I have spent a fair amount of time whacking thistles this summer. They are extremely prolific!! And the St. John’s Wort. And most of the other weeds classified by the State of Montana as noxious weeds…weeds that by law must be eradicated. For me, it is not just the law, it is thoughtfulness for my cattle ranching neighbors as well as for the health of my woods.

So, I’ve been pulling weeds and whacking thistles. But, this year…the thistles, especially, are out of hand!

Thistles, like most of the noxious weeds have their beauty. They attract butterflies and bumble bees. My first practice shots at getting bokeh were in a small patch of thistles in my woods. As a side note…bokeh and/or depth of field – it is that part of photography that I love most. Depth of field is the one thing that I set my camera for with intent. For me, it is the way to tell a story with a photo. I highly recommend reading, practicing, learning…how to use depth of field. Thus ends today’s sermon :)!

Albino thistle??? I don’t know, but pretty!

Back to the out of hand thing. The thistles…they are out of hand…and they are impossible to pull by hand unless you have steel gloves. Hence my whacking approach.

But…I googled….and I bing-ed and I discovered that whacking them off did little to control them. Thistles have a strong and deep root system. Rats. Now, what???

I hated the thought of a chemical solution, but after some discussion and reading, I decided on RoundUp applied low on the thistles to avoid the seeds that birds, bees and butterflies eat.

I bought a new sprayer.

It has a 3 gallon tank and is mounted on a wheeled frame.

As I was looking up information on the ratio of the RoundUp Pro concentrate to water, I happened on a tidbit of info that sent me away from RoundUp. The original patent was held by Monsanto. I will not knowingly use a Monsanto product.

A week or so earlier, I had read about using vinegar on weeds. I had even dumped the end of a bottle on some driveway weeds and was astonished to see them turn brown overnight. I use a vinegar mix – half distilled white vinegar and half water – as my household cleaner. I spritz it on the floor before damp-dusting with a cloth mop. I clean counters and appliances with it. A spritzer sits in my shower and I spray the shower walls, doors and fixtures as a daily cleaner. I even spritz my head once a week to get rid of hair product build up. I use the same kind of vinegar full strength to clean my coffee and tea pot.

And then I found this article: Vinegar as an Herbicide

So…

The thistles drank Heinz Distilled White Vinegar – straight up – this morning.

So did some of the driveway weeds:

Above was taken mid-afternoon after a morning spray with straight vinegar.

It is hard to tell from this photo, but the thistle leaves have started to brown and curl also.

I have yet to find anything that suggests there is a downside to using vinegar on weeds. Time will tell if this really works, but I’m far happier spraying vinegar than any chemical.