[klaaar]

I maintain a large bank of white clover and hard fescue. There is a small amount of crown vetch that is slowly disappearing. I want to concoct a spray mixture to control the crabgrass, nutsedge, and various broadleaf weeds that are present. I've got the proper herbicides for the mix to control nutsedge and annual grasses.

My question is: What is available that will kill the thistle and other broadleaf weeds without harming the fescue, clover, or crown vetch?

[Dale Wiley]

A novel idea would be to read the label and see what tank mixes of herbicides might work...

But a basic premise here is :

Knowing what weeds are broadleaf and which are grasses....

Knowing that contact and pre emergent have VERY different modes of action..

Thistle is a broad leaf weed...clover is a broadleaf , vetch is a broadleaf...so anything you might spray for one is going to kill the other..

I am not trying to be rude here, but I really think you need to take a couple of classes before you apply chemicals for money and as part of your business.

Lets not make the chemical application process any more complicated and regulated than it is by not doing the right things.

[klaaar]

I'm sorry you had such a bad day, Dale. I hope you feel better.

I've been licensed for 8 years to apply pesticides. It is a small part of my business, but I've been applying pesticides for the same 8 years.

Let's try to put it another way. I've been spot-spraying a non-selective herbicide to control weeds in this area. I now plan to mix halosulfuron-methyl and monosodium acid methanearsonate with water and a surfactant. This mixture would control nutsedge and crabgrass. Forgive my lack of expertise in this area, but is there an additional herbicide that will effectively control broadleaf weeds such as Canadian thistle and curly dock, but have little effect on legumes such as crown vetch and clover, Remember I will still be spot-spraying, so the non-target legumes will receive overspray only.

If not, then ultimately we may have to eliminate everything but the hard fescue. Actually it would more pleasing to the eye with just grass, but I wanted to keep two types of ground cover growing just to cover my ass if one collapsed for some reason. So far the deer haven't been that bed - their hooves on the steep bank are worse than any light browsing.

[Dale Wiley]

No bad day... just needed more information which you provided.

The legumes and clover are going to be much more reactive and susceptiable to the broad leaf control than the thistle and vetch.

Vetch has little leaf surface and those nasty little hairs, and has a waxy surface like the thistle. Very hard to get a good kill past the rosette stage on either one. They are more reactive to a petroluem base herbicide like Crossbow, but still damn hard to kill at label rates. They all have so much water in them in a mature stage, it dilutes the herbicide down past much more than a spotty kill effect on the leaves.

I have spot thistle, dock and some other weeds in some of my nursery ground. It is just a constant back pack sprayer effort about 2 times a week to keep getting them. I am going to mow the cover all off and then let it all regrow and hit them when they are small and regrowing.

You might try some liquid fertilizer in the sprays, they make a good carrier for the chemicals.