Miller, James H.; Manning, Steven T.; Enloe, Stephen F. 2010. A management guide for invasive plants in southern forests. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS–131. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 120 p.
Most nonnative invasive plants in the South are perennials with extensive roots, tubers, or rhizomes. This means that effective herbicide applications offer the best means of containment or eradication, because herbicides can kill roots without baring soil—bared soil is susceptible to reinvasion and erosion. Decades of research has found that herbicides tested and registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are safe to humans and other animals when stored, transported, and applied according to strict label directions. For successful herbicide treatments:
- Use the herbicide most effective for the targeted species and appropriate for safety to nontarget species and situation.
- Follow, in detail, the application methods prescribed on the label. Adhere to all label prohibitions, precautions, and safety requirements during herbicide transport, storage, mixing, and application.
- Choose the optimum time for applications. For foliar-applied herbicides to nonevergreen woody plants, the best time is usually midsummer to early fall and not later than a month before expected frost. Evergreens and semievergreens with leaves can be treated effectively in the winter. Optimum application times for many herbicides on invasive plants have not been fully researched and future findings should greatly assist to perfect prescriptions.
- Be patient. After application, herbicidal activity—detectable as yellowing of foliage or as leaves with dead spots or margins—may take a month or longer. Allow herbicides to work for several months to a year before resorting to other treatment options. Consult the herbicide label for timing of expected response of treated vegetation. But when green foliage reappears, retreatments should follow.
