Getting rid of brush for good?

[deerminator]

So I've been cutting small trees and brush with the chainsaw in an area I want to grow some grass and put some wood chips in too near the house. For the little scrub stuff, I've hacked it all away with a machete. After I rake all the leaves and cuttings out, I'll be left with bare dirt and one to two inch stuble of all the brush I've cut. How do I kill it for good? Spray it with some herbicide of some sort?

[2eyesman2]

use some round up

[LightningBG]

Would have been better to spray them when the leaves and stick were still there, as I believe roundup is absorbed through the leaves. Then you could have yanked the dead plants out, roots and all.

[croixflats]

Herbicides that work well on stumps:

Do NOT use more chemical than you need! See specifics below.

1.Glyphosate is a good choice since there is no residual or soil leaching of this herbicide. It is the active ingredient

in Roundup (now off patent); Ortho Basic Solutions Weed & Grass Killer Concentrate (18% Glyphosate). Use for

stump, frill and foliar applications. Many different concentrations are available. Check the fine print in the lower

label corner.

1. Glyphosate (continued)

• 10 to 20% active ingredient is needed for stump and frill applications.

• For the cut stump and frill method, apply immediately after cutting.

• Only 3% active ingredient is necessary for foliar applications (best for seedlings in the late fall).

Rodeo (now off patent), Aqua Neat, and others are the glyphosate products for aquatic use. Use on glossy buckthorn

growing in wet sites (required when within 10 ft. of wetland/pond/stream). Use the same rates as Roundup, above.

2. Tryclopyramine is the active ingredient in Garlon 3A and Ortho Brush B-Gon.

• Mix with water for cut stump, frill, and foliar applications.

• Use goggles when spraying, since exposure to this chemical can cause a burning sensation in eyes.

• For the cut stump and frill method, apply immediately after cutting.

3. Tryclopyr ester is the active ingredient in Garlon 4, Crossbow, & Pathfinder. (Pathfinder is ready-to-use.)

• Mix with diluent or Kerosene for cut stump, frill and basal bark treatments.

Note: Garlon 3a needs to be applied immediately after the cut. Garlon 4 can be used long after the cut because it

will penetrate the stump and bark.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Use a paintbrush to paint the roundup on the stumps.

It'd be best if you cut them again, to get a fresh cut, much like when you buy roses for your wife, you cut the ends when you put them in the vase..... right???

[croixflats]

Another thing I would round up as soon as you can before the sap starts moving. Round up is absorbed through the cambium layer of the stump then moves to the roots killing the tree when the sap starts to move or spring growth occurs the sap moving upwards may prevent or miminise the effect of the round up so the earlier you get it on the better success rate you will have.

[deerminator]

Thanks for the input. Any thoughts on renting a brush mower/cutter? I still have several more areas to go through. They're not heavy brush but lots of little stuff I don't want to run the mower over or spend hours upon hours with a machete on. Then I'd try the herbicide after I mow it all down. LwnmwnMan2, per another post, you mentioned Trimec. Would that work too? I ask because lots of meadow grass or whatever you call it comes up with the weeds as well. I was thinking, mow everything down, use the Trimec to get ride of the weeds and then overseed the natural grass that comes up with a no mow of some sort to hopefully thicken up.

[LwnmwnMan2]

If you use a large brush cutter, whether a walk behind, or one you can pull behind a tractor, you're going to do alot of shredding of the brush, and have large chunks of debris every where.

If you're looking to chop everything off, and then burn the brush, I would recommend getting a brush cutter attatchment for a trimmer.

If you're CAREFUL to keep the blade from hitting the ground, AND God forbid your ankle, you can chop alot of the thumb sized brush very quickly, especially if you have someone around to pull the brush out of your way.

If you do it with a larger mower type cutter, like I said it's going to be quite messy by the time you're done.

As for the Trimec, that's a "softer" chemical. It works well on non-woody weeds, but as for brush and whatnot, it doesn't really have much of an effect.

[jeffreyd]

you can also if you have time drill some holes in the stump and put chemical in them. I have a buddy who cut down 4 huge trees, rather than digging or grinding, he drilled them on a weekend, put fuel in and did a slow burn on them til they were gone, took a few weeks but was the best way for him. be certain you use the right chemical and not a sterilizer. We used a chemical called triox but it leached into areas were the grass was and killed it for good too. good luck.

[deerminator]

Thanks guys. I will check into that cutter attachment for the trimmer. I've been using the chainsaw to slice through the thumb sized stuff with ease too. So maybe I'll just stick with that. As for the bigger stumps, burning is the most effective method I've found short of having a grinder too. I dig down a a good foot or more around the stump and pile lots of dead wood and brush over it. It's pretty effective at burning it down far enough where whatever's left just rots away below the surface.

[LwnmwnMan2]

With the chainsaw, you have to bend over to cut it off at the ground. At least with a trimmer, you won't have to bend over so much.

I've cut stuff down up to 3" in diameter with a trimmer quite easily.

[Tom7227]

You can rent a rig that looks like a heavy duty trimmer but has a saw blade on it. It will cut through some pretty big stuff pretty quickly and you don't have to bend over or run the risk of hitting the soil with your chain. I did the kid's 1/4 acres spot that was thick with 15 years of growth in about 90 minutes.

You may want to think hard about gassing all the native material in the woods. You may end up having a tough time getting turf to grow in there and you may find that it's a real pain to try and maintain it. I live in an area where there are some pretty thick stands of trees and some folks spent incredible amounts of time trying to keep the grass growing and then cleaning up in the fall to prevent the leafs from killing it all. The guy across the street puts out nearly 100 bags every year and his lawn still looks pretty H.S. Just a thought. I sort of think that nature has a way of getting where it wants to go. Maybe just burning the area to knock down the small stuff, getting rid of any invasives like buckthorn, and letting it go beyond that is an option.