Killing boxelders

[jimdril]

I have a bunch of box elders that have to go as the bugs are worse than ever this year.I don't have time to cut them down this year, and I might not next year. Is there a way to kill them off and leave them standing till I can get them cut down. I'm out in the country so I'd have no complaints from anyone. I thought of girdling them, but don't know just how to do it. I have at least 20 ranging in size upto, maybe 18"dia.

[Texas Ranger]

Frill with an ax, machete, hatchet, at a comfortable height, and squirt some herbicide in the frill.  Use the instructions on the bottle for mixture and amount.  There is, or used to be, a product called Brush-B-Gone at Lowes, etc, that can do it.

[jimdril]

When you say frill, does that mean slash all the way around the tree?

[beenthere]

Don't expect removing a bunch of box elders will have any real effect on the be bugs. They will still be just as bad, and come from other box elder. They are bad again this year.

But don't let that stop you from killing them. The fewer there are, the better off you are.  ;D

[BlaBla]

Figure 2 here should illustrate Texas Ranger's method. http://agebb.missouri.edu/agforest/archives/v10n2/gh2.htm

Also, a double girdle or single girdle with herbicide should kill the trees and leave them standing for quite some time. See the first couple pictures on this page:  http://www.scientific-forestry.com/tsi.html

I agree with beenthere. The fewer boxelders, the better.

[Kansas]

The ceiling in my house is box elder. We used to send a fair amount to Texas for carving blocks to a guy that specialized in unusual wood. It can be a beautiful wood.
Cut them down if you want to, but you ought to turn it into premium lumber.

[SPIKER]

I agree there is a couple posts on hee someplace with some really nice pics in the gallery of it.

Mark

[Magicman]

I have found that 8oz. of Arsenal to a gallon of water makes a good Hack-N-Squirt formula.  It will also prevent stump sprout.  I'm treating 2-3 acres per year, and also removing undesirables from my creek banks.

[SwampDonkey]

My uncle is big into burning the fields and ditches in the spring. Well a line of boxelders along the ditch line were in "the line of fire" one spring and the fire got hot enough to kill the cambiums. Game over.  ;D I had some removed after the '98 ice storms and I burned those stumps and that stopped the sprouting for good.

[Clark]

I've killed numerous boxelder by girdling them.  I usually zip two lines around the stem with a chainsaw to make sure at least one goes completely through the cambium all the way around.  They will still leaf out another year or two and put some sprouts up but otherwise it is game over.  When the tree has used all it's stored energy and stops leafing out you'll be left with very dry, standing firewood.  Probably poor firewood but firewood nonetheless.

Clark