Invasive Brush Plants – Part 5 – Yaupon Holly Continued

Basal Trunk Paint – This method is used when the invaded area and the trunks are too large to lopper or use the clearing saw.  We apply the Remedy-oil mixture from the ground up the all the way around the yaupon truck to about a foot to 18 inches up the trunk.  The mixture needs to be applied around the entire trunk to make sure all of the roots die.  We have two different application methods.  When we first started this method several years ago, we used a large paint brush.  As you can image, crawling around on the ground or squatting while painting is hard on the legs and knees so, we started using a “wand” applicator.  It is a simple device (we bought the first one and made the second one) made of one inch PVC with a rolling paint applicator on the end.  We fill the PVC tube with the Remedy mixture, and it runs into a threaded elbow connector into a cylinder that the rolling applicator is connected to.  Through holes in the cylinder, the Remedy mixture soaks the rolling paint applicator. 

Paint roller end of the "Wand"

Then, standing up right (as humans evolved to do) we roll the Remedy soaked rolling brush on the tree trunk.   By using the wands, we can reach the basal trunks without getting down on the ground.  It’s much better on our hands, knees and backs and the process goes much faster.  We try to make our wand applications in February or March, before the grass and weeds starting growing again and turn the underbrush into “Chiggerville” again.  Then, we wait all summer and watch the tree trucks start to crack and peel and the leaves turn yellow, then brown to black and fall off as the trees die in place.  The next fall when the chiggers are dormant,  we walk through the area and push down the dead yaupon, drag them to the burn area and burn them.

To conclude this yaupon discussion, there are other methods, such a prescribed burns that we have also tried.  This will be the subject of a later post.  The reason we chose these manual labor intensive methods is that they are the only ways we can be selective, and only destroy the yaupon while leaving the oak, dogwood and other desirable plants.