Eliminating ash sprouts

[dgburner]

I've got a few acres of recovering pasture that I have been selective cutting to to convert to hardwood. I have selected Ash and Hickory at a spacing of roughly 6-8 feet and they are now around 15 feet tall. My problem is that I still have ash sprouting up at 1-2 sprouts /sqft. I have been cutting back every spring expecting them to be shaded out but no luck, they keep coming back. I'd like to hit em with some herbicide but I'm afraid that the roots might be linked to the trees I want to preserve and kill them too. Any possibility of that or am I safe to spray?

 

[Slamm]

Can you mow it?

Sam

 

[dgburner]

I could mow but there is considerable root development so if I mowed they'd sprout up quickly and I'd have to keep them mowed indefinitely. I also don't like the idea that whenever they regrow they are competing for moisture with my keepers.

 

[Slamm]

I could mow but there is considerable root development so if I mowed they'd sprout up quickly and I'd have to keep them mowed indefinitely. I also don't like the idea that whenever they regrow they are competing for moisture with my keepers.

Well something is always going to be growing and competing for moisture, if it isn't those ash sprouts, then it will be mulberry or elm or box elder or something. There isn't a one shot solution for the life of those older ash trees.

Sam

 

[forestryworks]

You almost always have to use herbicides to control stump sprouts, unfortunately.

Do your research so that you are using the right herbicide for Ash (Fraxinus spp.) and also consider the soil you are on. If it's a sandy soil, or if there's a high water table, you will be very restricted to which herbicide you can use.

And there's always the chance that the roots are interconnected, so treating a cut-stump could affect your standing trees. You can always try a handful and see.

Then there's prescribed burning (seems to be way underused in the East), rotational goat grazing, mechanical treatments (mowing, clearing saws, etc.). However, those treatments only set the sprouts back, but after a period of regular use (2-4 growing seasons) of those maintenance activities, you will eventually deplete the energy storage of the root systems.

It's faster to treat the stumps chemically.

And last but not least, the label is the law! (That's been drilled into my head too many times.)

 

[ChrisIsThis]

I'd like to hit em with some herbicide but I'm afraid that the roots might be linked to the trees I want to preserve and kill them too. Any possibility of that or am I safe to spray?

I think you're safe to do a foliar application of herbicide. (In the growing season of course) I would avoid herbicides with imazapyr or picloram in them. But glyphosate should work just fine. Cutting the sprouts back so they're short makes them nice and easy to spray too!