[Arid_gardener] RE: Prickley Pear Removal

[Christine M. Bahto]

ORIGINAL QUESTION:
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2007 11:45:13 -0700 (MST)
From: uncduane at yahoo.com
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page
duane
85206
uncduane at yahoo.com

I have about a 10 sq. ft. patch of prickly pear cactus and would like to
remove it.  Any ideas?


ANSWER:
Duane,
The best tool to use is a pitchfork to get rid of all the pads so you can
get to the root and dig it out.
Make sure you are wearing long sleeves, long pants, gloves and some sort of
protective eyewear. Once the pads
start moving around, glochids will be flying everywhere. Glochids are those
tiny, irritating spines that attach
themselves to every available surface and once they're airborne they will be
looking for you!

Good Luck,
Christine Bahto
Master Gardener, U of A Cooperative Extension