Chip or burn poisoned trees????

[Ax-man]

This thread is kind of a sister thread to the tree disease in mulch thread Kaptain K ressurected.

Question ???? Is there a residual effect of the chemicals contained inside of a tree that has been purposely poisoned to kill it, if parts of this tree were to be turned into wood chips and allowed to decompose on the ground around other woody , non woody species. Also on the same line of thinking if you were to poison undesirables in a wood lot to " improve the stand " do the poisoned trees should they fall and decompose what becomes of the chemicals. Are they reintroduced into the enviroment to harm the desirable trees.

I called Dow chemical about this, the person I talked to could not give me an answer all they said was to burn the material. This is not option in all cases when you have to deal with a situation of getting rid of poisoned trees or sprayed brush in some cases.

Larry

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

It would depend on the product that killed the plant. If it were glyphosate then eather method would be fine. If it were an old mercury product...

 

[Nickrosis]

Glyphosate breaks down incredibly rapidly in the soil and under exposure to UV rays, in as quick a time frame as hours. I'm less familiar with 2,4-D and other herbicides, but a point and counterpoint to consider...

The mode of action of these herbicides is via foliar or cut stump absorption. Their effectiveness is zapped when washed off or the initial contact is poor. If you could kill trees by drenching the soil with a broadleaf weed control, we'd see lawn trees dying all over the place in the name of barefoot lawns.

My counterpoint to this is the longevity of some of these compounds as they are discovered in groundwater long after they are discontinued. But. They are a threat to the consumers of the groundwater and not the vegetation 20, 40, 100, or 300 feet up.

Where am I going with this... Don't worry about it! The actual concentrations of the active ingredients are incredibly low and dilute that the landscape wide impact is low, especially considering how quickly they breakdown into their chemical byproducts, particularly in a vegetated environment with hyperactive microscopic biotic life, notably bacteria, looking to turn every complex molecule into smaller particles.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Then there is the fact that no one really knows what happens with many of the so called inerts in the products. They do not have to study them because they are not the "active " ingredients.

 

[Ax-man]

What about chemicals that are a little more potent than Glypospate, like those found in Garlon???

Nick, confirmed my own suspicions, that the amount of herbicide it takes to kill a tree is miniscule, when compared to the enviroment as a whole. That when tree parts are chipped or allowed to decomopose. the residual effect would be almost nill because the chemicals have started to break down after application. I would however still have reservationsitions about selling or using contaminated wood chips if I knew their use was to be used around bedding plants or vegatables. Around other trees I think would be okay or as a soil amendment if allowed to decompose for a good length of time. Right or wrong???

Larry