THISTLEs !!!! how toget rid of them!

just go out and chop about 20 down each day most horses eat them once they have been cut down, as long as they are cut before they seed you should have very few next year.
this way is free and non toxic
 
I third fourth and fifth cutting them. They love them wilted, they also love the new flowers
 
Cutting them will only get rid of them temporarily, if you want shot of them for good you'll have to dig them up. This is what I'm doing (slowly and surely I've got a huge field) but I think I'm starting to win the battle.

I know horses like eating them and they do no harm, I just don't like the sight of them (pretty as the purple flower is on top!)
 
Our field was once a mass of thistles. We then got a pony that learned how to stamp on the thistles and mash them up and then ate them. Pretty soon all the ponies had copied him. We now have no thistles.
 
Mine love thistles - we used to have quite a few in the field but now they are only left where the horses haven't been able to reach :)
 
I've found that if you cut them just before rain rain will end up in the hollow stem and they rot quite nicely
 
Meems said:
Cutting them will only get rid of them temporarily, if you want shot of them for good you'll have to dig them up.
Click to expand...

Regret I'm going to disagree with this. If you keep on top of cutting them at ground level over 1 summer you will get rid of much of them, keep on into the 2nd year before they set to seed and you will get rid of just about all of them :)

Just work a patch at a time, clearing the field gradually in sections.

OP, you will find that a long handled pair of grass cutting shears do a very good job, like these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faithfull-Long-Handled-Lawn-Shears/dp/B0001IWQ44

Also useful for nipping off nettles & other weeds. Just dont go bonkers & give yourself blisters!
 
Thistles are biennials, so if you cut them or otherwise destroy them in the first year (or at least before they flower and seed in the second year) eventually they will die out. BUT - and it is a big but - you might be getting seeds from neighbours? If you've got a huge number, knapsack sprayer and MCPA will deal with them, but ideally you should tape off the area for a couple of weeks. Do a patch every couple of weeks.
 
They will,die a natural death when the grass stops growing and it gets a lot warmer, horses eat them and they are bot poisonous, horses moving amongst them will break them down on their stems, so dont worry, not much you can do now, you need to do it before they start growing
 
STRIKER said:
They will,die a natural death when the grass stops growing and it gets a lot warmer, horses eat them and they are bot poisonous, horses moving amongst them will break them down on their stems, so dont worry, not much you can do now, you need to do it before they start growing
Click to expand...

I have seen ours biting the heads of the thistles even when live. As others said cut them down, I brought one of these for this purpose

http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/bramble-nettle-cutter.htm
 
Last edited:
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Regret I'm going to disagree with this. If you keep on top of cutting them at ground level over 1 summer you will get rid of much of them, keep on into the 2nd year before they set to seed and you will get rid of just about all of them :)

Just work a patch at a time, clearing the field gradually in sections.

OP, you will find that a long handled pair of grass cutting shears do a very good job, like these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faithfull-Long-Handled-Lawn-Shears/dp/B0001IWQ44

Also useful for nipping off nettles & other weeds. Just dont go bonkers & give yourself blisters!
Click to expand...


i prefer the nettle / thistle cutter on here >http://horse-care-and-advice.weebly.com/useful-ideas.html
 
Get a shetland! They will soon get rid of them! Mine go along delicately picking the flowers off of the top and once the flowers have gone they stamp on them then eat them.
 
We had a large patch of thistles in ione of our fields, My gelding loved eating the flowerheads..now we have no thistles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top