Texas Natural Resources Server

Works Best:
On redberry cedar (juniper). You do not need to spray the stumps with herbicide to kill blueberry cedar (Ashe juniper) or eastern red cedar.

When to Apply:
Any time of the year, although best results occur during the spring-summer growing season.

1. Prepare Equipment
You can remove the top growth with pruning shears, a sharp ax, chain saw, hydraulic shears, etc.

Apply the herbicide spray with a pump-up garden sprayer, backpack sprayer or sprayer mounted on four-wheel all-terrain vehicles (ATV) or hydraulic shears.

To ensure that you cover the stump adequately when using a spray system attached directly to hydraulic shears (skid/steer loader), use an adjustable cone nozzle with a relatively large orifice (such as the ConeJet™ 5500-X12). For hand-held spray guns, an adjustable cone nozzle with a small orifice nozzle (such as the ConeJet™ 5500-X1 or X3) is recommended.

2. Mix the Herbicide with Water
A mixture of Tordon 22K™ herbicide and water is recommended for redberry cedar. To ensure that you coat the cut stump thoroughly and that the herbicide is absorbed adequately, add either liquid dishwashing detergent or a nonionic surfactant to the spray mix (see mixing table). It may be helpful to add a spray-marking dye such as Hi-Light™ Blue Dye to mark the stumps that have been sprayed.

When mixing, add half the desired quantity of water to the spray tank. Then add the Tordon 22K™ , the surfactant and the dye to the tank. Finally, using water under pressure to agitate and mix the spray mix, fill the tank to the final volume.

Mixing Table

*Spray ingredients are mixed with water.

3. Cut and Spray the Stump
Cut the redberry cedar stems as close to the soil surface as possible, but not below the soil surface. Avoid leaving soil on the cut surface.

Spray the stumps immediately after cutting them. Adjust the spray nozzle so that it delivers a coarse mist in a cone-shaped pattern. Hold the spray wand so that the nozzle is within 1 or 2 inches of the stump and spray the entire cut surface to wet, especially the outer edges. Spray the sides of the stump and root collar also, almost to the point of runoff.

When using a spray nozzle attached to hydraulic shears, position the nozzle directly over the cut stumps at a height at which all of the stump is within the spray pattern. Using the dye as an indicator, spray the entire cut surface of the stump almost to the point of runoff.

Keep these points in mind:

• Follow the herbicide label directions.
• The cost of treatment escalates rapidly as the number of redberry cedar plants or stems per acre increases.
• This method is best for plants with a few basal stems. (Note: Redberry juniper never has single basal stems.)
• Do not spray when the basal stems are wet.
• Before spraying, brush any soil off the cut stump surfaces.
• After mixing the herbicide with water, shake or agitate the solution vigorously.
• To reduce resprouting, thoroughly spray the cut surface as well as the bark from the cut to ground level.