On Tuesday, June 16 2009 a helicopter spraying company hit our thick stands of cattails, tules, Bermuda and blackberries with a 3 quart to the acre mix of roundup.
Took a trip to Mayberry yesterday to view the results of the aerial spraying efforts. I found the cattails to be hard hit. Bermuda grass showed signs that it was on its way out. Tules looked sick, but not hard hit. The fragmities were somewhat hit, but may not have got directly hit by the spray so some were dying and others looked healthy. The berry bushes looked like they’d been fertilized.
Here are some photos.
This photo shows a healthy cattail patch vs one the was sprayed.
Here’s the area which we considered top priority. It looks like these cattails are done for.
This photo shows some smart weed that was not hit, tules that are sick but still green and cattails which were most affected.
Here’s some healthy bermuda grass that was not sprayed. It is a dark green.
Here’s some sick looking bermuda that was hit by spray.
My intention was to begin irrigation yesterday, but I decided to wait a few more days. I wouldn’t want to save any of the plants we want to kill. The cost of this effort was about $1,800 for the heliocopter and $3,000 for the materials. We’re hoping that the results are worth while, but the jury is out.
After we irrigate, we’ll do some disking and mowing to bring back some early stage vegitation.
Looks like you’re making good progress. Taking out those cattails should create more landing zones and increase the bird numbers hopefully. It is interesting you mention the fragmities. I’ve become familiar with fragmities while hunting at Grizzley last year. I actually like the fragmities because it provides good cover and is easy to walk through and find birds compared to tules or cattails.