roundup is NOT sprayed on trees ....

it is applied.. full strength to the severed trunk on the cambian layer ...

in most cases.. rototilling a plant that invades by runners is contraindicated ... you will be making more plants ...

if it were me.. i would buy a good pruning saw.. and start cutting them down.. and dripping generic roundup ...

you want the EASY way to do this... THERE ISNT ONE .... these plants have a 20 year head start.. it may take you 2 or 3 years to win ...

good luck

ken

Sounds like heavy duty job that needs a chemical labeled specifically for these kinds of plants. A chemical that is labeled for killing woody plants like a stump killer containing triclopyr or there is a chemical used by crews that remove invasives and marijuana plants out of recreation areas... Garlon®
If you aren't comfortable using these chemicals yourself you can find a landscaping service that can do it for you.

If the weeds are so bad they have actually damaged the foundation, I think going out there with a spray bottle of roundup will be a bit overwhelming and will obviously take multiple applications.

"it is applied...full strength to the (freshly) severed trunk on the (cambium) layer..."

"...I think going out there with a spray bottle of roundup will be a bit overwhelming and will obviously take multiple applications."

As Ken said,
"roundup is NOT sprayed on trees ....
it is applied...full strength to the (freshly) severed trunk on the (cambium) layer..."

If applied correctly, glyphosate (RoundUp, etc.) is one of the best and least expensive ways to tackle such a problem. Triclopyr (Garlon, etc) is just another option.

I should have provided more information. The trees by the garage that were allowed to mature have been removed. I thought to drill holes in the stumps and pour Roundup in them first. The ones growing in the lawn and in every nook and cranny of the concrete will need Roundup also I guess.

I did get my question answered regarding tilling them. I was worried that they would multiply by doing that. I guess they will!

My only option, it appears, is to spray the entire property with Roundup. There are a few fruit trees and shade trees on the property too. Will the Roundup make the fruit unusable, and if so, for how many years?

A few more questions: If I am able to kill them all by spraying Roundup, how long till I can plant a lawn? Will I have to wait a significant period of time with multiple Roundup sprays? If so, how long do you suggest between spays? I hope to fix the property and sell it by next year.

Read what has been written already. You don't *spray* them with RoundUp. You buy the concentrate, mix it to 'brush' strength, then paint it onto fresh cut stumps.

If they are small enough, repeated mowings will get rid of them. If they are larger than that, then they will have to be physically removed at some time anyway.

The ones that will need to be "sprayed" are in the lawn. Repeated mowings have not gotten rid of them. I guess that's why I decided to post and get more professional advice.

If I recall, the Roundup instructions say something about drilling holes in the trunk and pouring it in full strength. I will buy it and read the directions directly.

Again, how many sprays on the ones in the lawn will I need to do? Will the roots try to put out new shoots or will killing all the ones on the surface suffice?

And what about the fruit trees?

Thanks again!!!

That's why you should use a product designed to kill brush and trees and not a grass killer.
To answer your other q, you can plant grass pretty much immediately after using roundup although I think the LABEL recommends waiting 7 days.

If I recall, the Roundup instructions say something about drilling holes in the trunk and pouring it in full strength.

============

not in any of the instructions i read ....

put some 100% roundup CONCENTRATE in a mustard bottle... grab the hand clippers ...

get on your knees .. and go crawl around the lawn.. and snip and drip on EVERY SINGLE STUB ...

I WILL YELL...

THE ROUNDUP WILL ONLY EFFECT THE TINY GREEN BAND JUST UNDER THE BARK.. THE CAMBIAN LAYER... link below

IT IS IMPROPER USAGE TO DRILL INTO THE WOOD ... AND IT IS A WASTE OF PRODUCT ... and any excess usage is pollution ....

nearly every reply to you has indicated what needs be done.. and all you get out of it.. is what you have already done.. improperly ... and how you will continue to go about all this in the improper manner ...

i have no clue why you want our opinions ...

good luck .... polluting the area ... i am glad i dont live near you .. and i hope you are not upstream of my well ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: the tiny green line

By the way, I wonder about whether you have Sumac - if you say it is "stinky", I'm guessing you have Ailanthus altissima, Tree of Heaven, which is sometimes called "stinking sumac" but is not truly sumac. Just FYI.

ken_adrian,

Thank you for your YELL! I get it! I guess I am stubborn, especially when the only Garlon 4 I have found is in a 2 1/2 gallon jug for $305.00.

esh_ga,

You are probably correct. I did a search for "Tree of Heaven" and found a sight that describes it. It has all the information you all have given.

Sorry for being so stubborn!!!

Maybe my next question should be: Does anyone know if I will need this much, and if not, does anyone know where I can get it in smaller quantities? The ground that will need to be treated is about 50,000 s.f. and the "trees" average about every 6 inches throughout the property.

I did find out that I can purchase it without a license, so that's good!

Thanks again!

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree of Heaven

What Ken's saying about how to apply the chemicals, whether glyphosate or triclopyr, is exactly on target.

If you apply the glyphosate correctly, your fruit trees wouldn't even be in the equation. However, since you asked, you could (certainly doesn't mean you should) spray glyphosate heavily under your fruit trees and then later eat the fruit without ill effect. Glyphosate is widely used in commercial farming and has probably been sprayed over a good part of the vegetables you eat.

Iforgotitsonevermind, is just flat wrong about glyphosate being primarily for grass. Maybe the premixed really weak RoundUp is recommended mostly for grass, but glyphosate is highly effective at taking out woody plants if applied correctly. There are some differences in triclopyr and glyphosate, but probably not a significant performance difference in this application.

"Iforgotitsonevermind, is just flat wrong about glyphosate being primarily for grass. Maybe the premixed really weak RoundUp is recommended mostly for grass, but glyphosate is highly effective at taking out woody plants if applied correctly. There are some differences in triclopyr and glyphosate, but probably not a significant performance difference in this application."

THAT'S WHY I'M SAYING TO GET THE STUMP KILLER!!!!!
IT IS PREMIXED AT A RATE THAT IS SUITABLE FOR KILLING BRUSH AND WOODY PLANTS!!!!

Good grief!

OH, I GUESS I MISUNDERSTOOD WHAT YOU MEANT!!!!!

Good grief!

Let's start all over from the beginning.

Go to the hardware store.

While you are at the hardware store, buy two things. One is a bottle of concentrated RoundUp. The other is a cheapie foam paintbrush.

Go back home and find a disposable container like an old yogurt container or a peanut butter jar or something.

Read the directions on the bottle of concentrated Round Up. There will be several sets of directions depending on what you are trying to kill. Ignore the ones for 'weeds'. Follow the ones for 'brush'. This will make brush strength Round Up.

Mix up this concoction in your container.

Take the container of mixed Round Up, the paintbrush and a pair of clippers to the problem.

Snip, paint, snip, paint - continue until it's all been snipped and painted.

Since we don't know whether these are suckers from a small number of plants, or individual seedlings, wait a week to see what grows back.

Repeat from the mixing the concoction stage until it stops coming back.

Except there's one problem...the instructions for brush are for when you are spraying an area of brush. Instead, use normal homeowner concentrated RoundUp undiluted (normal homeowner concentrated RoundUp is around 18% of the pure pro grade stuff). If you read on a bottle of normal homeowner concentrated type RoundUp (that's the 18% stuff), it says to treat stumps with the undiluted chemical. In other words, don't add any water if you are using the normal (that's the 18% type) RoundUp as per the product's instructions.

You know you all are frustrating me...

Why pay $150-something for a gallon of concentrated roundup or $50-something for a small quart or whatever it is when you can just get a $20 flick frackin gallon jug of Brush B Gone with attached spray wand or some generic stump killer!?!?!

Good grief!

And in case this didn't register with anyone, The OP's got mature sumacs messing up the foundation. This is not some ordinary run of the mill weed problem.

It's like the company that owns roundup has planted people in the forum to suggest buying roundup.

Lots of different opinions here!
If I were you, I would buy some Poison Ivy and Brush killer concentrate (active ingredient Triclopyr 8 percent). Ignore anything that is has the label RTU or ready to use, or has a sprayer attached. Those are not concentrated and are for spraying on leaves, not stumps.
Cut the trees and suckers down within a few inches of the ground. Next, paint or drip the undiluted herbicide right on to the freshly cut stumps. Make sure that the whole cut surface has a nice puddle of herbicide on it, extending to the outside edge of the cut just under the bark ( cambium layer). This works best in late summer through early winter when the downward sap flow will bring it to the roots.
Your sumac/tree of heaven should die completely within a few weeks if you treat every stem this way.
You can use Glyphosate (generic Roundup) concentrate instead of brush killer. Generic Roundup (Glyphosate) is often labeled Grass and Weed Killer. Make sure it is a concentrate of 12 percent Glyphosate or greater, and do not dilute it!

I certainly agree with Iforgotitsonevermind about not spending lots of money on the chemicals for this job (although even brand-name homeowner type RoundUp isn't nearly as expensive as mentioned, at least in any of the stores I shop). I'd go for the generic glyphosate (as I mentioned from the start); It's widely available and probably even less expensive than Brush B Gone.

-----------------------------------------

Iforgotitsonevermind, what exactly is frustrating you so much? You sure do seem frustrated about something, but I don't see what.

Ok now you're really frustrating me that you don't know what I am frustrated about even though I keep repeating myself over and over and over again. âº

Roundup concentrate prices
compare to...
Stump & Brush killer prices

Or this product in particular:
{{gwi:382210}}
Product Description
- Stumps and Roots Won't Regrow - Kills blackberries, kudzu, poison oak, poison ivy, mesquite and sumac. - 1 Quart Jug - Covers 4,000 Square Feet - This does kill new Maple Shoot or Sprouts from cut stumps. - Hose 'N Go Concentrate - Covers approximately 4,000 square feet. Active Ingredients - Triclopyr (3,5,6-Trichloro-2-Pyridinyloxyacetic Acid) - Triethylamine Salt - 8 - Inert Ingredients - 92

Here is a link that might be useful: It's ready to spray from a hose, no mixing or pump sprayer required.

Wow, quite a thread!

Without judging anyone's technique, materials, or chemicals, here's what I do.

For unwanted weeds, grass and small brush I purchase concentrated RoundUp, dilute it per the directions, and apply it with a 2-gallon pump sprayer.

For unwanted large brush or small trees (oak, walnut, sumac, etc.) I'll cut down the brush or tree and leave a few inches of the trunk exposed. Then I take a foam paint brush and apply undiluted RoundUp directly to the trunk. This may take a couple of applications, but I've had good success with this method. All the trees and shrubs I've used this on have died and not grown back.

So that's what I do. There are other ways to do this but I found this works well.

Thanks

Dave

PS: Typically a 24oz bottle of 2X RoundUp concentrate costs about $25.00 or so in my area, less when on sale.

BTW, echoing above, I was riding the LR downtown yesterday and you can see in the new T-Rex construction near Logan where the Ailanthus are invading already, and it made me think of this thread. Surely if you have Ailanthus you'll have to control the neighbors as well.

Dan

Dave, Even it it was $25, why pay $25 for a small bottle of roundup concentrate when that is not labeled for killing mature trees nor is it as effective as brush/stump killer that comes in a ready to use gallon jug ready to spray out of the bottle and covers 4,000 square feet for the same price?

You even said yourself that you aren't even diluting the roundup concentrate. I'm not trying to argue that your way is the wrong way but that is pouring good money down the drain when you can use a more effective chemical that is labeled for brush and trees for a fraction of the cost.

"...roundup concentrate when that is not labeled for killing mature trees..."

I have a bottle of RoundUp here, and it is labeled for killing woody plants as well as stumps!

"...nor is it as effective as brush/stump killer..."

Unless I'm misunderstanding what you are saying, I'd have to totally disagree with that statement.

"...comes in a ready to use gallon jug ready to spray out of the bottle and covers 4,000 square feet..."

Spraying out of the bottle is not the way to tackle this problem at all.

Brandon,

If you're using Roundup labelled for stumps and brush and poison ivy etc, I'm betting it is a triclopyr product and not glyphosate. Am I right?
If you want to use Roundup brand that's fine with me, all I'm saying is to use something labeled for stumps and brush. Those products contain triclopyr and those products seem to be much much less expensive.

No, it's glyphosate. RoundUp does make a poison ivy killer that contains a small amount of triclopyr along with a healthy dose of glyphosate, but that's not what I use.

I'm totally confused as to why you think glyphosate is less effective or an unwise choice for use against woody plants. I have extensive experience (from use in commercial landscaping as well as my arboretum) with its use for this purpose, and have found it highly effective in almost all circumstances. Its use for this purpose is extensive throughout the commercial landscaping industry, multiple aspects of public horticulture, farming, and home use. Every ag extension site I've seen that discusses using specific herbicides to eradicate woody plants, lists glyphosate as their main or one of their main recommendations. I'm honestly not trying to be a smart alec when I say that not recognizing its use for this purpose seems to me to be akin to saying water is not recommended as a drink. I just don't understand it.

Triclopyr can be faster acting than glyphosate and is more selective. It can kill most broadleaf plants while missing grasses and sedges when applied at normal use rates. These facts do not, that I can see, make it better for this application. If you want to use a triclopyr product, please do. I don't care what you use, but I do know what glyphosate is a great option.

Is there anything wrong with using this in a windex bottle, to cut and spray down the stumps? I have 'tree o' he//' young trees constantly sprouting on my road bank in front of my property. It gets rid of them.

{{gwi:382211}}

Basal stem application is the tried and true method of controlling large colonies of TOH. This is used by road crews, Parks & Rec, and utility maintenance crews. Wound the trunk, paint with full strength herbicide (usually with a tracer dye) and let the tree draw chemical down to the roots. The way I've seen it done is the following year the dead, above ground parts are removed.
Who uses Roundup? The active ingredient is glyphosate and is readily available as a retail item. 1 quart 41% glyphosate covers 6300 sq ft and costs less than $17 at HD.

OK.
I give up.