June 25,
2019
Removing or
deadening undesirable trees is a forest man¬agement tool owners can employ to
achieve their objectives. It allows the owner to favor species better suited to
the site that meet desired conditions and objectives. The most effective method
for deadening undesirable standing trees involves the use of herbicides.
Hack-and-squirt,
also known as frill and spray, herbicide applications are one of the most
target specific and economical means for controlling unwanted trees.
Applications made to undesirable trees facilitates the regeneration or growth
of desirable species. Hack-and-squirt applications are effective on various
size stems and are applicable in hardwood stands where mechanical broadcast
spray treatments are not feasible or desirable.
Hack-and-squirt
applications introduce the herbicide into the stem using spaced cuts made at a
convenient height around the trunk. Using a hatchet, downward-angled incisions
are spaced evenly around the stem, one per inch of diameter (two cuts minimum).
Cuts are approximately
2 inches long and spaced 1 to 2 inches apart. The cuts must penetrate through
the bark into the living tissue or sapwood and produce a cupping effect to hold
the
herbicide. Each cut is filled with herbicide using a spray bottle.
Hack-and-squirt
herbicide applications are effective at any time of the year, except during
heavy spring sap flow. Applica¬tions made during periods of heavy sap flow are
inef¬fective. In addition, do not treat when trees are solidly frozen. When
hard freezes are forecasted to occur at night following application, add RV
antifreeze (propylene glycol) to the spray solution according to label
directions.
Applications
to control root-suckering species such as beech, blackgum, and tree-of-heaven
are most effective from July to the onset of fall coloration.
Hack-and-squirt
applications are target-specific treatments generally used to control trees
that are 1 inch in diameter and greater. They are most commonly used in
hardwood forest timber stand improvement projects to deaden less desirable
trees. These applications are often used to help establish desirable
regeneration by removing low shade cast by dense understories of undesirable
saplings and poles (trees 4-10 inches in diameter). Hack-and-squirt treatments
control competition without impacting existing regeneration or desirable
residual trees. Hack-and-squirt is also effective for releasing crop trees in
hardwood stands. In addition, hack-and-squirt can be used to create standing
dead trees, called snags, to provide desirable wildlife habitat.
Herbicides
used for hack-and-squirt applications are water-soluble systemic materials,
meaning they move vertically and horizontally within the tree. Numerous
“general use” products have labels for hack-and-squirt applications, meaning
forest landowners can purchase these products and apply them to their own
properties without cer¬tification.
Traditional
understory treatments have used mechanized (skidder-mounted) mist blowers. For
a more selective application, consider hack-and-squirt treatments. They offer
one of the saf¬est, most efficient, target-specific, and least expensive means
of eliminating unwanted trees. The herbicides used are non-restricted and
control a wide range of common spe¬cies. Hack-and-squirt provides a flexible tool
landowners and managers can use to accomplish a variety of vegetation
man¬agement objectives over a wide range of forest types.
For more
detailed information view the new Forest Science Fact Sheet entitled Using
Hack-and-Squirt Herbicide Applications to Control Unwanted Trees by visiting
the Penn State Extension website at
https://extension.psu.edu/using-hack-and-squirt-herbicide-applications-to-control-unwanted-trees
or call 814-355-4897.
###
EDITOR: For
more information, contact Dave Jackson (814-355-4897, drj11@psu.edu).
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