Buckthorn eradication

[tunrevir]

What is the best chemical for eradication of buck thorn? I have a ton of it and pulling them out by the roots wors but then once the canopy opens up the little buggers infest the area thicker and worse then when the mature bush was there. I am thinking of taking a brush cutter and cutting the new growth and then spraying so they don't regrow. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

Tunrevir~

[Deitz Dittrich]

I sent an e-mail to Joel Nelson.. HE does a lot of work with that nasty stuff.. hope he can help you.

[WittleWaldo]

What is the best chemical - Alcohol - for you - to maintain that garden

[sparcebag]

Best thing I found and it was also advice from local state park buckthorn eradication,was pulling by roots,next cut off below surface 3-4 inches treat w/ roundup.

I also after thick removal have thousands of buckthorne sprouts,I started pulling but jeeze 3 acres so I used roundup for poisonIvy,tried a area 20ft. X 20ft. killed everything and its working,best time to apply is Fall when plants are storing for winter.

All the buckthorn plants NEED leaves on to be effective treatment with roundup.

[Powerstroke]

Pulling is the best, but what you are seeing is probably new growth from seeds in the soil. If you've seen a healthy plant with all its black berries than you know how they spread. Each of those berries has several seeds and they can grow anywhere. I used round-up brush and poison-ivy for mine. Brush Bgone works okay too.

Best times to do this kind of project is in the spring right after they have leafed out or in the fall around the first frost. Both times, the plant is drawing in lots of food to the roots and it will help absorb the chemicals.

[goblueM]

If its less than 4 inches DBH (diameter at breast height) you can use a 4:1 mix of Diluent Blue to Garlon 4A and do what is called basal barking - spray evenly around the entire base, from the ground to about 10 inches up. That'll kill em good.

If its bigger, cut em down and spray the stump with the mixture. Prevents suckering and all

[Hotspotter]

Tunrevir:

Lot's of good advice out here to get rid of the pesky stuff.

I wouldn't resort to band spraying/application unless the area is totally infested. Whichever chemical you choose to spray, you'll be starting from scratch as it will scorch everything. Esp. the Garlon. Believe it or not, pulling the smaller plants by hand is really the best option.

That said, from my experiences, Garlon with the penetrating oil wreaks havoc on these things. I buy it pre-mixed like the DNR does (my advice is mainly from their recommendations) from Pro-source? down in St. Charles, MN. This eliminates the need to mess with mixing, and provides the perfect amount of penetrating oil which I believe is the key to this slurry's effectiveness. You wouldn't need to cut and apply with the right mix of Garlon, only spray if you'd like. The tree will be dead within a year. Cutting/spraying as a 1-2 punch is recommended however, esp. for larger plants.

As far as identification, after the killing frosts roll through, it will be the last greenery in the woods. I don't think the effectiveness of your chemical will be nearly as good then however.

It's a 5-10 year commitment, whether you want it to be or not. The only time it's less is when your infestation isn't that bad. Your first few years is really all about killing all the mature berry producing trees first. Kill all the little ones you want, but if there are even a small handful of mature ones you miss out there, the birds will spread the seed faster than you can keep up with cutting/pulling/spraying. Then it's just perseverence. I can't remember the last time I took a casual stroll through the woods without taking a small hand-spray bottle of Garlon out with me .

Depending upon your acreage and county, federal and state monies exist to offset your control costs. I participated in the WHIP (Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program) which has been fairly good to us thus far in covering the costs of the control.

Good luck, and feel free to shoot me an email if you have any other questions.

Joel

[tunrevir]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I believe I am going to get the Garlon 4. I have 20 acres of heavily infested woods that need alot of work. I have been pulling the little guys and cutting up the big ones and spraying the stumps. My next question is if I use a chipper to take care of all of the larger brush do I need to worry about any of the chips taking root? I was thinking about pulling out the larger ones stump and all and then running it through a chipper. I have made some brush piles for wildlife cover and used some of the brush to make hunting blinds but there is just to darn much to pile and burn. Thanks everyone for your replies!

Tunrevir~

[Tom7227]

A few weeks ago we rented a chipper for some trees we cut down and the guy said that it would NOT work for buckthorn or lilac. He said it would just clog up. Maybe brush piles and some fires after we have some snow is the best solution. I don't think they sucker up from a cut bush.

[tunrevir]

Thanks for the heads up Tom. I figured I could just run those puppies through a chipper and use the duff for the trails but I guess tha, that may not be the case.

Tunrevir~

[KabNam]

Chemical treatment is one option however have you considered a woodland burn? A small woodlot burn is very efficient at killing buckthorn and helping other understory plants thrive. A small ground fire on the forest floor kills buckthorn rather easily. When done correct fire is a very effective managment tool and much cheaper than chemical.

[Powerstroke]

You most certainly can run buckthorn and lilacs through the chipper. I've been doing it for years with many brands of chippers. Maybe the chipper you rented wasn't up to snuff or their rental didn't like brush piles, but any good wood chipper with sharp knives will take care of it. It is a pain because of the nature of buckthorn (odd shapes and sharp thorns), but it will get done. The chips work very well for duff.

If there was a concern I would have is to not chip the pieces with berries on them. If you chip up the berries and spread that out you are spreading the seeds everywhere. I would clip off any large berry clusters and try to dispose of them someway that won't spread the seeds, or maybe burn it.