Milestone Specialty Herbicide with Aminopyralid for Noxious and Invasive Weeds-Quart 6666085

ProsFor broadleaf control in turf, seems to be +99% effective when broadcast-applied at recommended rates and under ideal conditions.Still very effective even under non-ideal conditions.Assuming clay-loam soil, with moderate precipitation beyond regular irrigation, treated area will remain almost entirely weed-free for at least three months of a growing season.Has both post-emergent and pre-emergent effect; kills both by initial absorption through foliage and by root uptake after it's washed into the soil. If by bad luck it rains shortly after application, it's not a total loss; it'll still put on the hurt by root absorption.Does not harm turfgrass at all, even at maximum rates.On the contrary, and mysteriously, has a sort of slow-release fertilizing effect.Extremely cost effective on an ounce-per-acre basis.Seems to kill just about every type of turf broadleaf weed.Fast acting: weeds begin to die 24 hours after application.It's damnation to thistles.ConsBecause it also kills by root uptake, and remains active in soil for up to a year, and sometimes even more, NOT TO BE USED OVER ROOT SYSTEMS OF DESIRED BROADLEAF (DICOT) PLANTS (that includes trees).It's passed unchanged through the digestive system of livestock. That means their manure is toxic to broadleaf plants.Mixing rationale is non-intuitive for most people; it's based on ounces per acre (regardless of amount of water added) rather than ounces per gallon. (This product is directed to large-scale, broadcast-spray use). When broadcast-spraying, you'll have to know how many acres your sprayer tank can cover, figure how much water to put in the tank for the acreage you want to cover, then figure the ounces needed for the acreage.Not as deadly to plantain as to most other weeds (still plenty hurtful).This stuff is simply incredible. I broadcast-sprayed a sports field that had large quantities of clover, black medic, hop clover, some buckhorn plantain and dandelion, and a few other kinds of weeds (e.g. thistle). Conditions were very good: late spring, about 75 degrees, humidity not too low (maybe 55%), very little wind. Also, there was no rain for several days after, and I did not irrigate, but I misted the field a couple of times in the next 24 hours, just to rewet the foliage, in hopes that any herbicide left on it would get a second chance to be absorbed. Application was made at the rate recommended for clover: 5 ozs per acre. A small amount of non-ionic surfactant was used (don't use dish soap!). One overlapped pass was made, then another non-overlapped pass, perpendicular to the first, using a coarse-droplet spray head. Three weeks later, of the five acres treated, you could count the surviving number of weeds on the digits of two hands & feet. As of three months later, there have been just about that same number of new weeds that have managed to get a foothold.Have used it in many other places (always in turf), and under less-than-ideal conditions, with comparable effectiveness.Have found that, for spot-spraying, or small-area spraying with a backpack sprayer, 3 ozs to 4 gallons of water is just about right.Makes Trimec, 2-4,D and even glyphosate look like a joke. It's more than three times as effective (not even counting the residual effect), and more than three times lower in price. Let's do the math.You'd need seven 32 oz (one quart) bottles of Weedstop (a popular Trimec) to cover one acre at the rate recommended. One quart of Milestone covers almost 6.5 acres at the 5 oz per acre rate that I used. So you'd need over 45 bottles of Weedstop to cover what one bottle of Milestone will cover. A quart of Milestone is going to set you back ca. $95, but 45 quarts of Weedstop, at $7 per quart, is $315.You'd be an idiot to keep using Weedstop...but remember the cons above. Read the entire use directions and cautions!Update: Almost one year later, my sports field is just as weed free as it was shortly after I sprayed. I'll give another update at the end of this summer (2017).The update is late (July 2018):At 5oz per acre, the residual effect of the original turf application petered out after about 1.5 years. Very respectable performance! Have learned a few more things from experience.Extremely Sensitive Plants: Grapes, tomatoes. Don't even let the smallest wind drift get on these!Sensitive Plants: Even spot-spray use around certain ornamental shrubs is a BIG no-no. They can feel the hurt more than two years afterward (leaf curl). Ditto for some maple trees (not so much Japanese maples).Less Sensitive Plants: Some fruit trees (plum and pear; don't know about others) don't seem to be affected much, if at all. Most conifers also seem to be quite resistant (inludes arbor vitae). Asian knotweed is somewhat resistant. Some shrubs, such as barberry or boxwood are resistant.As you would expect, the bigger the plant, the less harmed.The above list is obviously just rough details on a few plants. Experiment at your own risk. Of course, safest course is just don't use it anywhere in the root zone of desired dicot plants.

I bought this about a month ago to help control some Canadian thistle that had overtaken a home I just bought. Last fall, the day I closed on the property, I filled 15 yard waste bags with thistle I'd pulled. I'm guesstimating roughly 3-4,000 plants were pulled from this yard. It was incredibly invasive everywhere and the previous property owners had done nothing to control the infestation.Earlier this spring as the temperatures began to rise I noticed that the thistle was already sending up hundreds of small plants. I did some research and reached out to a conservationist friend who suggested I look into this product. I mixed and applied according to directions twice (applications roughly 10 days apart).First application had the young thistle plants turning a a much whiter color from their normal frosty green within 4 or 5 days. They also began to curl up and continued to curl and shrivel a bit. They did not brown, however.After that 10 day period, I took another inventory and noticed new growth was emerging in other parts of the yard. I re-applied to the new growth and gave the existing shoots another spray just for good measure. I also did a pre-emptive sweep across the yard with the sprayer. I'm now about 2 weeks out from that second application. I've mostly pulled the thistle that had been shriveling and have noticed that all other thistles had started to curl up as well. No new growth spotted.So far this has been well worth the money for the product. I was anticipating a long, drawn out multi-year battle against this invasive plant and it's lock it had on the property. I may still need to do a couple more applications, but this is far easier than staying on track for pulling all of the new growth as it sprouts - especially in this extenuating circumstance.A side benefit has also been that the dusting of the lawn has pretty much completely killed off the dandelions that were popping up everywhere. They've all seemed to turn a purple-ish color and are starting to wilt. A few have survived, but they will be easy to manage individually.I *highly* recommend this product for controlling Canadian thistle. It truly does seem to be the magic bullet for getting that weed under control. Just note that this WILL harm trees and shrubs, so be very careful in your application if these are part of your landscaping and you intend to keep them. Also note that this product will stay active in the soil for up to a year, so if you plan on planting any trees any time soon be sure to watch your application. Suggestions I've read say to keep a good three feet away from the trunk of any tree or shrub.