Poisoning Trees with Roundup - Phytophthora

[waterbird]

Hi there,

Has anyone had experience killing Larch standing to deal with Phytophthora - or know of any research on doing this?

 

What affect does it have on timber?

How long will the timber last standing before rot sets in?

Does it work First time?

Will trees flush again in Spring?

What is best product to use? Roundup BioActiv (Agricultural), or Tree&stump killer, or something else?

 

My understanding is 3 cut marks, or drill holes 1.2m above ground & 2ml of Roundup in holes. Do this in October and the poison will be drawn down into root system with the retreating sap.

 

Not a nice topic - but I've got a seriously crowded wood & think this might be a good way to achieve the PHN by spring.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[AlexB]

Sadly I think your best route will be felling. Grants are available for this. Where in the uk are you?

[ben_inthewoods]

My understanding is that stem injection techniques for controlling Pr is problematic. FC/FR are assessing or have assessed. You could email Hugh Clayden at FC Scotland who might be able to give up to date view.

 

cheers

Ben

[waterbird]

Sadly I think your best route will be felling. Grants are available for this. Where in the uk are you?

 

Hi there On Foot - can you let me know why you think this? I am in Devon. Poison would be my preferred route given the density of planting & the other work we have on this winter.

 

What grants are you thinking of?

 

I will post what I am told by Hugh Clayden of FC scotland if it is helpful.

 

Thanks all.

[AlexB]

I'm assuming as you're wanting to leave standing then this is an immature crop. This will just get in your way during future operations. If it's a mature crop and you are to get any value from the timber then leaving it stood dead for any period of time will pretty much render the timber worthless.

 

You're eligible to apply for either £300pha if clearing with a clearing saw (This might just cover the cost if the going under foot is good.

 

£1500 pha for mulching style operations.

 

If you have a mature crop then you are able to receive support and funding for harvesting and marketing of the timber.

 

Read through this pdf

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/SupportFundingtoOwnersSeptember11.pdf/$FILE/SupportFundingtoOwnersSeptember11.pdf

 

Also if you fail to kill 100% of the crop through slash and squirt you may be in violation of the PHN. If it's cut there are no arguments. Cover your ass on this, it's a massive deal. If you're infected you have to be 100% sure all risk is removed. If you're part of a quarantine area it's probably more important that a clear barrier for the spread of spores has been created. If you fail to kill all trees and they then become infected then the quarantine zone will affect other areas which may belong to other people.

 

Sorry to be a bit of a ball buster but some how P, ramorum has been swept under the carpet when compared to things like chalara.

[waterbird]

Thanks for that On Foot.

 

 

I'm still interested in exploring the avenue of 'slash and squirt' - or more appropriately 'Drill & Fill'... *(and catch the spill)...

 

Interesting enough, in recent discussions, I heard that a traditional method of harvesting fir was to lop the top... thereby sending the tree into shock and flooding itself with sap. This would act as a natural preservative...

not sure how it would serve for the wee mill I use - but it might mean that the timber could stand for a decent while without needing to be stacked in a pile. Larch value at roadside for mid-aged trees (35 - not quite big enough to be viable - but big enough to require handling).

 

The woods in questions is far from easy going underfoot which is why this approach will be more practicable than felling - allowing time for a neat & light-footed extraction process over time.

 

My interest is whether anyone has experience of what the actual effects of using BioActiv roundup will be on the timber, and any other possible concerns... especially regarding durability of timber left standing, as opposed to lying in a field.

 

Obviously all of these options are extreme - and as you say - the real issue of Phytophthora has been vastly overlooked by the media.

 

It's a serious issue & prompt action is necessary.

[ramsey7]

Roundup would kill the trees depending on the size, for best control apply in Sept/Oct so the glyphosate is transported down to the roots.

[Squaredy]

I have today found out that NRW (Welsh FC) have been poisoning hundreds of Larch trees near me.  Apparently they were going to miss their own deadline to fell, imposed in the Plant Health Order and so decided to poison the trees as the only other way of complying.  So now there are many dead standing Larch, which if left long enough no forester is going to want to fell, and will end up with much reduced timber value.  

 

I am probably being a bit naive - is this a common practise?