Killing trees

I am wanting to create a new food plot and know I need to get rid of a bunch of trees. If I girdle or hack and squirt appropriate poison will the trees lose the leaves and let in enough light for planting a fall plot I'm September? There are some big trees and I do not have big equipment also I'm thinking of safety when taking out big trees.

No. Girdling and hack & squirt are effective but slow. More like few years for complete kill and for tree to fall. May need to get out chainsaw

Correct

We girdled a few big hardwood trees with a chainsaw and also did hack a squirt with tordon rtu. I was disappointed in the results. A year later and no visible effect on the trees. We got the herbicide on amazon so someone may have sold us dud.

I’ve used 25% solution of Arsenal with water in a spray bottle. Excellent results. At first I thought you needed to make a deep cut into tree. Later learned that you need to make a shallow cut so that solution can be absorbed through the cambium layer just inside bark

I have 2 Hackberries I'm trying to kill. I'm in no hurry. Not small trees, probably 20" DBH. I drilled 4 holes with 3 /4 bit at on angle down around each tree about waste high. Filled each hole with undiluted 41% gly because that is what I had on hand. Been about 3 weeks and all leaves are totally brown. Time will tell how this works.

Thanks guys. I know the tree will not fall and rot within a year or 2. But will leaves fall off in time to plant a fall plot without having to cut them down? YouTube has not helped much. If anything I will cut down small trees and H&S the larger ones that are not oaks or persimmons. And then plan on having plenty of light next spring for a perrenial clover plot.

I'm gonna guess that the leaves will respond according to type of tree and chemical. As I said the Hackberry trees i put gl y in have completely browned in about 3 weeks so I would say in about three more weeks they will be gone. Much quicker than I would have thought. But we have been getting a lot of rain and that plays into it.

I would hire someone with an excavator. They would make short work of the tree's and you wouldn't have to worry about stumps. $110/hour around here, 4 hr minimum.

If you are going to poison trees near the oaks, etc, that you want to keep, then I would use 2-4-D or Garlon 4. Imazapyr will kill everything within 15 or 20 feet.

If you are serious about it just cut it down rent a stump grinder. Done.

Yea, I could get mine up with my dozer. Just dig around them and push them over. Then push dirt back in. I may do that when the temps cool this fall. But as I said, I'm in no hurry. It is only to make my road straight whereas I'm going around these trees now.

Spraying imazapyr around hardwoods is risky. Using it in a hack & squirt has no risk of injuring other trees. The chemical stays in the targeted tree and will not leave that tree and injure neighboring trees. Have killed thousands of sweetgums and never had any collateral damage

Incorrect. There is a chance of injury to nearby susceptible trees, albeit slight. I have seen it several times with imazapyr, picloram, Velpar, Milestone, and Method. It doesn’t happen often and you are correct it is very safe, but it can’t be said there is no risk.

BASF did testing with arsenal in a hack & squirt test plot at Riverwood several year ago. Stasticially there is no risk to surrounding hardwoods

Question, what's the plan when all those large, dead trees start falling?

First get out the way. But they should drop branches then fall at separate times most likely when I am not there. I will then cut them up and use a firewood. I'm just not comfortable cutting 60 ft trees down. Have a friend who does tree work. May ask him to help.

By the time they fall they will be no good for firewood

This

I think you are going to spend a LOT of time and not get the result you are wanting. A dozer or excavator is by far the best method. Cutting a 100 foot shooting lane and putting a feeder just out of sight at 100 yards behind natural vegetation would be legal.

Waiting for the "it depends"...."not necessarily" crowd

that would be your best best and most efficient then rent a stump grinder for about $250 for a weekend and be done with em

Well it depends. Not nessasarily.

I’d just save up a little money and get a dozer in there to clear it out. You won’t have to wait years for trees to fall and you can shape the field exactly how you want it. Plus you will not have to fool with stumps or chainsaws.