Protecting Apple Trees from herbicide

Wind Gypsy

5 year old buck +
I'm curious if there are any standard do's and don'ts or best practices for herbicide use adjacent to your fruit trees (apple in my case). Most of mine are either in my lawn or in a food plot that sees herbicide at least once a year.

I sprayed some weed and feed on the lawn a couple weeks ago and tried to stay away from the trees but it looked like they might have been a little injured from drift or movement in the soil a couple days after. They looked better last I saw but still thinking I should have been more careful.
 
Spray when there is no wind but that’s easier said than done. Also, if there is wind, use a 4 gal backpack sprayer and keep it wand a few inches from the ground when spraying Gly so there is less chance of drift.
 
I bungee a tarp around the cage on my small trees that border my fields when I spray and I try to spray when there is minimal wind. Has worked pretty well. I learned the hard way what wind drifted herbicied will do to a tree.
 
I planted a few on a field edge this year and I’m definitely worried that the renter will kill them by accident. If I want crabapple trees they have to go somewhere and it’s gonna have to be close to an ag field the way my place lays out.

He just has to spray that field with a north wind.


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For my smaller trees I put those white spiral wraps on them and leave them all season. Any spray drift will get on the wrap instead of the trunk of your tree. I've done this for years with good success. Once the tree gets too big for the spiral wrap use aluminum window screen around trunk and stone with weed fabric under it so you dont have to spray so close to your trees.
 
Roundup is absorbed into a plant through the leaves, not the bark. As long as there are no leaves growing near the ground--like from water sprouts--and you spray close to the ground with larger droplets, instead of fine mist the trees should be fine.
 
Yeah, the weed and feed is 2,4-d, dicamba, and I think quinclorac + nitrogen so I wonder how far I need to keep it from the root zone as well.
 
I wouldn't use dicamba or 2-4d anywhere near my fruit trees.

Yeah, chalk that up as another dumbass herbicide mistake on my resume!
 
and you spray close to the ground with larger droplets, instead of fine mist the trees should be fine.
^^^^^^ This is what I've done. No problems. I also point the spray nozzle AWAY from the tree trunk as I spray. I keep the nozzle about 3" from the ground for smaller weeds. Taller weeds - it's important to keep the nozzle pointed AWAY from the trees as you wet their leaves - EDIT ----the weeds' leaves!
 
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told ya...................
 
I planted a few on a field edge this year and I’m definitely worried that the renter will kill them by accident. If I want crabapple trees they have to go somewhere and it’s gonna have to be close to an ag field the way my place lays out.

He just has to spray that field with a north wind.


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Our renter hasn't killed any of my trees yet. And they aren't much more than 5' from where he sprays when he replants our field every 5 years. Can't say I haven't killed one due to drift.
 
I would avoid using the weed and feed products altogether. They typically are garbage at controlling weeds even when applied correctly. I understand why they get used a lot though. Oftentimes they are the same or cheaper compared to conventional fertilizers.

If you do use them, Just avoid them getting spread under the drip line of any potentially sensitive trees or plants.
 
2,4D I believe has ground action. They can not touch a leaf, but if it gets on the soil, it's still active. I think dicamba does too.
 
Our renter hasn't killed any of my trees yet. And they aren't much more than 5' from where he sprays when he replants our field every 5 years. Can't say I haven't killed one due to drift.

Mine are 12 giant paces from the field edge.


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Mine are 12 giant paces from the field edge.


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If they are any good at their job that should be fine. They are responsible for what they kill.
 
Roundup is absorbed into a plant through the leaves, not the bark. As long as there are no leaves growing near the ground--like from water sprouts--and you spray close to the ground with larger droplets, instead of fine mist the trees should be fine.

Correct. I regualarly spray Gly around the base of my trees and have been doing it for years with no ill effects. I don't try to spray the trunks of the trees but if I happen to get some on the trunk (which I usually do) I don't worry about it. Truthfully, while I don't recommend it, I have even sprayed suckers that grew up around the trunk with no ill effects. Normally, I trim them off with clippers but I have at times just sprayed 1 or 2 of them, again with no ill effects.

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^ ^ ^ Pic should be on the cover of "Better Homes & Orchards." That's a sweet looking patch!!

I've sprayed gly around the bases of apple trees - not ON them - with no problems.
 
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