Common Persimmon

[forestryworks]

Working on a plan for a prairie restoration project. Anyone scratchin' their head yet and adding in a WTF? :hmm3grin2orange:

Common Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) is invading the place like a swarm of flies on a pile of ####. It's one of those trees that will stump sprout almost as soon as you cut it. For you Midwesterners and Easterners, what kind of success have you had for dormant-stem treatment for this damn plant? Basal spray or cut-stump? Both?

I don't want to totally eliminate it from the site (impossible I'm sure), but I really need to set it back drastically. Stem densities are 400-800/ac. on roughly 6 acres of the 36+ acre site.

Can't doze; sandy soils that are highly susceptible to water erosion. Don't want that soil compaction anyway. And don't want a chemical that likes to scoot through the soil (the whole site slopes to the west into a drainage, which then goes into Brushy Creek and then the Trinity River and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico). I guess that leaves me with Glyphosate as my only option?

Can't burn either (not just yet), as there are some nice Post Oaks I'd like to keep on site. Eventually it will get a nice rx burn

 

[ChrisIsThis]

I know basal treatment will work quite well. My coworkers have used it on persimmon (not as dense as your situation) in glades and barrens. But I am concerned that your stem densities would result in too much Pathfinder II or Garlon 4 being applied per acre. I think the label says apply no more than 2.5-3.0 gal/acre per year of Pathfinder, and with the sandy soils I wouldn't want to push it. Cut surface would use much less chemical and if you can use a pair of loppers it would go fairly fast. Plus there is an instant gratification with seeing the trees on the ground right away--that always helps with client satisfaction. Are the seedlings too tall to treat with a foliar application? Or, are the other sensitive plants that you don't want to kill? Either way I am curious how well a fire will control the new seedlings. I always think of persimmon as an awfully tough tree able to cling on to life almost anywhere.

I hope it helps.

 

[purdyite]

Natural control

Years ago my Dad found a worm/beetle/varmint that would kill persimmons. He had a million of 'em and got some limbs with this bug in them, and he just carried infected limbs around to the persimmon stands and this bug wiped 'em out over time. It only bothered persimmon trees. Sorry, I don't know what the bug is called. A google search might bring it to light, or checking with local extension agents.

 

[madhatte]

We've had acceptable results with Garlon 4 vs Scots broom, but it's laborious and you have to be really careful with overspray. I'd guess that a three-pronged approach will be most effective: spray, cut, burn. If you can't do a proper rx burn, you may be able to get away with topkilling the plants using a propane burner. Kill the buds during winter and you will have them at a distinct disadvantage the following season. Two or three rounds ought to be enough to put a hurtin' on the whole population. It'll need maintenance later, too.

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[forestryworks]

Lots of good info and thinking points here, thanks fellas.

I'm thinking of flagging off say, a 1/4 acre, and doing three different treatments within that 1/4 acre and see what works best for the money come springtime.

I am fond of the cut-stump method, just because, like ChrisIsThis says, you get instant gratification. And that would be a huge selling point for the stern-faced landowner :hmm3grin2orange:

I could spend the rest of my life restoring this prairie and seeing and documenting the many changes it goes through over that time. Wouldn't mind that a bit. Ain't very many prairies left these days...

This isn't a very good quality pic, snapped it with the cell phone, but gives an idea. It's an old-field that has reverted to a midgrass prairie over the last decade or so in the absence of any land management, and it is dominated by Purpletop Tridens, Little Bluestem, and Indiangrass. It has a healthy forb component as well.

 

[dumbarky]

Goats will do the trick. It would take 3 to 4 years for complete kill. Fence the area cut the larger trees down and just add goats. Bigger goats the better.