we planted our apple/pear trees around the far outside edge of our clover plots. Unfrotunately, due to a lack of maintenance this past year(life got in way), our clover plots have become inundated with grass and need to be reseeded this spring. Plan is to nuke the plot with gly and reseed with oat/clover mix. My question is, how far away from the fruit trees should we stay when spraying Gly? Fruit trees were planted this past spring. Just don't want to set the trees back in any way.
Spraying herbicide around apple trees
- Thread starter MS2285
- Start date
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
As far as possible! It doesnt take much residue spray to do damage to them. I had in the past sprayed, and thought I was being somewhat cautious, to come back and see the leafs on my trees all curled up.
If you have a breeze blowing any drift away from your trees you should be fine. I occasionally spray around my trees and often I only spray on one side because I want the breeze to carry any drift away from my trees. If the wind is blowing towards your trees, there's no safe distance. It doesn't take much to really set back young fruit trees. Can you just skip the spraying step near the trees and disk up there instead? Or maybe just leave the weedy clover around the trees? I don't think having a few weeds in a 20' strip closest to the trees will make a huge difference in the long run anyway.
After reading a bit more....I am convinc d it isn't a great idea to go anywhere near the young trees with the Gly. Better to live with some weeds in those areas than have to replace trees or deal with a set back in growth. I know clethodim is a grass specific herbicide. Does it have any negative impact on young fruit trees?
trampledbyturtles
5 year old buck +
I understand the caution, but if you take a couple steps of pre-caution there should be nothing to worry about.
1 - Weeds mats make life easy, 3x4 is all you need to ensure you keep most weeds from encroaching to close.
2 - Add drift control additive to the tank, cheap an easy - reduces the amount of fine particles
3 - keep nozzle pointed away from the tree
4 - play the wind like mentioned above
If you r really concerned, bust out the paint brush, an wick the herbicide solution on the weeds.
Edit: This applies to roundup an non volatizing herbicides only. I do not recommend the use of any banvel or 2,4D near any fruit tree/shrub cause they are known to get up an move.
Edit again: thought u were talking about right at the tree base, concerning the plot, just play the wind right an you should be able to get to within 5 feet
1 - Weeds mats make life easy, 3x4 is all you need to ensure you keep most weeds from encroaching to close.
2 - Add drift control additive to the tank, cheap an easy - reduces the amount of fine particles
3 - keep nozzle pointed away from the tree
4 - play the wind like mentioned above
If you r really concerned, bust out the paint brush, an wick the herbicide solution on the weeds.
Edit: This applies to roundup an non volatizing herbicides only. I do not recommend the use of any banvel or 2,4D near any fruit tree/shrub cause they are known to get up an move.
Edit again: thought u were talking about right at the tree base, concerning the plot, just play the wind right an you should be able to get to within 5 feet
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I have mature apple trees and I don't spray gly any where near them period. I will take out the small shrubs by cutting them and then mow under the trees to the drip line with my brush hog. I posed this spraying question to an older owner of an apple orchard and that was his advice to me. I followed it.
aerospacefarmer
5 year old buck +
I spray gly anywhere anytime you just need to be careful. I have never had an issue and have been spraying 9 years yes I even spray around new grafts. Caution is the key and no better way to keep trees healthy and bug and rodent safe around their base
I spray gly around my young trees twice per year, once in late spring just prior to fertilizing and again in early fall. I make a pass through inspecting the trees first and carefully trim off any suckers or lower branches. Then make a second pass, spraying a circle around each tree with a hand sprayer being careful not to directly contact any part of the tree with the spray. I have learned from experience not spray if there is any wind whatsoever as I lost a couple of trees due to mist drift initially when attempting to spray on a breezy day.
