By SUZANNE NAGEL Staff Writer

A stubborn weed has been bullying local farmers this spring.

The bull thistle began popping up in Hardin County pastures and along roadsides in May. Now, some farmers are turning to the state for help to get rid of the pesky weeds, which quickly envelop open farmland.

Doug Shepherd, a Hardin County agricultural extension agent, said the weeds are so irksome that the state legislature has deemed it illegal to ignore them.

"It's considered a noxious weed, and it's up to the land owner to try their best to control it," Shepherd said.

The bull thistle is a tall spiny plant, with pink to purple flower heads. Bull thistles, and other varieties of thistles, grow in Kentucky from about April through October, he said. Classified as biennials, the weed reproduces by seed.

Germination occurs in the fall or spring. Winds can carry the seeds for many miles. The plant normally grows to about 5 feet tall, but can get taller. Full-grown plants average about 90 flower heads and 25,000 seeds.

"They are attractive, but they are very hard to control and hard to kill," Shepherd said. "They can totally take over a pasture or hayfield over time."

The weeds, he said, spread quickly, depriving other plants of water and nutrients.

"As rapidly as they spread, as prolific as they grow, it will force out other plants," he said.

Shepherd said the weeds are most common around Glendale and Sonora. They have thick roots that are hard to completely destroy. They are most easily killed with chemical pesticides.

Farmer David Pepper of Glendale knows just how hard the weeds are to control. He has spent thousands of dollars trying to get rid of them on his farms throughout the county.

"It's been an aggravating problem for years," said Pepper. "When you see a 20-acre field just full of them and they're destined to blow on your ground, you feel silly fighting them."

The state has volunteered to help fight the weeds.

Bill Fraser, director of environmental services for the state Department of Agriculture, said Kentucky has implemented a noxious weed program that offers free chemical control for some farmers. At a county's request, the state will spray pesticides on 15 farms up to 10 acres each. The farmer can pay to have another 20 acres sprayed. He said the state has already begun to spray local farms.

The weeds are a problem throughout the state, but mostly extending from Hardin County to the east, Fraser said. This year, he said, the weeds have begun to spread westward, too.

"They aren't good for anything, but it's pretty," Fraser said.

Pepper said he hopes Hardin County residents won't sit back and wait for the state to take action. Residents, he said, should attack the weeds before they spread further.

"If you let things go a couple years, these things just flat take over," Pepper said.

.........this was in the paper this morning. I have always left the Bull Thistles in out of the way places for the Goldfinches. They will only use the thistle head for their nests. They are one of the last birds to nest because they wait for these thistles to mature. But I do have these weeds, still very short, all over the place. In the garden, lawns and pastures. I have to go dig them out with a shovel. They are very sticky spiney things. The article said it is illegal to ignore them? What does that mean? I HAVE to leave some for the Goldfinches. What'cha all think of this? Do any of you have them?

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Answers

It's an invasive,along with our infamous kudzu,multiflora rose and now lespedeza. And I have all but kudzu. Illegal to ignore? That's sounds inaccurate.Illegal to bring into the state is probably what is meant,but you can get to KY Dept of Ag website and ask the question.

There are native flowers that do everything that the noxious imports do.You don't need them. Native plant coordinator Mary Carol Cooper with Fish and Game in Frankfort,can answer your questions on what is good for gold finches.Or not,she's still pretty green(no pun intended) The person that really knew her natives died.She owned Shooting Star Nusery.Great place to go visit.I've been meaning to.It's over near Frankfort.

I know I have the info here in my files from my Master Habitat Gardener training and can look it up in a day or two.

Native sunflowers come to mind.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Cindy,

Goldfinchs will use dandelion fluff in their nest building. That is a rather strange statement, "illegal to ignore". Might be interesting to check out the "law".

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

It wasn't in the lastest news in the KY Dept. of Ag. site, but my friend just called and he said you will get a fine if they find it, he heard it on the news. ?? I didn't hear it, but I didn't watch the news either. I'm gonna try the vinigar on them like we all were talking about, the ones in the field. Now, we always bushhog, so none of them in the fields ever get up there to seed. The goats will eat them alittle but not all the way gone.

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

Oops Cindy I didn't read what you wrote accurately.I didn't see the nesting part.I was thinking you wanted them for the seed.Goldfinches don't require this thistles for nesting either. Good suggestion,diane. And I'll see what native thistles are listed. And perhaps your county has passed an ordinance? I've not heard about it here,but I don't listen to news much.Either way,I'm removing them from my property as I'm trying to restore my farm.

You can email someone from the Ag Dept, site and find out the skinny or call your extension agent. Is it in the Herald? I just don't get to news sites much anymore. Not till gardening season is over.And now I gotta run and drop off supplies for the womens shelter.Bye.Have a good day!

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

I got out my North American Wildlife book, and there are 3 kinds of thistles, Bull (6ft, only one with 3 inch flowerheads), Canada(4ft), and Nodding. The Nodding dosen't have the bulb like thing under the flower. I'm not sure which one I have. This book is 10 years old and it says "It is against the law in 37 states to allow the Canada Thistle to grow on one's land." Go figure. I learned something new today. You should see the Goldfinches fight over the thistle heads in the summer. Maybe they would like white bunny fur, I have lots of that!

-- Anonymous, June 08, 2001

My goldfinches like white dog hair just fine for their nests. I say, fill the feeders with niger seed (mis-called 'thistle seed', it isn't a thistle at all) and kill those thistles!! Goldfinch also like the seeds of Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan) and Echinacea (Cone Flower) quite well if you want to plant for them.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001

Hey Cindy, does that mean I can file a complaint against my chemical farming neighbor that has used so much s#%#@ on his land that the thistles seem immune to it and he has thousands and thousands setting seed across the street from me????? We have them growing on every piece of bare ground and are really struggling. Weeding used to be so much fun and now with those stinking prickers a lot of the joy is out of it. I have a spray bottle that is filled with straight vinegar that travels will me and I have been cutting them off and spraying.....sure hope it works.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 2001