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Mimosa invasion: HELP!

Started by ljmathias, August 27, 2010, 04:54:28 AM

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ljmathias

Hey, all, maybe someone out there has dealt with this before.  We had a few Mimosa on the land (silk tree I think is another name, scientific name is Albizia julibrissin) and didn't have too much trouble with them.  Oh, sure, they were beginning to sprout up next to my drying stacks and around the SYP's but didn't think too much about it till yesterday.  Was out of town for a week, so I cranked up the bushhog tractor to get caught up and I was cutting noticed a hugely disturbing fact: blanket coverage of some of my lowlands with what appears to be Mimosa seedlings- and I do mean blanket coverage.  No room for the grass that used to be there, and this happening in a matter of days.  What the heck is going on?  It's like something from a science fiction movie or one of the end-of-world movies coming out lately- invasive species takes over forest- everyone dies!

From what I can find online, it looks like a lot of hard, repetitive work.  Surest treatment is to pull the seedlings up by the roots.  Great: got acres of seedlings and my back isn't what it used to be.  Other treatments include killing the seed trees/bushes before the spread seeds everywhere and using Garlon and/or Roundup on leaves.  Garlon might be more selective, from what I read; Roundup will kill just about everything, I think, including any grasses that might be hiding under the low canopy (inches high) of Mimosa leaves.  This stuff is horrible!  Anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks, all, and if you don't hear from me again, look for my body tangled up under a heap of explosively growing Mimosa near the creek- if nothing else, I should be pretty good fertilizer...  >:( >:(

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

RynSmith

Are you sure it's not some type of vetch?  Just checking  :P

Tom

You have discovered the plight of having invasives take over .    Mimosa is one of those here in Florida that has caused great consternation.  The only way I  know of getting rid of the things is pulling them up by the roots.  Mowing frequently will eventually kill them to, but it takes quite an effort. 

The problem with those kinds of trees is the blossoms.  Women see them and just have to have one of the trees.  All you need is one and the fool things will take over the world.  We've still got folks around here planting Chinese Tallow because they think it makes a pretty shade tree.  I'll bet there are still folks who plant Kudzu.


sandhills

We use round up in our farming quite a bit here and IMO I think you'd be alright using it on these conditions, 1 the canopy of the seedlings is over top the grass and 2 the type of grass.  We've hit broam around feild edges and other types as well, as long as it is fairly hardy and been there along time the round up only knocks it back a bit.  Round up is a contact herbicide and has no residual effect.  Along the same lines as your story I have a little 30 acre patch I planted beans in this year and there is a strip through them that came up solid of chinese elm trees.  This is tilled ground so not too worried about them just couldn't beleive how thick they were.  Oh and the roundup didn't get em :(

Autocar

Can someone post a picture of this stuff ? Is it a tree or shub ? Here in Ohio we have a weed I believe it is called wild garlic,and it is taking over in the woodlots around here. They say in time we will lose our wild flowers because it will shade them out. It grows about waist high.
Bill

RynSmith

It's a tree: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALJU

I wonder if you're talking about garlic mustard, it was really bad in southern Michigan when I was there...
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALPE4&photoID=alof3_002_avp.tif





Autocar

Yep thats it Garlic Mustard it pulls real easy but this year it covers the whole woods here at home.
Bill

Magicman

Lj, 2-4-D Amine should kill it OK.  It's relatively cheap and 2oz per gallon will do the trick.  It won't kill most grasses, but I would do a spot check if you are using it around your lawn.

If what you are seeing is what I have, I don't think that it is actually Mimosa (as in trees), but it certainly looks like it.  The above mentioned recipe will get it.

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It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

Fire will knock it back and control it if you can burn every two to three years.  The grass will thrive in the fire regime as well.  If you cannot establish a burning regime, Garlon will get it and not be too hard on the grass.  2-4 D is a good bit cheaper than Garlon.  However, Garlon will control the toughest braodleaved plants that other herbicides do not control very well like the waxy leaved stuff.  The 2-4 D will probably do the job just fine and save you some money.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

ljmathias

Thanks for all the suggestions.  RynSmith posted two links, the first is to the mimosa that I have- starts out like a fairly innocuous grassy weed that rapidly (days to weeks) turns into small bushes that are almost impossible to kill off completely.  Been battling this stuff for years around the trees and drying stacks, but this year it just went wild- literally!  Got new sprouts everywhere and in dense coverage like nothing I've ever seen come on that fast- one minute grass, a week later all sprouts of mimosa.  Pulled up one huge plant that had already gone to seed- may have gotten most of the seeds, but the FEL had a heck of time getting out the roots.  One thing I read- this stuff spreads just as fast or faster by root systems as by seeds, so pulling up the entire root ball is the only way to kill it off quickly.  Got one more huge planting to take out- been next to our little pond for years and has reached heights of 20 feet or so with half a dozen arms out of the main trunk location.  My only hope now is aggressive cutting and spraying as this stuff just doesn't go away with cutting.  Nature- gotta love Her!

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

SwampDonkey

Well, pack your bags down there and move north. The cold of winter will kill anything of a nuisance. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Radar67

Lj,
 I would bushog it, then go back and spray the entire area with 2-4D. I've been having good luck getting rid of Chinese privet and many other woody plants with it. I mix 50/50 in a hand spray bottle for hack-n-squirt on the privet. I also add a sticking agent to the mix.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

Stan snider

If I was going to spray it I think remedy would be my first choice of non restricted chemicals. Dont mow it first because the chemical needs leaf area to be absorbed. If possible I would graze it,turning a problem into a resource. It's a legume and would be very high protein, but many legumes can be posionous though I doubt it is. It never is found in pastures.  Find the seed source and eliminate it. There is probably a lot of hard seed that will germ over the next few years. It's all fun if you look at it right! Stan

Radar67

2-4D does not need leaf area to work. It can be absorbed through the cambium layer of any woody plant. Hack-n-squirt is chopping a a hole in the trunk and squirting the chemical in that hole. You can also chop the problem tree/plant down and paint the stump to prevent root sprouting. Just FYI for you. ;)
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

SwampDonkey

I know Radar knows this, but for others doing the "cut and paint", it has to be a fairly fresh cut. Don't go back a week later painting stumps. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

WDH

I believe that Remedy is the generic version of Garlon.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Magicman

Remedy (triclopyr ester). Remedy is labeled for use as a foliar spray, basal bark treatment, thinline spray, and stump spray. Herbicide is also sold under the trade name Garlon 4.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Stan snider

Radar, I wasnt taking a shot at you, but was thinking if it was me doing it, I would prefer the fastest, easiest way possible. My sprayer is 52 feet and my paintbrish is four inches.   Stan

Radar67

I didn't take it as you taking a shot at me Stan, just want to make sure everyone knew the use. My thought was that after bushhogging, you have the cambium layer exposed, so why not spray heavy, as the quick solution.
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

Randy88

Anyone know anything about Japanese Millit, not sure of the spelling, but I dug some out for a guy not far from me around his pond and he claims roundup only pisses it off and no other broadleaf killer even touches it, I'd never seen it before and he claims birds brought it in when they landed on the pond and nobody seems to know how to kill the stuff, it gets about 10ft tall and kills everything including trees its around, I was concerned because its not far from me and he claims it spreads overnight and takes over in weeks and in a month its too late its got everything killed off?    Don't mean to go off subject here but since we're talking about exotic weeds that take over was just curious if anyone knew anything about this stuff?   He's used chemicals I'd never heard of and had some stuff shipping in to try and he claims it just waters it and helps it grow and has been mowing it and had me try digging it out and around the patch and was going to burn the stuff off and try that once, didn't seem to help much that I could tell.   Any ideas would be appreciated

Stan snider

Where is this vicious stuff located?

Randy88

I'm in Iowa and the guy had it around his pond, it looks like a bamboo kinda thing but not straight and bigger in diameter and a lot of wide leaves all the way up the plant, I just stood there and said, wow, thats a new one on me, we just grubbed out around a small patch of it and he tried to burn it off, he claims mowing doesn't really help and it seems to like water or at least it all the way around the pond and was growing in and around and up some trees and he claims it killed some smaller ones off, I don't know I never saw those at all, the stems are hollow and snap and crunch when you handle them and it takes over everything, he said it stared with a few plants a couple of years ago and nobody knew what it was so they sent in samples and thats what he was told it was japaneese millit, I looked a little on the internet and couldn't find anything about it and was just curious have any of you?   I asked him where its common to or where did the birds bring it from and he claiims nobody knew but they figured the birds ate the seeds somewhere and flew in and landed on the pond and sh*t them out and thats how it got here.    As they say its not my problem yet but canada geese and migratory birds land and eat in my fields and if thats how it got here maybe I'd better prepare for whats to come.   

Stan snider

" the stems are hollow and snap and crunch when you handle them" I think whoever put the ID on that was wrong. Millets don't have hollow stems .  They also have softer stems than this sounds like. Japanese millet is planted as waterfowl forage and is an annual plant. Bamboo sounds more like it and there are a host of different ones. Were there any seed heads? Stan

fishpharmer

Randy88, what you are dealing with sounds like it may be giant reed  (Arundo donax).
You are on the upper end of its range according to this..........
http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/aqua/apis/PlantInfo/plantinfo.aspx?plantid=3

I must agree with Stan snider, it doesn't fit the description for Jap millet.
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Randy88

Fishpharmer thats nothing of what it looks like this stuff is not stright it grows crooked and upright and the stems are larger and the leaves are more broad, I'm not saying its jap millet thats what he told me everyone has been telling him, I looked for it on the internet and couldn't find anything that looked like this stuff at all, its been a few months since I've been there to see it and this weekend I'll swing by and see if I can take some pictures and get my kids to figure out how to put them up here on the site so someone can see it and maybe tell me what it is and how to take care of it.   Its got to be something someone has seem before or had experience with but apparently nobody around here has any knowledge of at all.    If it did get brought in by birds it came from somewhere, but then again if noboyd around here can correctly identify it then who knows if anything they've told him is correct at all.    It just sparked my interest since I'd never seen anything like it before and he's not that far away and it concerned me to the point maybe we'd better figure it out and kill it before it becomes my problem on my property.

SwampDonkey

We have a weed here that folks planted on old home sites years ago. SOmetimes the house is long gone and that stuff still comes up every spring and grows 10 feet. It usually stays in a confined clump though and doesn't seem to seed away from the clump. The clump just grows by rhizomes I guess. It is jointed with hollow stems and resembles bamboo. -30 F will put it in it's place. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

RynSmith

Randy88 - Japanese knotweed (or some other knotweed species)? 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_knotweed


Randy88

I've been gone for a few days and just got home, I read over the discription and it sounds closer to what I saw and dug out but the picture didn't show much of the stems and I didn't see it in the blooming stage but I'm headed there this weekend to take another look, and try to upload some pictures which I"ve never done before so be patient with me and I'll see what I can do, thanks for the reply's.

StephenRice

Quote from: SwampDonkey on August 29, 2010, 07:39:50 AM
Well, pack your bags down there and move north. The cold of winter will kill anything of a nuisance. :D

Except zebra mussels, right?
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

StephenRice

I would pull up the big mimosas by the roots (get them all, I think they propagate off of the roots as well, not just the seeds), then keep up with the mowing and spraying of the seedlings.  Like you said, they WILL take you over if you are not careful and watching them.
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

ljmathias

County agent recommended trichlorpyr so I've started spraying with that.  Don't have but a couple big enough to pull up- the other million or so are just seedlings, small and easy to pull up.  Problem would be one of time- don't think I could even get a good start before the rest were 5' high.  So the spraying is going by hand, which means not too much is covered in a day, but the agent said to do it carefully or I'd loose most of my hardwoods.  Dang, nature can be a bear (and if the bear don't eat you first, maybe you can eat the bear).  Seems that the two types of mimosa I have are mostly the one called sensitivity plant, Mimosa pudica, with a few of the other just plain flowering mimosa thrown in for variety.  Seems a lot of people offer the seeds online as an interesting ornamental, which is probably how it invaded our land- someone got tired of their pet plant and threw it out in the wild (bunch of weird neighbors just up-hill of us).  This is going to be one long, tedious battle.

Strangely, the wife and I have been watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy again, and just finished the battle for Gondor in the final movie- I am reminded of true courage, when Theoden (sp?), king of Rohan, mustured his troops in the face of attacking elephants the size of the biggest dinosaur you can imagine, and then charged.  The good news is, they did win; the bad news, he died in the battle... so not to make any analogy out of this for my own trivial battle that seems large to me personally- in the grand scheme of things, Nature will win in the end, so enjoy the fight!

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

Randy88

Rynsmith, I was at the pond today and took some pictures but my kids gave up on trying to help me load them on here claiming I'm of no hope to ever get "it" and left, but I read over your info on Japaneese Knotweed and I'd have to agree thats the stuff, I talked to the owner and he claims roundup is useless and has had sucess with milestone, I don't know what that is I haven't had the time to look it up yet.   The flowers are white and look like the pictures in your post and also the leaves are the same and the discription fits for almost a bamboo where the stems snap, I'd never seen anything like it but I guess its not that uncommon according to the article, the upside is its free to any home, he wanted me to know that so if your in the market for some I've got all you could ever need.   Thanks for the replies and the help, I really appreaciate it.   

StephenRice

Quote from: SwampDonkey on August 31, 2010, 03:37:41 AM
-30 F will put it in it's place. :D

-30 F puts me in my place, too... Inside the house in front of a fire if possible!
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

StephenRice

Quote from: Randy88 on September 05, 2010, 09:13:57 PM
Rynsmith, I was at the pond today and took some pictures but my kids gave up on trying to help me load them on here claiming I'm of no hope to ever get "it" and left, but I read over your info on Japaneese Knotweed and I'd have to agree thats the stuff, I talked to the owner and he claims roundup is useless and has had sucess with milestone, I don't know what that is I haven't had the time to look it up yet.   The flowers are white and look like the pictures in your post and also the leaves are the same and the discription fits for almost a bamboo where the stems snap, I'd never seen anything like it but I guess its not that uncommon according to the article, the upside is its free to any home, he wanted me to know that so if your in the market for some I've got all you could ever need.   Thanks for the replies and the help, I really appreaciate it.   

Going by your earlier description, I was just going to suggest ginger.  Ginger does not look much like knotweed though.  That knotweed I saw has short fat leaves and is more of a bushy plant.  Ginger is much closer in appearance to bamboo or cane (but not so hard) with a lot more leaves going all of the way up the stalk.  The leaves on ginger are not short and broad like knotweed, but rather, are long and narrow much more like corn.  The singular stalks somewhat resemble corn as well.  It is a classic rhizome, and new plants shoot up off of the roots.  They often love to grow around water but can grow in other areas as well.  However, if the leaves are short and broad like the knotweed, then it definitely is not ginger.
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

SwampDonkey

Quote from: ljmathias on September 05, 2010, 09:02:09 PM
if the bear don't eat you first, maybe you can eat the bear

But trouble with them bear, is they are smart. They don't dare come 'round with a saw running, they come at night and make their dental impressions on your saw handle grips and throttle cable. :D :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Randy88

StephenRice, no the leaves are not slender like corn at all they are more broad and fat like on the knotweed, and the flowers look just like that on the picture in the post of Rynsmith's, I'm pretty sure that knotweeds the stuff we're dealing with, has anyone else had an experience trying to kill it though, in the description roundup is supposed to do the job but the guy claims its useless, but that could be from resistance though, he has been making a lot of progress with it though, he had most all of it mowed and said he's been spraying it with milestone and that seems to help, his whole pond was surrounded with the stuff and this weekend when I was there it was all mowed and looking pretty good compared to when I was there this spring, he said it won't do any good to try and seed it yet because of all the chemicals he's been using but maybe next year he'd give seeding a try, I asked him if the knotweed killed the trees or all the different chemicals he's been trying did them in and he thought they were dead before he ever used chemicals and still doesn't have them taken down.   He said all the different chemicals he's tried all the trees would have been dead anyhow so he's waiting to do something with those after he's got it contained a little more.   

The knotweed jumped the road and is now on the other side and his sprayer could only reach so far and theres a few live bushy patches and thats where I could see the flowers, he said he's after the county to do the spraying on that side of the road and they have been using a tankmix of everything to contain the stuff but he had no idea what the tankmix was other than they needed to use a lot more of it.   

RynSmith

Quote from: Randy88 on September 05, 2010, 09:13:57 PM
the upside is its free to any home, he wanted me to know that so if your in the market for some I've got all you could ever need.   

Thanks, Randy, but I'll pass - we've got enough of it here.  Unfortunately, it likes streambanks and is travelling along many of our rivers.         >:(  >:(  >:(


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