Poplar trees

[Jerome]

I need to cut some poplar but I do not want to deal with the suckers that will come up from one tree that will create a forest by June. I had the idea of "tapping" the trees and filling the holes with roundup and sealing them to kill the trees first. will this work or is there a better way?

[StewieSugar]

I tried something like this, where I girdled the tree with a chainsaw and sprayed herbicide in the cuts. It was very effective at killing the tree, but the sprouts kept coming back. My eventual solultion was to cut and spot-spray the sprouts. I had hundreds (thousands?) of sprouts, so it took a few attempts before I got them all.

One other solution is to keep mowing the sprouts while they're still small. They'll eventually lose energy and die off, but it will take several cuttings.

I'd also suggest something other than Round-Up. It might work in high enough concentrations, but it's generally best for weeds and leafy plants. A brush or tree herbicide will be more effective. This page describes several such herbicides and gives some good tips for forest management. http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/M1156.html

[H. Walker]

I need to cut some poplar but I do not want to deal with the suckers that will come up from one tree that will create a forest by June. I had the idea of "tapping" the trees and filling the holes with roundup and sealing them to kill the trees first. will this work or is there a better way?
On the advice of a registered Arborist I have thinned a lot of unwanted trees using Roundup. When you cut the tree you have to spray the stump immediately, the stump will suck the Roundup right into the roots. Since using this method I have never had any sucker problems. The mixture that I use is at aprox. 10% using the farm strength product and it is applied to "liberally wet the stump". I keep an eye on the stump and if obsorbed quickly I reapply the Roundup solution in 15 miniutes.

[Logscaler]

If you don't have a sprayer or only have a few stumps you can mix the Roundup solution in an old bucket (not one used for sap etc) and brush it on with an old paint brush. Wear good gloves that will keep the solution off your hands! Repeat until you are out of solution!

[michelle32]

Cover the stump with rock salt. This you only need todo once and done.
Keith

[Logscaler]

Are these poplars in the sugarbush? I would be very careful with salt near sugar maples. Look at what is happening to our roadside trees from the salt that is put down in winter.

[C.Wilcox]

Don't know if it's true, but I've read that it helps if you wait until just after the trees have leafed out. That way they've burned up a lot more of the energy stored in the roots and have less to generate suckers with.

[twigbender]

The advise given here about spraying or painting the fresh cut stump with Roundup is a sound one. We have done that for nearly 30 years and it works great. Also, the best time to cut an aspen (or poplar) is late July or early August. That is when the root stores are at the very lowest and any suckering will be minimal. That timing is best in northern Minnesota. It may very well be a few weeks earlier in other parts of the country that are further from the tundra.

[Revi]

We cut a lot of popple out of our woodlot, and for some reason it doesn't seem to be coming back much. It's a pioneer species, so maybe it needs sun or something. The other trees we kept seem to be absorbing the space the popples took up.

[twigbender]

Aspen (poplar or popples), whatever you wish to call them, do need a lot of sun to grow. They don't sprout well in shade at all. If you do need to cut them, and you want to cut them in the spring, then cut them soon after they leaf out. Then, run a kerf down the full length of the tree with your chainsaw to open up the bark, and then you can peel the bark off quite easily. You'll be suprised at how good of firewood peeled popple makes. It really burns hot and has very little ash.