Battle continues in Ruidoso against musk thistles and volunteers are needed

• Greer has work on eliminating the thistle for 11 years and is looking for a full-time Ruidoso resident to take over the project

She’s known as the weed warrior, because when most people see her, Pat Greener is out in a field, spraying or cutting the heads off musk thistles.

Greener was recognized last week with a plaque of appreciation from the Ruidoso Village Council and the village’s Keep Ruidoso Beautiful Committee guided by Dave Tetreault with the Parks and Recreation Department.

While her efforts were lauded by Mayor Lynn Crawford, Greener told the audience what she needs are volunteers to help battle the musk and two other noxious thistles that displaced grasses and valuable native plants. Too often, she is out there working alone and now in her 70s, she needs some younger bodies to pitch in and help.

Greener also lives several months each year in Texas and she would like to see a full-time Ruidoso resident in charge of the thistle removal project, she said.

Crawford said Greener took over the project in 2007 and has spent 11 year eradicating thistles in the community. She estimates she spends about 80 hours a month digging, pulling plants and spraying the invasive weed. She also initiated a sign program to inform the public about the village’s weed ordinance. She’s been an inspiration to others, he said.

Some people think the purple heads of the thistles are pretty, the mayor said, “but they were declared noxious weeds some years back and she needs your help volunteering for your village.”

Vinegar for the spray mixture is available at the parks and recreation department office at 535 Resort Drive. The vinegar can be applied with a spray bottle or hand sprayer. Adding about 4 ounces to 6 ounces of dish soap per gallon will help dissipate the waxy layer on the leaves.

“Like everyone else, I need volunteers really bad,” Greener said at the council meeting last week. “I had a few problems, whether heart or the back. People don’t realize we have three different kinds of thistles. The hardest one to get rid of is the musk thistle” which blends in with grasses and the first year appears as a rosette close to the ground.

“If you have any high school kids, a retired teacher told me when applying for grants and scholarships, some kids can have the same grade points, but if one was a volunteer or did community service, they would be accepted over another,” she said. “It’s also good to volunteer. It makes you feel good and you get a lot of exercise.”

She thanked Tetreault for nominating her for the special council recognition and for mustering a group to go out and spray the thistles on a lot when she had no volunteers to help.

The musk thistle was imported from Scotland, possibly by accident with seeds hiding in other potted plants, or maybe someone enjoyed their beauty. It was declared a noxious weed decades ago and is the target of several eradication programs around the state and the Southwest. The problem with the thistle is that it does not provide food for wildlife and crowds out natural grasses and wildflowers that could be consumed. While bees may enjoy the big purple heads, plenty of other plants can provide what they need and not be destruction to pastures, vacant lots, roadsides and backyards, Greener said.

The musk thistle campaign began in 2000, when Carolyn Felder mobilized volunteers to help remove the invasive plant along roadsides and in fields throughout Ruidoso, as well in neighborhood yards. After the first seven years, she no longer was battling and dodging the purple barbed plants in White Mountain Meadows, and wildflowers and natural grasses returned to the treated areas to the delight of local wildlife.

One musk thistle can produce 20,000 seeds with 90 percent viability, able to germinate in the first two years. Some may lie in wait and germinate after 10 years in the soil. The first year the thistle appears as a rosette flat to the ground, but the second year they bolt. Even if the heads were sliced and dropped to the ground, they could continue the process of producing fluffy seeds, which later could be carried miles on the wind.

To prevent seeds from scattering, the heads must be cut off, bagged and left to rot before being discarded in a dumpster. Plants also can be dug up, but that can be mammoth chore, if they are in abundance.

Under property nuisances that must be corrected, the Ruidoso Village Council on Nov. 27, 2007, adopted item "d" that covers "anything on the New Mexico Noxious Weed List (of particular concern is the musk thistle) that have not been either killed or removed." A violation of the municipal ordinance carries a possible fine of $50.

To volunteer or for more information, call Greener at 575-257-6095.