Weed Killer Around Young Apple Trees

Victor Van Meter

5 year old buck +
From what I have read, gly is a dangerous spray to use around fruit trees. Are there any safe herbicides to spray around young apple trees that won't negatively affect them in any way? Thanks.

VV
 
I spray Gly around all of my apple trees at least once or twice every year and have been doing so since I planted my first apple trees in 1995. Research shows that the trees with grow 30%-35% faster by eliminating weed competition.

Some people say you should not get the Gly on the stem of the tree as you might kill it. While I don't usually intentionally try to spray the tree itself when I am spraying grass/weeds around the tree, I have spray the trunks of apple trees many, many times with no ill-effects. In fact, I have actually sprayed the suckers coming up around the base of the tree to kill them rather than go back to the barn to get my pruners and, while it does kill the suckers, it has never killed or harmed the tree itself.

What you heard or read is an old wives tale Victor....Spray away...

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Thanks for posting Homer. It is nice to know that the scientific research supports my casual unscientific observations.
 
From the study Homer posted.

"In apple (Malus spp.), glyphosate has been linked to trunk injury and scaffold death (e.g., Rosenberger et al. 2013). However, in these California experiments, no trunk cankers or other trunk and limb malformations were observed in almond, cherry, or prune during the 7-yr evaluation period"
 
From the study Homer posted.

"In apple (Malus spp.), glyphosate has been linked to trunk injury and scaffold death (e.g., Rosenberger et al. 2013). However, in these California experiments, no trunk cankers or other trunk and limb malformations were observed in almond, cherry, or prune during the 7-yr evaluation period"

Missed that Troubles Trees but in my unscientific 27 year study it has never happened here in Upper Michigan. :emoji_sunglasses:
 
Missed that Troubles Trees but in my unscientific 27 year study it has never happened here in Upper Michigan. :emoji_sunglasses:
I just read the study results and figured I would share what pertained to the discussion my friend.

This is the sourced study, I think it was done here in NY, I don't have time to read it now unfortunately my lunch is over lol

https://fruit.webhosting.cals.wisc....ffects-of-glyphosate-on-apple-tree-health.pdf
 
If the trees are young take a rag on a stick. Spray the rag and touch the grass.

A bit torn on how to handle my young trees. Mulch or roundup around them
 
Mulch will help retain moisture, and keep weeds away.
 
Mulch will also create a bed for weeds to grow :emoji_astonished:
 
Gly exposure does and will have an effect on a tree may not kill it ,, but can lead to reduced vigor , early decline , winter injury , any thing that weakens the tree can cause problems most commercial orchards are using gly but mix their own surfactant package ,, gly from the farm store has a surfactant package designed to kill like weeds in resistant crops ,, do some digging about what is in your mix that makes it all stick , lots of research done ten years ago
 
I guess I will stick with my own personal experience - call it research if you will but I have sprayed 41% generic Gly around well over 100 apple trees religiously beginning with the first 20 I planted in 1995 and have had zero issues in any of those symptoms suggested above - zero.

You have seen the photos I posted above with 3 foot circles of bare dirt around my apple trees and I keep them that way with Gly. My trees (except for bear damaged trees) are healthy and vigorous and I get great crops of apples from them.

Another reason I don’t want any grass near the stem/triunks is that voles like to burrow through the grass under the snow but they like to stay in the grass. If they burrow up to the trunk of your tree you can bet they are going to try to girdle it if they can. I hope that when they run out of grass they turn away from my trees.

If you want to wipe a Gly dampened rag on your weeds and grasses, more power to you but I just don’t have time for that - especially when spraying around them works extremely well for me and has zero side effects.

I am moving on to another thread.
 
I use clethodim around my trees to kill the grass, then just pull any broadleaf weeds that come up and use them as mulch. Cleth poses no danger to trees.
 
Thanks for the continued responses. Since the trees are new and small, I may just cover them in large trash bags and then spray to be safe. As they get older, I will more than likely go with Wild Thing and spray.

VV
 
How about spruce trees? can you spray around spruce trees without killing the trees?
 
How about spruce trees? can you spray around spruce trees without killing the trees?

If they are short enough, you can spray Clethodim/Crop Oil right over the top of spruce to treat grasses. Don't try it with Glyphosate.

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I sprayed this planting with the tractor sprayer and Cleth a couple of times but they are too tall now...

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You can protect small spruce to spray around them with Gly with some duct pipe and a stick...

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