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Site Evaluation and Restoration
It’ll happen. A tower will be repaired, a fuel break will be created, a roadway will be expanded. One way or another, vegetation you’re keen to preserve will get disturbed or destroyed, and your vegetation management plan will be forced back to square one, if not square zero.
So, what happens then? How do you handle restoration of desirable vegetation? The answer depends on whether you have done a thorough site evaluation, with an eye on the three R’s: the Right product, applied at the Right rate, and at the Right time.
Choosing the right product for site restoration
“When we hear the word restoration, it means that something has happened to cause that site to be degraded,” said Jerome Otto, market development specialist with Corteva Agriscience. “So that brings up a few questions: Are there species we need to remove to allow that site to go back to its original state? What are the species that we want to restore or bring back? Are those desirable species already there and we simply need to remove competition, or do we need to go in and reseed?”
Job No. 1? Decide what you want the site to be, which plant species you want to keep and which plant species need to go. After that, it’s time to look at the site itself. Is it a right-of-way, roadside, fuel break or other use site? Is it near water or other sensitive areas? Is it close to crops or pastures with grazing livestock? Is it close to homes or other populated areas? Answering these questions can help you hone in on the best herbicide for the job.
“Once you know the species you’re targeting, now we’re looking at the use sites that must be on the herbicide label to allow that application,” Otto said. “So, for example, if there are four species you want to control, and you’re working in a right-of-way, then you obviously need to find a herbicide that has that use site on the label and has those target species as being listed as species that are controlled.”
Other considerations might include volatility, a critical consideration when working near crops or residential areas. Your application equipment or methods might influence your choice of formulation – granular versus liquid, for example.
Selecting the right rate
Keep that label handy, because once you know the product, you’ll want to check the label for the right rate for the specific incompatible species you’re targeting. Resist the temptation to go higher or lower than the label rates. You might think you’re saving money by going low or ensuring complete control by going high. But by underapplying, you risk incomplete control or, worse yet, you encourage the development of herbicide resistance. Go too high, and you not only spend more money than you need to, but you also risk impacting the very species you’re trying to preserve or restore.
The bottom line on rates? Manufacturers have spent years researching and developing rate ranges for each species; stick to the label rates, and you’ll set yourself up for success from the start.
Timing the application
Ready to make the application? Not so fast. You’ll also want to make sure you’re applying at the right time. Once again, the label will tell you everything you need to know.
“You have preemergence and postemergence products, and some products that offer a bit of both,” Otto said. “So if the label tells us to apply to actively growing weed or brush species, we want to make sure we’re hitting that window – that we’re not too early or too late.”
But there’s still one piece of the evaluation puzzle missing – the historical context.
“Having some year-over-year data can really be helpful,” Otto said. “Because to truly understand how to put together a comprehensive restoration plan, we must understand where the site was at the beginning. That allows us to understand which tactics and strategies we need to employ to bring it back to the way it used to be. You can’t do that without understanding where you’re coming from.”
As with most other vegetation management applications, the trick is to know when to intervene and when to let nature do its own thing.
“The best quote I’ve ever heard on effective site evaluation is: ‘It’s not just what we take away that determines our long-term success, but what we leave behind,’” Otto said.
If you’d like to learn more about how the Corteva vegetation management portfolio can help bring your site back to its pristine state, contact your Corteva Vegetation Management Specialist.
Vistas®
For over 30 years, Vistas® has covered strategies, trends and stories from across the Vegetation Management industry.