Thread: I am a money grubbing ...

Originally Posted by D.W.

John's comment got me thinking the same thing, though I did consider it when I asked that question - are thistles something that's really destroyed by 2-4D? what we seem to have around here is plants that look like elephant ears, clover that's hearty against 2-4D and creeping charlie or ground ivy. The ground ivy is persistent and has to be sprayed - every stolon can become a mother plant and you can't get rid of it - and if the neighbor has it, it can cross the lawn to the other neighbor's in a year.

but that's probably the answer - we're left mostly with stuff that's resistant to 2-4D, and each time it's not killed by it, it gets even better at it.

I mix a chemical that's brand named Triclopyr with 2-4D here to kill clover and ground ivy. The two are synergistic and I don't have to use that much.

The biggest thing is making sure you kill off the entire present generation so you don't breed resistance. This means hitting them with a correctly strong mix. The worst possible solution is what far too many people do... Mix too weak or don't stir, don't apply enough, and only the weakest weeds die, and then make another batch that's slightly stronger, lather, rinse, repeat. You've just used natural selection to create your own herbicide resistant strain.

Hit them hard, kill them off, and then the next generation only comes in via seeds carried by birds or the neighbor's mower or whatever isn't resistant.