"I've never heard of canary reed grass. Can you cut it & feed it to the goats, and after it has been cut, reseed with native grasses with hopes of them filling in while the canary grass in weakened?" The problem is that unless we had a long drought, there's really no way to harvest this stuff as hay without causing severe disturbance to the soil (the tractor would sink in pretty far in on such wet ground). If we have a no-rain period for more than a week, I could probably put the portable fence in there to let the goats munch the stuff, but goats ain't sheep, and won't eat it to the ground unless I lock them in there for a couple weeks (in which case they might turn to eating the poisonous plants). "I understand from The One Who Knows, these fora do not allow a direct link to the ISIS website." Given our kind host's penchion (sp?) for free speech and proper footnoting, that sounds a bit silly. In any case, thanks, Carol, for the link! FYI: Reed Canary is one of those odd native plants that suddenly becomes invasive in disturbed habitats (Phragmites and Ragweed are two other examples of this type).

Hi- I know this is almost a year later - but I have just been dealing with this myself, and have done some research which I hope I will explain correctly. The plant tends to spread by root system, but also seed if it lands in a moist environment that has recently been disturbed (road building, cultivation). If it is allowed to reach the second year, the root system can become very extensive. It turns out that treatment times are very important in controlling Canadian Thistle. The best time to cut it down is late spring when the flowers are just created. This is because the energy stored in the root system has been somewhat depleted. You can also mow or chop down repeatedly through the growing season. The best time to use herbicide (and I frequently saw Roundup/glyphosate recommended) is during an active growth period (usually when there is a lot of moisture) so that the herbicide will be transmitted down to the roots (while the plant is photosynthesizing and sending the energy down to that root system). The real bummer is that the seeds can germinate up to 20 years after they have been released. But Canadian Thistle is not very competitive with a lot of plants, so when you disturb soil, you want to get something else in there ASAP and stay on top of any thistle that germinates. In the first year, the thistle is just a rosette, the second year it reproduces by sending up a stalk and flowers/seeds and creating the extensive root system. So it is best to get to it when it is that low-growing rosette (almost like a dandelion). If you harvest by pulling up (or maybe even cutting down) during a period of active growth, this can actually stimulate the roots to produce many more plants! So you want to be careful to do this at the right time, and watch for recurrence. Hope this is helpful for someone.

Not sure about the phragmites and catails bc I have yet to learn to distinguish them from our natives. what i do know is there's a big dog-stranger vine, Himalayan balsam, buckthorn, and Russian olive problem in my area. Also our Canadian thistle while native is outcompeting other plants and creating monoculture in a big way :( I'll keep contacting the invasive center thanks for sharing everyone!

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