Spraying round up around spruce trees/plugs

[BuckSutherland]

Thinking of taking a piece of PVC with a handle to cover spruce trees and then spray the weeds around them Round up. Anyone have any experience? I read fall spraying works good. Thinking of doing this next weekend, and maybe again later this summer if the weeds come back. Round up will most likely kill everything but horsetail up by me yet. Tried cleth before, but it didnt kill the major problem stuff.

 

[scott44]

I've used a coffee can with a old broom handle screwed to it and it work well. I think your PVC will work.

 

[NT179]

I just cut the bottom off a 2 litre pop bottle and put it on the end of my hand sprayer. Used it on my non rr sugar beets last year.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I guess I am not too concerned about what to put around the tree or sprayer, but more about the crop safety. Sounds like you guys did ok spraying roundup by your trees. I will be careful not to get any on the trees.

 

[Rit]

I have used a 5 gallon bucket, a stove pipe and a 2 litre. I like the stove pipe better the best of the bunch.

 

[Buckly]

Roundup shouldn’t hurt spruce as long as they’re not opening bud. I just wouldn’t douse the trees. In the fall Oust XP can be sprayed right over the trees and does a very good job on weeds. In the future you could also use Simazine and Prowl right over the trees before they open bud in the spring and follow up with the Oust XP in the fall. This method provides an extremely clean area around the trees.

 

[sandbur]

A few weeds on the south side of young spruce trees increases survival for me.
Maybe protection from winter burn.


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[NE PA QDM]

I used a thin wiffle ball bar screwed onto a 5gal bucket. It works well. The above ideas are all similar.
But I agree with Bur, I have found that leaving weeds around them is just fine so I don’t spray around my spruces anymore.
There is one reason (IMO) to spray around them: killing grass helps me find them better to release surrounding shade trees and to keep from running them over with a mower, ATV etc.

 

[cavey]

Large dia. Stove pipe with a homemade handle - works great, no bending over.

 

[NEBUCKS]

On a side note. I wore leather gloves for handling the sprayer and mixing etc. A few weeks later I planted 20 raspberry bushes wearing the same gloves. Killed them all DEAD!

 

[BuckSutherland]

A few weeds on the south side of young spruce trees increases survival for me.
Maybe protection from winter burn.


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No you got me second guessing doing all of them. I think I am gonna do some of them, but not get real crazy trying to kill everything. Some I will just leave alone and let the good Lord decide. I emailed with a tree guy from the U of M extension. He suggested that I use something 2 sided like a piece of poly screwed together or something similar so that I could pull it away from the tree instead of over like a stove pipe. He said he has seen people injury their trees with chemical dripping off the stove pipe when you remove it. Im gonna play around with it next time up and see what I can do. Like I said I am not gonna get crazy and burn a 5 foot circle all the way around every tree. Just want to get a couple extra weeks of sun for a some of them. I also have a bigger weed whipper I bought to go around the ones that are more out in the open and easy to find.

 

[NT179]

That's why I use the bottle on the wand ,do not have to worry about dripping on the tree when lifting pipe off.

 

[BuckSutherland]

That's why I use the bottle on the wand ,do not have to worry about dripping on the tree when lifting pipe off.

I better demo this at home and see how I like it. Should have time to get it together by Wed. I will post some pictures and write a review. Think this method will work good for short weeds.


Do you put the tip of the wand a few inches from the bottom of the bottle or flush? I can always experiment too.

 

[KDdid]

Plastic traffic cone. The flat base prevents any drip-off landing on the small trees. Works until the third year, when they outgrow the cone, and by then they’re getting above the competition.


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[ethompson]

could you guys take pics of what you use and how to use? Never heard these techniques before.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I lost hundreds of spruce and pine trees to round-up drift, so it's not worth the risk to me. Granted, that had nothing to do with hand spraying around trees like you are suggesting, but I wouldn't bother with it since the trees will do fine on their own.

Years ago I mowed around some of my spruce and pines in one section to keep the weed competition down and those trees did worse than the trees I planted and walked away from. I think that the weeds help shade the soil during the dry spells in late summer at least in the sandy soils on my land.

I've had excellent survival and growth on pines and spruce by simply planting and walking away.

 

[OakSeeds]

On a side note. I wore leather gloves for handling the sprayer and mixing etc. A few weeks later I planted 20 raspberry bushes wearing the same gloves. Killed them all DEAD!

I would STRONGLY urge you to wear rubber gloves any time you handle chemicals that might be harmful to your health .... even if your gloves didn't get soaked, if some of the chemical is embedded in the leather and you wear those gloves to complete a tough project (where you get sweaty hands with open pores) you may provide an easy pathway for harmful chemicals to enter your body.

 

[sandbur]

A few weeds on the south side of young spruce trees increases survival for me.
Maybe protection from winter burn.


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No you got me second guessing doing all of them. I think I am gonna do some of them, but not get real crazy trying to kill everything. Some I will just leave alone and let the good Lord decide. I emailed with a tree guy from the U of M extension. He suggested that I use something 2 sided like a piece of poly screwed together or something similar so that I could pull it away from the tree instead of over like a stove pipe. He said he has seen people injury their trees with chemical dripping off the stove pipe when you remove it. Im gonna play around with it next time up and see what I can do. Like I said I am not gonna get crazy and burn a 5 foot circle all the way around every tree. Just want to get a couple extra weeks of sun for a some of them. I also have a bigger weed whipper I bought to go around the ones that are more out in the open and easy to find.

I have burned and killed spruce from roundup drifting off of the bucket or whatever you use to cover the tree.

In most cases I do not spray around my spruce any more. If completely grass and weed free, I lose more trees to summer drought and winter burn.

An exception might be if you are trying to plant them in reed canary grass.

Best method is to spray the year before for regular( non- reed canary) competition and then plant next spring. I would then leave most weeds grow for shade in winter and summer especially in the south side.
However, you have heavier and more moist soil than me.

In reed canary areas, either don’t plant there or prepare for a long term battle.

If I am going to plant a spruce with a dirt/ toot ball and just leave it... I look for non reed canary areas and often plant on the north side of a native shrub or willow. Then just leave it alone for 3-5 years. After that, cut the willow back about twice about three years apart. Great habitat is willows, spruce, and grasses.


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[Rit]

Good old Xcell fabric eliminates spraying and helps conserve moisture.