I use herbicides. I thought I would start a thread to discuss the plethora of herbicides and learn more about their proper use. If you are a strong anti-herbicide person, this thread is not for you. Please start a new thread to discuss the negative issues with herbicides.
I have 30 acres of farm land that I have converted over to a USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). My practice is to support Pheasants and Monarch butterflies. I planted 20 different wildflowers and 4 different tall grasses on the 30 acres. No trees allowed! Problem: I have a thousand or so Poplar tree saplings taking over.
I am not able to pull them up. If you mow or cut them down they come back even stronger. After researching, I decided to try Triclopyr 4 as a Basel bark killer. It's an ethyl based killer for woody and broad leafed plants. You can mix it with Diesel fuel or an oil soluble surfactant (not water). I bought a gallon of triclopyr and 5 gallons or a blue dyed oil surfactant.
Basel bark herbicides are sprayed on the base of the tree or sapling up 12 inches or so. It is supposed to work on trees up to 6 inches in diameter. In my first try, I mixed 16 oz of triclopyr with 112 oz of surfactant. Worked really well. I will try to take some photos…
In my second application I tried 8 oz of triclopyr in a gallon. Waiting for results.
