Hello. Glad to meet everyone!
I'm fairly new here. I live in the Mtns of N. VA and I hope it's ok to post sort of non-gardeny- but-plant-related questions here...if not could you redirect me?
I moved to a wooded area near the Appalachian trail about 4 yrs ago. The land had been (in my eyes) damaged by the previous owners who cut down numerous LARGE trees and left other areas barren...presumably they were going to create a garden. My objective, when I first moved in, was to grow beautiful natives and make a woodland garden....neither of these options are attainable due to the heavy HEAVY deer population!
So, 4 yrs later I have come to my senses...plant the strong, aggressive (mostly native) species and at least keep the birds and insects happy! Well, thistles are a big part of this. I think we have about 4 -5 species here...problem is, I have noticed over the last couple of yrs that the Canada Thistle seems not to be thriving as it once was and after inspecting I found at least 2 species of insects (Rhinocyllus conicus and Cassida rubiginosa) introduced in great numbers by the state of VA to control thistle! Now, I know well that Canada Thistle is an invasive species and I was addressing this. Bull and Scotch are also introduced but I don't mind these as much because they are LOADED with butterflies in the summer when nothing else has survived the deer. I also started from seed some pasture thistle, swamp thistle and tall thistle. Problem is...I don't think the thistle eating insects discriminate....they eat ALL thistle! On top of that, my method of controlling Canada Thistle is cutting it half way down and making it use its energy stores to grow more stem thereby weakening it but now if I do that I am countermanding the biocontrol insects which I, personally, would have chosen not to introduce to my property...but I won't get started on that one!
So, my question is, should I continue to control Canada Thistle in my own way, let the biocontrols take over and wipe all thistle out...and I really would like to know who has the right to dump biocontrols out over large areas to essentially (in my opinion) serve mainly the interest of a particular group. Never thought I'd be so outspoken about the rights of the lowly thistle
Anyway, thanks for reading and I'm probably not even in the right forum
Anyone else got thistle?
