Oh, boy, I feel your pain, it sure is one nasty weed! I have three areas with vast patches, I start spraying Roundup when they're 8 to 12 inches tall, though even when in bloom is fine, but more challenging then and require a stronger solution to better soak into the mature foliage. The county is no longer controlling the thistle as in the past and there's now sweeping swaths along fence lines, wastelands and natural areas. In late summer large numbers of seeds were drifting into my yard, sigh! As a note, where I'm spraying is in grassy undeveloped areas, not within a fruit or veggie producing area and I'm always carefully dressed and masked.

I'm so sorry, that is awful, I would expect the government would control it since it is a noxious invasive weed. If they are self seeding I don't see how you can stop them from taking over.

I think the careful application of an effective root killer is much more environmentally friendly than the methods most cities in canada have left for its residents.

I once read how some people eradicated canada thistle by cutting the plants and with a small sponge paintbrush dabbing the injured cut. This was in a meadow full of wildflowers.

Is your roundup glyphosate?- when dealing with roots spreading 5 feet down and 20 across I hope you have glyphosate but it is very dangerous.

I have read people use 'gloves of death ' by wearing a cotton glove or sock over strong chemical gloves and carefully dipping or squeezing some herbicide on the fabric and stroking the plants.

But I still like the cut and dab method I saw in the meadow experiment better though it is a 2 person job.

Wishing you all the best.

Blue, yes, I must be vigilant of thistle seedlings that sprout forth in the cultivated beds. Last summer, I contacted the county of the neglect to maintain thistles under control, the fella was like "Ohhh, just let us know where and how bad the infestation?" ... LOL, there's copious swaths in location after location!

I hate like heck even spraying as I have been, though I adjust the nozzle to large droplets rather than a finer spray. On small plants among ornamentals, I use a paint brush or sponge while wearing rubber gloves, works well. I have Roundup Transorb WeatherMax.

We bought a house in rural Texas that had a lot of thistle which looked just like Canadian thistle to me. I tried a few things and the one that worked, permanently, was to plunge a spade shovel into the ground at an angle to cut off the root about 1 to 2 inches below the surface. No herbicide involved at all. The plants did not regrow from the cut off tap root. It worked better after the plant bolted in the spring, and, of course, better before it flowered and spread seeds. It was so easy I did the vacant lot next to mine and the public greenway behind my lot. The second year I got a few thistle plants and took those down quickly. After that they never returned.

dchall, Canada thistle roots are buggers that go deeply and regenerate from any roots or fragments that are left remaining, thus spraying or the painting on of chemical is the preferred kill method ... also, covering the ground with something like black plastic for an extended period of time would work well. I'm not doubting what you say, as Canada thistle just might respond somewhat differently in your hot Texas climate. Perennial sow thistle is another one I quickly attempt to eradicate, the fleshy underground roots vigorously spread through the soil, thankfully they do not run deeply.

Froze, in addition the fact that two plants look similar means nothing, really. For example nutgrass looks like some other grasses, but it is not a grass and cannot be controlled with grass killer herbicides.

Indeed each species will have a method best suited for eradication.

Dchall- 2 inches below surface? Luckily I have so much canada thistle I can experiment.

Froze- thankyou- I will try your roundup.

Froze- roundup weather max isn't available to the public in Ontario, only to farmers and golf courses. It's highly frustrating- I would be happy to pay a lawn care company to spot spray but even they can't use glyphosate. I'm sure some people are bringing it in from USA but I don't know any.

https://c2cjournal.ca/2022/04/into-the-weeds-why-manitoba-is-ditching-its-pesticide-ban-and-what-it-means-for-the-rest-of-canada/

I have used the cut the root method to control weeds for years. Instead of a using a shovel, I use what I call a weed hoe. Mine is on a handle about 4" long, the blade is about 1.5" wide and has a slight shape to the blade. the blade is about 8" long.

I push the blade under the plant and cut the root. Normally I use the hoe to pull the plant out of the ground. I usually kick the hoe until the plant goes flying, (I use old shoes)

It is slow if you have a lot of weeds, but your take the hoe and cut a couple of weeds each time you walk through the yard.

Ummm ... your hoe has a 4" handle and a 1.5" blade? That's some intensive weed removal tehnique. 😉

I use a dutch hoe for weeding. The handle is the same length as a rake or broom. The blade is 6 inches across. It's important to keep the blade sharp. Dutch hoe

Ahhh, I've used a dutch hoe snice in my teenage years. Love it for zipping around in between garden rows and earthen walkways and seeing those weeds dry to a crisp in the heat. Those not owning a dutch hoe certainly miss out on a very useful tool!

The hoe that I mentioned above is similar to AMES 2942100 Forged Dandelion Weeder.

While floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK called it intense, I call it specific. With the short handle, I can walk around the yard, see the weed, Without bending, I can push the blade under the plant and lift it out with minimum damage to the surrounding yard.

If you had acres of weeds, it would not work. If you have an occasional weed in the yard that needs to be taken out it is perfect.

Blue, my lawn is a very substantial 1.5 acres or so, a few years ago I said to myself I must reduce my workload and hire a company to fertilize and spray. It's a beautiful quality lawn, though had been so thickly congested with dandelions that when posting a photo of such on twitter, someone from the UK had commented "Here in the UK, we love our dandelions, but the amount you have there is truly disgusting!" LOL. The many frequent mowings to attempt to prevent seed out is much time and effort consumed especially considering the busy early gardening season at that time. Any earth that is not covered in mulch is without a doubt sown thick as hair on a dog's back with dandelion seedlings and the buggers get into the crowns of all perennials and in every single nook and cranny! I dislike the use of herbicides, but what I hate more is dandelions totally overtaking my plantings! I'm not sure if Par 3 or Curtail M that is used, but the stuff is nasty potent smelling! After the first few applications, the dandelions were so knocked out that now I only request spot sprays and last year no chemical had been applied at all ... oh, yes, the herbicide also kills Canada thistle.

Krnuttle, I'll have to look for that long handled weeder, I have the short handled version and it's my go to digger!

Lol. Dandelions- I love them- they grow beautifully in soft shady soil but were easily removed from lawn with a long 10inch knife.

Unfortunately real creeping thistle unlike annual or biannual thistle is not going away so easily. Yesterday I found thistles coming up in same space that I pulled 12 inch roots last year. I hope that if I keep pulling I will exaust the main root.

Unfortunately I let them grow and store energy for too long, at first they were pretty and then the birds were eating the seeds and then they were easily "pulled " by the time I realized the problem there was no effective herbicides.

Creeping Canada thistle is like the old " The Blob " movie.

Ps froze- a small step stool for sitting on and the knife really helps but ofcourse it depends on the size of garden and number of dandelions. I think Fiesta might help its allowed in my area and is non toxic but if you have real roundup you're good.

Blue, I invite you over, this photo is of course prior to the spray application, my yard is a good 15 times larger than the shown area, we "could have" dug here to our heart's content, or until fatigue placed us under the sea of yellow, lol. Bees, butterflies and a whole host of insets and animals are dependent upon dandelions and of course having therapeutic qualities for us humans as well, thus I leave them to be in fringes of the yard. As for my remaining Canada thistle, the numbers should be few when they soon emerge, I went hard with the Roundup in late summer.

Lol. Beautiful!!!

Oh, as for my Canada thistle spraying of mid late last summer, mmmm NOT a good kill whatsoever, I mean no kill despite the strong Roundup concentration. I was shocked when about a month ago seeing the vast expanse of thriving thistles, hundreds of stems, sigh! This time I added some Curtail M to the mix and appears I've finally have said goodbye to the infestation. Nice as well the county having stepped up targeting and mowing of Canada thistle.

Froze I'm so sorry. Did you use your original roundup or did you buy a new bottle? I really hope curtail m works for you. I really blame your town for letting them grow and now seeds are everywhere.

Ps:how are the dandelions? Were they eliminated where you sprayed them?

Sorry, haven't checked in here for a bit, I've had the jug of Roundup for what must be eight years now, it's Transorb, I think I hit the thistles with the stuff just a bit too late in the season and it hadn't been taken down to the roots at all. Thankfully, I think they're now all dead as doornails, I made the solution pretty strong combined with the Curtail M.

Lawn has stayed pretty well dandelion free with just the occasional spot spraying, spraying is one of the best decisions I've ever made, am thankful for no longer spending an immense amount of time and energy digging out thousands of dandelions from the plantings. A good mulching much reduces dandelions, though still allows for tons to sow themselves in difficult places among the plants and rocks.

I wonder if anyone has tried to use Solarization? I used that technique on a weed that had taken over my vegetable garden so bad I didn't use it for 2 years. Witch grass was my weed that I couldn't get rid of. I had leftover plastic sheeting from an old ice rink and laid that over the area for a full year. I never had a problem with a weed in that area again. It was drastic but at that point I didn't have anything to lose.

I know not everyone has old plastic from an ice rink hanging around, but maybe you could experiment with a shower curtain in an out of the way location or a couple of cheap ones you could buy. I didn't put any holes in it, so the rain did not penetrate except around the edges and I weighed it down with bricks etc.

Prairiemoon, either solarization or smothering things out with use of old plywood or carpeting works good, though possibly takes longer with the latter. That big patch of Canada thistle is shaded for a good deal of the day. Okay, just took a look and see there appears to be about a 95% kill after spraying in July, but flushes here and there of lush new growth I'll need to tend to, then hope it's all done with, though who knows could get a surprise again next spring! :(