“Spray and Pray” update

For the record, since I have not been keeping good records, I started spraying in mid July. By Bastille Day, I had dispensed 32 gallons of Triclopyr. See the group photo before the containers went into the dump.

Each container makes 8 gallons of  herbicide. (The 5th container was an empty from last year. I triple rinse each container as I do the mixing so I can recycle the canisters.)

Thirty-two gallons was not enough to spray all the Bittersweet and Black swallow wart that had emerged by July. After a break of a couple of weeks, I did a second round of spraying. I’m not sure how much Triclopyr I put down that time, maybe another 12 gallons.

The “praying” part of the process requires time. The label does not offer good guidelines on how long it will take to kill or dishearten the growing of the target plants but it is at least two weeks. Between my house guests, his camping trip, excessive heat and rain on work days, Nic was not able to start the post-praying tasks of pulling and cutting until early August.

I took a tour today. Despite the spraying and then the praying, Bittersweet is still there — popping up in the paths, entwined around some Goldenrod especially in the wetland, and otherwise sprinkled here and there. Black swallow wart crops up in places, mostly where I think I had not sprayed. But what a change. The old field is now variegated with a richer sampling of weedy growth. It looks truly mangy. I could not be happier. But I know it is only an interlude.