Sweetgum

[spencer12]

I have been removing non desirable trees from my small farm for a few years now. I was curious if round up sprayed on a freshly cut sweet gum would kill it. It seems every year I’m recutting the same sweetgum stumps due to suckering. I have some high concentrate roundup but I wasn’t sure if it’ll work. I don’t want to really dabble with stronger chemicals if I don’t have to. Anyone tried this?

 

[Crakajak]

Drill several holes in the stump and spray round up in them.I have also drilled and sprayed a foot or so out from the stump in a root. (Big trees).

 

[treemanjohn]

Yes it will work perfectly

Personally I prefer to hack and squirt the gums standing. Wait a few weeks and then Bush hog or cut them down

 

[Dbender]

Not if you do it in the spring.

 

[Dave 48]

Yes it will work perfectly

Personally I prefer to hack and squirt the gums standing. Wait a few weeks and then Bush hog or cut them down

I've tried the hack and squirt method in the late summer of this year, about August. I didn't see any results but I wasn't expecting any just yet. Hopefully, in the spring those trees will not come back.
Treeman, did you use glyphosate or something else?

 

[spencer12]

good info. I always do my cutting in the winter (now). Will it still work during this time of year?

 

[Shrimpngrits]

I’ve used the cut and squirt method in the winter, haven’t had many of them sprout back up.

That said, I talked to a man that covers the stump with salt. Sounds like a cheap and safer option, anybody tried it?

I have so many sweet gums of every size... for 6” and under I cut them off waist high and rip ‘em out with a stump puller; “Brush Grubber Extreme Plus”

 

[ugajay]

Remedy (spelling?) Kills broadleafs like sweetgums. It's very potent. Does a great job

 

[Milkman]

I have some dicamba herbicide on hand that I use to control a violet infestation in my lawn. I have mixed a few ounces of it in with the normal 2% glyphosate in my 25 gallon sprayer. It kills sweetgum.

 

[treemanjohn]

I've tried the hack and squirt method in the late summer of this year, about August. I didn't see any results but I wasn't expecting any just yet. Hopefully, in the spring those trees will not come back.
Treeman, did you use glyphosate or something else?

They are dead I promise you. I always use glyphosate or RM43. They both work equally as well. Just have to understand when you do hack and squirt it's not immediate.

 

[KILLNTM]

I did a bunch of hack and squirt several years ago. I sometimes used straight Roundup and sometimes I used Arsenal cut with water. With Roundup, I found the trees required more hacking and spraying (almost completely around) in order to completely kill them. If you didn't go all the way around, there was often a little live strip of bark between the hacks that would still be providing enough nutrients to keep the tree alive. With the Arsenal it killed them completely with fewer hacks. I suppose it's considered a stronger chemical, but it's not going to get all over you if you're halfway careful. I wear rubber gloves and take my time with it.

 

[spencer12]

I hit them yesterday, we shall see.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Paint the stump with straight roundup and it will kill them. You have to be sure to hit the cambium layer (just under the bark.) You need to hit them within a few minutes of cutting, the sooner the better. It works best in spring or summer when they are actively growing.

 

[spencer12]

Paint the stump with straight roundup and it will kill them. You have to be sure to hit the cambium layer (just under the bark.) You need to hit them within a few minutes of cutting, the sooner the better. It works best in spring or summer when they are actively growing.

Will spraying now kill them as well? Or did I waste my time

 

[doomtrpr_z71]

You'd be better off waiting until spring when the sweetgums are actively growing

 

[Clabo22001]

I have used a salt block on a Bradford pear stump. It worked great. Used to see old folks put rocks on top of the stumps.

 

[SakoL61R]

FWIW, been killing sweetgums for many years with Tordon RTU.
A little goes a long ways. Drill and squirt or paint the stumps/stubs with it immediately after cutting. Have used it successfully from summer through January.

 

[tbrown913]

I have heard arsenal works well in the hack and squirt. I used straight 41% glyphosate in hack and squirt on some scrub brush/trees around the house in September. We will see how well it worked in a couple months. I'm going to be trying to get rid of sweetgums en mass in the near future.

 

[gadeerwoman]

Arsenal. Take a hatchet and make a couple cuts angling down. Take a straw. dip it in the arsenal and put your finger over the top of the straw. About 1 inch in each cut will kill sweetgums dead once and for all. No sprouting. Just make sure there aren't tree roots from trees you want to keep that may be entangle with the sweetgum roots. I usually do this when the sap is going down in the fall. Works anytime but best results in fall with sap drop.

 

[BuckNasty83]

It'll work. I've done it around the house on a few trees I cut.