I've been on a few different properties recently that are all managed fairly intensively utilizing both fire and herbicide.

One place, they spray for sweet gums and achieve a very good kill but after 2 or 3 years it looks like they were never sprayed and the stand needs another herbicide application even though the stands are also burned regularly utilizing both dormant and growing season burns.

However, a similar property 30 minutes away does not seem to have this issue. They spray/burn and get very little if any sweet gum encroachment afterwards. Is there any reasoning behind one property experiencing an onslaught of sweet gum regeneration? Is there a different chemical that can be utilized?

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You’d have to know what herbicide treatment each is using. Also the fire return interval and timing.

Not only that, but also the sites may be different. If mature gums are present nearby their seed is being carried by wind and birds each year. It’ll sprout anywhere, especially if they’re burning exposing the soil. I have used both Triclopyr and Imazapyr to remove unwanted hardwood saplings, and both yield similar results.

Matt any recommendations on how best to use garlon xrt?

It’s a high percentage formulation of Triclopyr 4 and works great. Just mix according to the label and get complete foliar coverage. I use it and glyphosate on my ROWs and trails to completely stop all growth of woody vegetation without killing the entire tree. It works great for chemical pruning. In understory treatments, I spot spray individual trees or apply as a broadcast treatment with a boomless nozzle on my tractor or contract it out by skidder, depending on how bad the understory is.

My suspicion would be the type of herbicide used and how it was applied. Imazapyr applied at 1.5% and targeted with a hand crew yields the best results and is virtually permanent. It can't be applied near large hardwoods however. In the case of pine stands with plenty of large hardwoods, a 7.5% mix of garlon 4 (10% works better) yields similar results and can be sprayed under hardwoods when the temps don't exceed 90 degrees. I see these start to get gums returning in a few years but it is friendlier on many wildlife plants like forbs and various shrubs. Hand crew application is far far superior since only the saplings can be sprayed. In areas where there is a carpet of gum - lots of spray, areas where they are scattered, very little spray. I like it way more than broadcast both in collateral damage and cost. This is from doing a couple to a few thousand acres a year for about 20 years!

Makes sense on mature trees nearby spreading seed. That may be what's happening.

👍

I tried last summer to kill all mature gums on my property. Most didn’t seed and 50% are dead some are a 1/4 alive and when I get time I’ll kill hopefully. I spent countless hours spraying young trees with glyphosate last summer. Most died I probably got a 75% kill rate. I’ll spray the remaining again and plan to stay on top of them now.

Gly is not really what I’d use on young sweetgum for foliar applications. Bet you’d have nearly 100% kill with Triclopyr.

Yes but I’m spraying around hardwood also so I don’t want to take a chance of harming them.

Triclopyr is foliar active just like glyphosate, but much more effective on sweetgum. It won’t hurt any hardwoods nearby as long as you don’t have significant drift.

So it needs to get on the leaves of the gums, not a hack and squirt application even on the taller trees?

You can do hack and squirt or basal bark with Garlon 3A or Garlon 4. Just make sure it’s the Triclopyr ester formulation. It’s also good for foliar applications but with most foliar applications I use Garlon xrt.

Think mine is xrt I’ll have to look again got 2.5 gallons I think, want to make use of it.

Outside of fairly young sweetgum, any stems with 3 years growth will generally resprout in a couple of years from triclopyr applications. It will burn it to the ground though, and is an option when you have species nearby you want to keep. Sweetgum is the reason that 90% of the utility ROW applications in the southeast have imazapyr in the mix. Some are on a 5 year cycle and cannot afford resprouts.