Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire How to kill off Chinese Cork Tree?

They’re an invasive here, and really starting to take hold. Some are 5”-6” at the base.

Cutting them down is no problem, but they apparently also propagate via their roots.

I’ve been told to cut the trees down August, then liberally apply Glyphosate to the stump. However, am looking for second and third opinions.

I realize this is likely to be a multi-year process, but want to get on it now.

Scott

P.S. They’re the greenest plant around here right now, but nothing wants to eat them - sheep, goats and deer all say “nope!”

Cut stump treatment with Vastlan.

https://www.farmstore.com/product/vastlan-herbicide-quart/

A couple years ago I cut down some hybrid poplars and ground out the stumps. For the next 2 years, I kept getting shoots coming up all over from the roots. I got some brush killer with Triclopyr from Home Depot. I mixed it 50-50 with water and painted it on all the leaves as they appeared. They wilt down within 2 days. The trick is to starve out the roots by preventing any leaves from growing. For the 1st year they'll come back fast an furious as the roots try to survive.

Cut it down during the growing season, dribble some Bioadvanced Brush killer on the stump.

Don't do this. Kill the roots while you have a means of getting the herbicide into them via the cut stump. There is a bunch of stored energy in the roots and it can be hard to kill if the only means to get chemical into them is by killing suckers.

Yes, good advice, copper sulfate, Driano crystals in the tree.

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Introduce it to capitalism combined with a Federal Republic. It'll die in short order.

Vastlan looks to be a Tricrlopyr variant?

Also, my biologist sister let me know it’s more likely Chinese Sumac aka Tree of Heaven. She’s a full blown lib, so we don’t talk much, but as I had other business, I thought I’d bring it up.

My plan is to Glyphosate all the bush sized plants, And Vastlan/Triclopyr the tree sized plants as I cut them down. Looks like I have a project for next week, as I’m even a bit late to the party.

Scott

If it is Alanthus/Tree of Heaven, don't bother with the Roundup.

I would buy a gallon of Remedy and basal bark treat each trunk with a 50/50 mix with diesel.

If they are not under any desirable trees or within their root zones, I would add in a half oz of Milestone per gallon of mix.

Good luck!

AS higginez says, good luck.

Once yours are gone, be on the lookout for new ones as if you have them a relatively close neighbor has them, and maybe a really big one. They're such prolific seeders you'll probably get more starting soon enough.

So go after the little bush sized plants with the remedy/diesel as well? Unfortunately there are Blue and Live oaks I’d like to keep interspersed with the Alanthus so best to not use the milestone I’d think.



As far as I have seen, these are the only plants in the immediate area, drive a quarter mile though, and they are certainly out there. And yep, I keep hearing/reading that I need to keep after these for the long term. Or at least until this property goes to someone else.

Scott

Scott, I'd say those trees within a quarter mile are likely quite capable of getting seed to your area, especially if there is any water coming onto your property to carry seed from upstream.

Not sure if you leave the leaf litter there on the ground from the oaks, but one study I just glanced at said after 5 seasons seed viability dropped to 1.9% or so in oak leaf litter while incubation in mineral soil was around 75% or such.


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378112718308235

I just looked that up because I was curious, having lived in place with way too many of the dang trees.

Unfortunately, in our infinite human wisdom, those trees are now an invasive weed like so many we have around the world. I deal with cheat and medusa grasses here, and there's no keeping them out of my yard as their very well established on the surrounding square miles of BLM land.

If I wanted it dead, I would make a big cut into the tree on an angle with an axe.
Roll the flap out and fill with concentrated glyphosate. Do that around the trunk but do not do it continuously. Not certain of your water/growing situation, but any herbicide treatment needs done when plants are actively growing.



The old fashioned way to kill trees was to ring them. Cutting through they live wood under the bark. Not sure why that works when cutting them down will have them putting off shoots. But it does. A few folks do it for trees they want to use for firewood. Ring them in the winter, cut them that or the next fall. They die and dry
standing. Not ready to burn, but we'll on the way.

Are these cork trees or Alanthus? I've waged war on the latter for a couple of decades.

I always used to relish spraying them with Roundup. They respond almost immediately. Just like you can almost see them growing, you can also see them die. Roundup is not a permanent fix. You need to keep after them until the root is fully spent. It can take years. Just spray any green you see and eventually, you starve out the root. In my case, I discovered the mother tree on the neighbor's property. It's a big one, and it answers why I keep getting shoot no matter how hard I try.

In an ironic turnaround, two things happened last year that changed my relationship with Alanthus. First, because of the chemo, I didn't get out and do my usual bit of poisoning. Secondly, I got the Brown Bess musket. It has an 11 GA (.75 cal) bore, and this thing eats lead and powder in a big way. I looked into making my own. Guess what is one of the best materials for making charcoal for black powder?

I harvest the trunk when it is between 1 and 2 inches, debark it and let it dry for a week or so and then cut it into 7-inch chunks. This is just big enough to go into a 1-gallon paint can that I use for a retort.

I've just gotten started on this project. My plan is to make my BP through the simple ricing method. It'll produce period-correct powder that is about 3/4 as powerful as modern commercial black. I could take it further, but the next step involves a hydraulic press and a lot of extra work.

I agree. I ground out the stumps too soon but I had the use of a grinder. Besides blocking herbicides from getting to the roots, the stump was also too green. It shredded instead of grinding out. That doubled the work.

Allianthus.

Cut the tree. Drill stump and fill with copper sulfate.

Repeat.

It takes a bit, but you can kill em.



Soon you'll have spotted lantern flies as well. They love em.

... I use/d copper sulfate (above) but the recommended, as mentioned by others above several times:
https://www.aces.edu/blog/topics/fo...e-treatments-for-invasive-plant-control/

Salt, swimming pool salt, coarse salt of some sort. It will sterilize the ground for about 3 years.

from the link:

Easy fix - just throw an old piece of anything waterproof over the stump while it's raining. Even Glad Wrap will work.

USDA pays me to kill Ailanthus on my property in WV... they recommend the hack method.

https://www.wildlifehc.org/tree-of-heaven-control-techniques/

Google "Ailanthus hack method"

I use the hack method sometimes...

But usually just cut and spray... and respray suckers later.

Annual attention with seasonal focus with STRONG MIXED herbicides.

Biologists all have theories... but few have actual experience.