's Time magazine suggested spraying regular vinegar on weeds. We tried it and it nuked the thistles overnight! Doesn't seem to hit other weeds as hard, but it does a number on Canada Thistle!!!

Pete

 

[WVBill]

Understand your desire to be environmentally friendly but.
Only question I would have is the Vinegar giving you "top kill" and not getting the root? - (same as mowing them)? Watch them for a while and see if the same thistle comes back up. Roundup actually gets the root. The plant will not regrow from that root.

 

[exeter_acres]

I use RoundUp as well ... one thing I didn't see anyone mention (sorry if I missed it if someone did/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif) is the fact that RoundUp kills EVERYTHING!! It is NOT the same as a WeedB Gon, etc. etc. that are designed to kill weeds but be gentle on grasses etc. etc..
If you are spot spraying a weed, be very careful about spraying on anything nearby that you want to save 'cuz I found out the hard way /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif that just a bit on nearby fragil plants will damage them enough to kill them.

That being sad RoundUp does well for us.

Good Luck
Curtis

 

[Boondox]

Time will tell. My neighbor -- the Trapp Family Lodge -- uses the commercial grade of Roundup. Seems to work on everything except the two problems we have on my side of the hill: burdock and Canada thistle. The burdock laughed at me when I sprayed it with vinegar, but the thistle went into death throes within a couple of hours.

Pete

 

[Wiz]

I've had excellent results with Roundup if you want to kill everything that you spray. I neighbor just recently told me to try Crossbow on Multiflora Rose. It is supposed to kill it, without killing everything else that happens to get sprayed. Haven't tried it yet, but will soon.

 

[cowboydoc]

Crossbow is excellent if you want to preserve the grass.

 

[dummy]

I use Pramitol, a severe duty killer, on areas like yours. Usually only needs to be sprayed once a year. Seems to do away with everything it touches, weeds, grass,etc.

 

[stmiller2]

A low-cost (and relatively effective) alternative for broadleafs would be 2,4-D.

 

[fishman]

Roundup (Glyphosate) mixed to max strength (50%) and sprayed in the morning of a warm sunny day. Works every time. It does not work nearly as well in cool weather.

You can buy generic glyphosate in some places for a lot less money.

 

[tdenny]

Vinegar is great and cheap. It will do the job but it normally is a very temporary solution. The vinegar changes the PH balance in your soil so that nothing will grow in it. Unfortunately it "washes" itself out. Sounds like it worked well on the thistles - although I wouldn't try using it on a gravel road to stop weed and grass development. There is a product - not sure of the name sorry - that is called something like blackberry bush killer and it completely changes the soil PH composition so nothing will grow. I don't think I'd go so far as to say it's permanent but it lasts much longer than the vinegar. Costs much more too. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif