So, i need to go nuclear in some areas of the property. We have climbing vines, ivy, bamboo, honeysuckle, wysteria, and other unidentifiable invasive E36 M3.
I want to kill it all. Ive been clearcutting it all, and want to keep it down and dead for a year. Bare dirt style, but i know that wo t happen short of forest fore or getting my hands on some agent orange.
Whats the go to? Pramitol, round up and killzall seems to be ineffective.
Look into 2,4-d. Its part of the agent orange mixture. Good stuff, don't lick your fingers etc.
jgrewe said:Look into 2,4-d. Its part of the agent orange mixture. Good stuff, don't lick your fingers etc.
And definitely don't get it on your hootus
2,4-d is Killex
Don't know if the DYI dawn soap salt and vinegar blend will kill it all in 1 go but repeated applications will knock out about anything I've hit with it.
Crossbow or the identical generic version called Crossroads. I would have suggested literal scorched Earth, because it works well and is cheap, but on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with the Fire Department and Forest Service, I fought to control a forest fire on my farm. I lost 20 acres of woods, a meadow, and nearly our cabin because I burned a small area of stilt grass down next to the farmhouse three days before. If you do have an unidentified invasive it could be stilt grass. It is very flammable and prone to wildfire because it burns hot and quick, which is why I (used to) rake it away from the house and, because it spreads and is inedible by wildlife, I (used to) burn it. I had fire breaks, burned in very small patches, and dowsed the areas after burning. Apparently that wasn't enough this time. I don't like using weedkiller, but I like wildfire less.
You could contact your local Extension Service and they would come out, identify your brush, and recommend the best, cheapest control and/or your local Forest Service. They might do a prescribed fire. Both service would be free or cheaper than chemicals.
If you want to take it to ground level, why not just remove all the existing foliage and doing a solid ground cover for a year? Clover it with multiple tarps, cardboard and mulch. Take away the sunlight/food, and the plants will eventually die.
Not much will kill bamboo. Gasoline will.
If you can find Durazone with indaziflam as one of the active ingredients, that is your best bet for long team control (like 6 months of no plants). It'll probably have diquat and glyphosate in it also. If you cut shrubs/trees down and want to kill the roots, there is a product called Tordon RTU that you can paint on the cut stump to kill it and keep it from putting up any new shoots.
Not sure about the bamboo, but a mix of trichlopyr and glyphsate (roundup) for the rest? We have used this with success against bittersweet and invasive honeysuckle (and stilt grass, mile-a-minute):
https://extension.psu.edu/one-herbicide-mix-to-do-it-all-almost
2-4d is a broadleaf herbicide. It wont work on grasses.
imazapyr + glyphosate.
I bought this stuff years ago from the local supply place. I walked in and asked for the "nastiest" stuff they had and the guy went right to this. It's a granular and I add it to the Tractor Supply 41% Glyphosate weed killer and NOTHING grows afterwards. It kills Japanese knotweed. I dilute the Mojave in some hot water in a backpack sprayer and then add the Glyphosate concentrate. It takes a few days to begin to yellow and then brown. It's a deadly mixture for any vegetation.
Doesn't salt kill most vegetation in higher quantities? If nothing else, it's cheap and easy to find.
Have you tried scorched earth?
mtn said:Have you tried scorched earth?
I will second this. Dad has one he built a mount for the propane tank on to his zero turn mower. Highly amusing, and quite effective.
I had bamboo I tried getting rid of ages ago.
The fix was my neighbor bringing his skid steer home and digging the whole thing out.
Does the area get much sunlight? You could try solarizing it where you stretch clear plastic across everything you want to kill and stake it down. After a few hot sunny days everything is dead even seeds.
Scorched earth? How about a torch? Oops. That is what Mtn posted.
Aside from cement I know of nothing that will keep it clear for a year. Animals eat stuff and poop out seeds. Wind blows seeds. Roots grow underground. And hate to get all green on you but what will these chemicals do permanently to the soil, or when washed into other areas. Have pets? What happens when the cat/dog eats a bird or small rodent or chews on something in the area? Burning is fun, had a propane torch for years but roots underground still survive.
I have been fighting weed growth in various areas for the last 30 years, plastic does a great job of depriving sunlight and cooking whatever is in the soil without permanent damage. Industrial strength vinegar with salt and a bit of detergent sprayed on weeds is incredible, smells nice but has to be reapplied.
You've hinted at the solution in the very title of this thread! Came here to suggest the H-F propane blowtorch. Might not be effective over a large area though. Have you considered a napalm bomb?
I don't know about a whole year, and I hate using roundup, but for really persistent vines/ivys, I've found if I chop them up a bit first so the roundup gets inside the stems, it is a lot more effective.
I usually use vinegar and dish soap, but I'm also not in the south so don't have as many problems with really aggressive invasive vines.
1988RedT2 said:You've hinted at the solution in the very title of this thread! Came here to suggest the H-F propane blowtorch. Might not be effective over a large area though. Have you considered a napalm bomb?
Too hard to get the permits for. Why not just call Norfolk Southern and see if they have any trains nearby? 
In reply to 02Pilot :
It's always easier to apologize for making a boo-boo than it is to get permission.
In case it was overlooked when I mentioned it above, here's the result of me burning a small patch of brush last Saturday with one of those torches:
If you decide to use fire, make sure it is completely out and you monitor it for several days. This forest fire actually started Tuesday. I burned a small patch of brush at the bottom of the hill on Saturday, thought I extinguished it that evening, and went home on Sunday. It smoldered for three days inside a wet, rotten stump then jumped my firebreak and burned all the way up the hill to our cabin. Although terrifying and unintentional, it was faster and cheaper than chemicals. $290 for a "failure to extinguish" ticket. Fortunately it stayed on my property. Had it crossed over the ridge to my neighbor, the Forest Service said it "would have become complicated". Be careful.
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