Late summer and fall can be an excellent time to treat unwanted stands of woody plants. Scattered stands of individual trees should either be treated individually using the basal bark method (for labeled plants less than 4-6 inches in diameter) or the cut stump treatment method. The basal bark and cut stump treatments will not be effective if the plants cannot be treated down to the soil line. Avoid conditions where water (or snow later in the season) prevents spraying to the ground line.
Producers can treat smaller diameter susceptible woody plants individually this fall by spraying the basal stem parts with triclopyr plus diesel fuel. The lower 12-15 inches of the stems or trunks of susceptible small trees should be thoroughly wetted on all sides with a triclopyr-diesel mixture. Triclopyr goes by the tradenames Remedy Ultra and Pathfinder II. Remedy Ultra is a 4 lb./gallon product. The labeled recommendations for Remedy Ultra are 20-30% solution in diesel. Pathfinder II is a ready-to-use product and does not have to be mixed with diesel. Pasture Gard HL is a premix of triclopyr and fluroxypyr, and can be applied as a basal bark or cut-stump treatment as a 25% solution in diesel. Crossbow, a mixture of triclopyr and 2,4-D, can also provide control of certain woody plants as a 4% solution in diesel. Milestone, with the active ingredient aminopyralid, is effective on black and common honey locust.
If the woody plant is greater than 6 inches in diameter, the best method is to cut it off at ground level and treat the cut surface with triclopyr and diesel fuel within 30-60 minutes, before the sap seals over the exposed area. Spray the cambium and light-colored sapwood to insure translocation of the herbicide. Treat any exposed trunk or exposed roots. Application equipment for cut-stump application includes pressurized hand sprayers, small backpack sprayers, sprayer mounted on ATV with handheld gun, hydraulic tree shears or saws with an attached spray nozzle, or even a paint brush. Two of the more common pieces of equipment for cutting the woody plants are the turbo saw and the hydra clip.