Going Glyphosate/Chemical free

[Harvey2018]

Hi All tree people everywhere,

 

Really struggling with a tender question at the moment.

 

This particular council is asking how we intend to be Glyphosate/chemical free by 2021?  That includes eco plugs obviously! 

They are asking for options and how we intend to phase the use out over the next two years and what we will be replacing it with.  Obviously there will be times when stump grinding will be an option but there will be many times when this wont be an option and I am really racking my brains but cant come up with anything that will replace the use of eco plugs/glyphosate.

 

Your wisdom on this matter will as always be very much appreciated and welcome

[Khriss]

Cos there aint- Glyphosate has allowed us to control unwanted vegetation fr 30+ yrs , No-Chemical means Full-Mechanical, in other words lots of lovely deisel n petrol machine fumes n noise. They are idiots. K

[openspaceman]

5 minutes ago, Khriss said:

Glyphosate has allowed us to control unwanted vegetation fr 30+ yrs

Funny you should say that, thirty years ago was 1989

[Khriss]

Indeed. Its as far back as i can remmbr using it. However that graph doesnt interpret agricultural changes. And niconitoid pesticides are a huge threat compared to glyphosate simply killing the flowers. As active ingredients seem to affect bee colony strengths. K

[Khriss]

( i would also say the Long Term is an underestimate as many species wont even be noted in the survey) 

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, Khriss said:

Indeed. Its as far back as i can remmbr using it. However that graph doesnt interpret agricultural changes. And niconitoid pesticides are a huge threat compared to glyphosate simply killing the flowers. As active ingredients seem to affect bee colony strengths. K

I can remember it from further back but it was too damn expensive all the time Monsanto had the monopoly, it has been available since 1976 according to Google.

 

Yes  just because the downward trend in insects occurred from about the time it became ubiquitous as a herbicide doesn't establish a causal relationship but it sure as eggs is eggs that it is something we are doing or have done.

 

My main gripe is that it is used too widely, like a scattergun rather than targeted. I deplore its use as a desiccant.

[mattplace]

What about table salt? Killed off many a stump with it

[Khriss]

Thats mono culture agriculture ( our fault) poorly applied Glyphosate is a waste of money. Plus the spray drift is usual failure by poorly trained operators. Basically its abt responsible useage at the right time. Using it to knock flat oilseed rape is just putting it into the foodchain. K

[doobin]

Easy. Tell them if they want the tree dead they will have to pay whatever it costs to dig/grind/crane/whatever it out.

 

Or they can pay a tenner for some eco plugs. Bloody councils- they're all the same. No sense of reality. I've never met a parish council that can draft a proper spec yet either. So much for a level playing field. Quoted a local job, and the fat git showing me it said 'dig out from about here, to about in line with that tree. See where my colleague is? Take the other line to him. Put some planings down'.

 

The difference in price could have been in the tens of thousands. I sent the prick a coloured map from Google Earth and suggested that we standardise on that between contractors, but heard nothing. Fuck em.

[GDavisonGroundCare]

I've been asked a lot this year if I'm spraying with Roundup as people heard the headlines and thought I was spreading cancer about.

Just been to Saltex and everyone was trying to flog the latest incarnation of Glyphosate.

It seems public opinion and trade demand aren't on the same page at the moment.

I try to minimise it's use as best I can but there isn't a viable alternative available for every job yet. I can imagine the one use plastic police and the anti glyphosate league uniting against eco plugs tho. Will have to use them under the cover of darkness