Step 1. Correctly identify your plant.
Biennial plant that grows up to 6 feet tall
Leaves are dark green with light green midrib, deeply lobed with spines and grey hue on the margins
Flowers are solitary, pink or purple, 1.5 – 3 inches in diameter, at the base of the flower are wide triangular bracts
Photo credit: May Kicher, swbiodiverstiy.org/ and https://gilpin.extension.colostate.edu/
Step 2. Choose your method.
Individual plants and small patches – Hand pull or dig removing at least 2-4” of root. It is preferable to pull during the rosette (middle photo) stage, but mature plants can be pulled prior to going to seed. Seed any large patches of bare ground with native seed to prevent future weeds.
Musk thistle is a biennial plant, removal of rosettes in the late fall can help get a jump on next year’s crop of weeds!
Step 3. Repeat.
A single plant can produce up to 10,000 seed that are viable for at least 10 years. Monitoring and continued treatment are necessary for control.
To learn more about the biology of Musk thistle visit the web page below.