chemical site preperation for planting?

[Dean O]

is it seen as best practice to spray a site to remove weeds from a clear fell site prior to planting a site with whips.

or do you go in during the winter plant up then spray around them as after care?

when? how often?

 

(essay to write)

 

many thanks

Dean

[AlexB]

Varies, what's the weed cover like, what you're planting and what your objectives are. Are there any watercourses near by?

 

What ground prep are you intending to use?

 

Any mammal protection?

 

 

 

 

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[Triassic]

With the site being an ex-chemical site have you read the historical review and site contaminated land assessment?

 

What do the site investigation documents say, is there any reference to suitable plant/tree species for the site? Do the documents help in the selection of suitable tree species?

 

Is the soil pH high or low? Are the whips you proposing suitable for the ground conditions. Will the whips help mobilise contaminants or take them up into their system? Is this desirable or not? Some site have been planted to encourage the take up of contaminants into the selected species, these are subsequently harvested and disposed of in a suitable fashion, thus helping reduce the contamination load of the site over time.

 

Will the weed control chemicals react with the site contaminants, will this result in a negative environmental impact to the ground, groundwater or local water course?

 

Has the site been capped using an engineered cap, will planting trees interfere with the cap, maybe low growing species could be considered?

[Dean O]

Sorry perhaps my post was a little misleading

 

I have an essay to write and the question is:

 

Describe an appropriate planting method and post planting aftercare requirements for each of the following in a given situation:

• 40-60 transplant – post clear fell weed covered site.

 

by 'chemical site preparation' I meant - do you guys tend to spray weeds before you plant in preparation, or a year down the line?

 

for the purpose of the essay I'm going to assume that the planting is carried out relatively soon after the clear fell so isn't 6 foot deep in bramble.

 

many thanks for the replies

[Max Plank]

Also consider the need for weevil control if it was previously under conifer...

[County 764]

Fell, Fence, Mound, Plant.

 

What happens next is very site specific, I've never sprayed a site prior to planting but have on many occasions had to cut back Broom, Willow herb & Elder normally around the second year after planting.

Pine weevil has been the biggest pest especially last year and you'll find that a lot of nurseries offer treated plants.

[AlexB]

Treated trees now require pa1 ticket holders to handle them. Bear that in mind have I read that correctly, you're only planting 60 trees? I'd mech weed, tube n stake. Ground prep would be hand screifing. Then spot spray with a guarded nozzle. If there is a weevil problem. Leave the site fallow for 5-7 years. See what veg you have, spray with glyphosate, check for effectiveness if req re spray. Then either mound or scarify, fence if there's a substantial mammal issue then plant.

 

 

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[Spruce Pirate]

In theory, chemical screefing will work. But there is little point if you're planting straight after a clearfell without a fallow period, there can be some merit in it on a new plant where weeds are already established or a clearfell after a fallow period.

 

I have seen two new plant sites where chemical screefing was used as ground prep, unfortunately the planters couldn't see which bits had been sprayed as: 1 (grass) planting was done when weeds were dormant anyway; and 2 (heather) spraying was not done far enough in advance to show a good kill before planting. The result in both cases was a series of good screefs with no trees and a load of suppressed trees surrounded by weeds. In the first case the spraying was done by one contractor (me) and the planting by another . In the second I don't know if it was the same contractor who did both jobs or not. Both cases were a total waste of time, money and chemical .

 

I would chase the harvester with the mounder and get it planted quick, smart. You'll beat the worst of the weeds and can always do a post plant spray if you need to, this can be targeted to the areas of the site that need it, minimising chemical use. Planting straight away can sometimes beat the weevil, letting the trees get their roots down before the weevil arrive. You need to monitor the site closely and make sure you get your weevil spraying done, but easier to spray for weevils on a weed free site than hunt for trees in a weed jungle.

 

For you, with 40-60's, post-clearfell, weed covered site. I would say mound, plant, monitor weeds and weevil and spray as necessary. If only a very small amount of weed growth you could consider hand-weeding . You'll probably want to allow for some beating up and mammal control, possibly fencing depending on where you are, what species you're planting and which species of herbivore you're dealing with.

[10 Bears]

Good advice generally above so Im not going to repeat - but advise you do some specific reading:

 

FC Doc 1

 

FC Doc 2

 

FC Doc 3 - see section on site prep

 

FC Doc 4

Edited May 13, 2014 by 10 Bears

[Dean O]

thanks for your help guys,

 

Spruce pirate you addressed the issues with spraying prior to planting that i had in mind.

the only other way round this i considered was having another operator following up and spraying around the shelters or scattering a residual which would help when the weeds got to growing.

 

I hadnt considered the weevil

 

 

thanks for the links 10 bears