Posted on: August 12th, 2014

Herbicide and Sprayers for Canada thistle.

Karen Simmons and Susan Fernalld sprayed the Canada thistle in the big patch cut on the town meadow in June.  They used an herbicide called Milestone which targets thistles and knapweeds.

Three herbicide sprayers owned by the town are available for controlling noxious thistles and knapweeds (non-natives that take over native habitat).  The Elders (mark@nullrgulch.com) are housing the town’s herbicide and the sprayers   They will provide the right solution for controlling Canada thistle.  Sprayers must be cleaned prior to return.

Also:

People are asking about the white flowers prominently in bloom in and around Gold Hill right now.  “Are they good or bad?’ they want to know.

The first plant is a noxious weed–Scentless Chamomile.  It is a daisy that is between knee and waist high right now.  It really is taking over parts of Gold Hill.  It is a prolific seed producer—a single plant produces up to 300,000 seeds.  The way to get rid of it is to pull it and bag it so that the seeds will not fall to the ground to start new plants.  (It is easy to pull due to its shallow roots.)  The Gold Hill School kids filled 40 huge bags of it last year.  Boulder County took them and made compost out of them that was hot enough to destroy the seeds.

The second plant is a tall plant along roadsides—White Sweet Clover.  Leave this one alone.  Although it is not native to Colorado, it is not a problem weed.  In fact, it is a good provider of nectar for bees.  Sweet Clover appears here only in rainy years like this one.

Susan Fernalld 303 447-0634      sfernalld@nullmsn.com

 

Scentless chamomile

 
White Sweet Clover