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Trail Maintenance

21 years ago

I've got 20 acres of woods with about a mile and a half of trails. I don't have time to weed-eat every week, and we've got terrible ticks. This Spring, I plan to dig up the Jack-in-the-Pulpits, Trilliums, Green Dragons, May Apples, Dutchman's Breeches and other "special" plants that are growing in the paths, then spray the trails with an herbicide. What's your recommendation for herbicide and future weed-control? The worst "weeds" I've got are grasses that hang over the paths and to which the ticks love to cling. I'll be transplanting and giving away the dug-up stuff.

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Comments (4)

Trilliophile
21 years ago
Round-up 2% concentration, use a pump sprayer. Should take care of everything.
t P. S. You should replant the good stuff further off trail. It will give you something cool to look at.
t
RUDE_RUDY
21 years ago
A single application of roundup or any herbicide that is not persistant will eliminate the plants which it comes in contact with. However, there is certainly a bank of seed in the soil that will sprout and replace the plants you eliminate. It would likely require several applications over several seasons to create a trail that is denuded of vegetation. Even then, new seeds will find their way into your space.
Using a riding mower and making trails several mower widths wide works for my trails and creates space to walk without brushing the inevitable grasses, poison ivy etc., that droops over the paths.
Ticks are a fact of life here in missouri. I give my clothes and legs a good spritz of deet every day before heading out to play.
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"Herbicides, the right ones used properly, can be a real asset. Some may suggest salt, but that probably poses greeter risk than well controlled use of the proper herbicides. " Well, as I said, I used glyphosphate successfully the FIRST time but when new weeds appeared they didn't respond to a second application. So it appears I have "Roundup-Ready" weeds. The slopes downhill from these paths are covered with brush and tall grass, which provide cover for the woodchucks that constantly raid my garden, even though the garden fence goes a foot below ground and is topped by a 4500-volt strand of electric deer fence wire. Since one of the objections to salt is that it tends to spread I wouldn't be averse if it spread downslope from the path itself to clear some of the groundhog cover. Right now the only good weapon I have against the groundhogs is "Revenge" (brand) gopher bombs and I've managed to kill 3 woodchucks so far that way but finding the entrances to their burrows is well-nigh impossible in mid summer with all the vegetation. I assume halite (rock salt) would be the cheapest way to buy it in quantity - how much do I need per square foot?
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john_mo
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In my experience, periodic mowing or weed whacking is the best way to make trails passable. Spraying trails once with roundup will not keep them clear of vegetation throughout the season. It may even make things worse by eliminationg established perennials and opening up bare soil for annual weeds. Perennial grasses and sedges are probably the most desirable type of ground cover for trails, but whatever is growing there will need to be mowed or trimmed periodically, if only to prevent woody plants from overgrowing your trails. If you want the trails to be wide enough and cut short enough to keep ticks off you, you will need wide trails and you will need to put in lots of work to keep them cleared.

I think a better approach is to combine more limited trail mowing with good bug protection. I have heard good comments about the 'bug off' pants and shirts that are now widely available. My personal strategy is to keep a pair of nylon field pants treated with permethrin for all my summer hikes. One spray treatment lasts about a month, even with regular machine washing. I combine this with a thorough DEET spray of shoes socks and lower legs and I have had only one or two tick or chigger bites so far this summer. And I regularly walk through tall grasses and weeds -- and overgrown trails!
jillmcm
21 years ago
I try to mow paths twice as wide as a walker needs, it's by far the easiest way to keep them clear around here. You might also want to consider mulching trails with wood chips, 3" to 6" deep - many tree trimming companies will provide them in bulk for free. Then you could just round-up anything that made it through the mulch.

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