Herbicide question

[ncsuclell]

What herbicides can I use to inhibit germination?  I know there are some out there but I don't know what they are or who makes them.  Any info you can provide will be helpful.  Thank you.

[Ernie]

Simazine or Atrazine  if what's left of my memory serves me well, it has been about 35 years since I used them spraying my electric fence lines.

[Ron Scott]

What type vegetation do you want to inhibit?

[ncsuclell]

OK so here is the skinny on the project:

The Situation:  We had about 50 acres of sand wasteland that was mined and never reclaimed.  About 6 years ago we recieved enough "mulch" to cover the 50 acres about 2-3 feet deep.  Last year we burned it in October.  Currently we have a mono-horizon of dark gray soil and multiple species of weeds.  Our goal is to restore it to Longleaf pine/ wiregrass ecosystem. 

The Problem:  Our next step is to plant the area with containerized longleaf, but we have one problem... the weeds (mostly grasses) get about 3-5 ft tall in the spring and then die back.  This creates a layer of thatch that will cover the pines.

Possible Solution:  Herbicide... I was thinking we could do a treatment of herbicide before we plant with a mix of Roundup and possibly a germination inhibitor like Preen.  Then use Oust or Oustar in the spring after the planting.  Possibly 2 applications.

So what is out there?  I've found some stuff for nurseries but it is not labeled for Forestry.

Any guildance would be useful.

[Magicman]

My forester recommended that I use Arsenal.  In areas with any woody growth, I added Escort.

[ncsuclell]

We have Arsenal but we don't have woody stuff in that area.  Mostly grasses like Sesbania, Ragweed,bahiagrass, ect...

[ely]

the people here just plant the pine trees and let the land go. as long as you dont have a fire come in on it the trees will come through the grass in two growing seasons then choke it all out by the 5 year mark.

[Magicman]

With Longleaf, the answer that I was given was to burn.  So I did.  But that wasn't your question.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,41220.20.html

[WDH]

Longleaf needs fire, and the fire takes out the undesirable weeds.  The plants that can stand the fire are the ones that naturally occurred with longleaf, and that is the whole point of the restoration.  The associated grasses, sedges, and herbaceous plants are just as important to the restoration as the longleaf pines themselves according to the biologists.

[Phorester]

The longleaf will work their way up through any grass or weeds that are there. I might burn before planting to eliminate the thick grass from inhibiting the tree planting crew, but after that it won't inhibit the pines.

[customsawyer]

As stated above burn then plant as the weeds and grasses might get in the hole while planting and make some air pockets that will lower survival rate.
If the mulch is as deep as you said then you might have air pockets any way. If the mulch has cooked down then you might want to make sure there is not a hard pan under it that will make it hard for the root of the tree. If this is the case a good subsoiler like the one I used on WDH's farm will work wonders. If you are still worried about the weeds you can do a band spray in the spring of about 4' wide that will give the Long Leaf a chance to get a jump start.

[Whitman]

check this link out
http://ohioline.osu.edu/b867/b867_15.html