Russian olive I NEED THEM DEAD

[robertfischer88]

:bang: Any one have a sure fire way of eradicating about 10 acres of Russian olive without digging up the roots??????

 

[Ed Roland]

Try cutting the woody material to half, leaving foliage to absorb the chemical, and spraying roundup at the brush rate. Two applications gets fair control. Late summer is a preferred time for treating hard to kill species because the herbicide is translocated into the root system.

@ the lab we sprayed a product called Battleship with good results as well as Vine-X applied directly to the cut surface of the woody material.
good luck

 

[ATH]

Order of ease:
Foliar spray (unless they are huge plants - then basal bark is easier, but less effective)
Basal bark treatment
Cut and treat

Order of effectiveness is going to be real close to the reverse of that (cut&treat>basal bark>foliar spray). The exception would be if the trees are larger, and the bark is becoming rough - If that is the case don't waste time/$ with basal bark treatments.

Here are some good factsheets (pdf format) that might be helpful:
Herbicides Commonly Used for Controlling Undesirable Trees, Shrubs, and Vines in Your Woodland
Relative Effectiveness of Herbicides Commonly Used to Control Woody Vegetation in Forest Stands