OT How to kill a mulberry tree

How to kill a mulberry tree, we have hundreds to clean out. We have been cutting them down for the last 2 weeks and I see that there sending up new sprouts.

I dont think you can  have been cutting down a couple for years and they just wont die, Try pouring salt on the stump thats right regular table salt and dont be stingy as it is really cheap

I was told by a tree company, drill multiple 1/4" holes as deep as possible, in the stump. As stated already, apply table salt. Stump will rot away within a year!

Forgot to say I did line clearance for fifteen years. Garlon is for broadleafs whereas Tordon will kill grass and everything else. I sprayed it for the entire time I did line clearance with no ill affects on me.

Dennis,

depending on the size of the trunk, saw it off flush with the ground and them mow over it every time you mow your lawn, eventually it will die.

I have had good luck with Tordon, and gly's, however, I've found that REALLY BIG mulberries will recover from a Tordon hit, simply because the roots reach out so far, that the tordon does not reach out far enough.

I had one mulberry that had a stump about 50" across. It had been sprouting for years...  I stripped and tordon'd it around the trunk in the early fall... and it totally laughed at me... so about five weeks later, I had the tree company cut it down and take the big pieces away...  stack the leafy branches and small wood in one part of the yard about 30' from the stump.  It took them a few days to do it... by the time they'd gotten the trunk down to ground level, the leaves had turned from green to purple.

 

Then I incinerated the stump

 

I cut both ends out of a 55-gallon barrel, set it on top of the stump... on top of four bricks, so there was an air-gap between stump and barrel.  Threw some dry twigs, sticks and lumber scraps in, and got a fire started... once going, I stuffed the leafy branches in it.  The purple in the branches indicated that the leaves were amidst the anaerobic phase of Kreb's Cycle (noncyclic photophosphorilization)... hence, they were fermenting- creating alcohol.  They spit and hissed, and burned like mad... making the barrel draw LOTS of air at the stump level.  Once it was hot, I started throwing in the cut up branches... 2' pieces... they emitted a wonderful blue flame out the ends... when that barrel gets hot, it becomes translucent- you can see the flames right through the steel... as the water inside the wood flashes to steam, it blasts out an alcohol flame that's intense....

 

the result is intense heat, and incredible air draft at the stump.

 

What happens next, is that the stump becomes a giant wick... the roots keep passing moisture up to the stump, and since there's no leaves, nothing comes back to nourish the roots... and the roots die.  You know you're making progress when the sprouts around your property start to wilt... just keep burning... they'll dry up and die.  It's hard work, but if you've got a big tree, it's worth the effort.

I use 1:1 Roundup on grapevines that I cut in the woods. Seems to work.

we have  a right of way cleaning outfit that uses tordon and used oil put it on as soon as you cut the tree

I looked up the chemistry for Remedy, Crossbow, and Tordon.

Crossbow is 16.9% triclopyr and 34.4% 2-4D ester.
Remedy is 61.6% triclopyr and some kerosene. MSDS doesn't say how much kerosene.
Tordon is 10.2% picloram and 39.6% 2-4D.

So you can make Crossbow from Remedy and 2-4D.

The Remedy label says for stumps to apply 1 part Remedy to 3 parts oil to the cut stump. Otherwise for brush it suggests a low rate for mulberry, but for late season, like now a higher rate.

My tenant attacked Sumac this year and it came back the first three attacks. He applied a quart of Crossbow one time to a quarter acre where it should have been 4 ounces to the acre. Killed the top, but it sprouted again from the roots. A second pass did the same thing twice. I finally talked him into cutting back to the label strength and now the patch's sprouts are dead. Hitting it with way too much herbicide killed the top before the herbicide could translocate to the roots. Hitting it with the rated rate did get translocated to the roots it now looks like.

Crossbow is about $80 a gallon, Tordon about $32 a quart, and I found something like Remedy for $22 a quart and my tenant has plenty 2-4D to mix with the triclopyr to make a cross bow equivalent.

Mulberry is NOT on the Crossbow or the Tordon label as a controlled species. Its on the Remedy label.

Gerald J.

Good topic as we can all pick up on some possible solutions with our own growth issues.

I'll cast another vote for Remedy, mixed with diesel.  Must be a Texas thing - I've used it at label strength on mesquites, cat claw,  and salt cedar.  Used it on prickly pear, even though our county agent said it won't work.  Told him not to say that too loud because I didn't want the pear to hear him and come back to life.

If someone actually finds a way to kill those things they'll be millionaire, and I'll want to see that solution in the knowledge base!! LOL

You guys are overthinking this, what with chemicals and all. Just buy yourself a HD-41 dozer, and push 'em all out! Problem solved! Lol 

CrestonM wrote: You guys are overthinking this, what with chemicals and all. Just buy yourself a HD-41 dozer, and push 'em all out! Problem solved! Lol