Japanese Stiltgrass Identification and Control in Natural Areas (Updated) - July 19, 2021
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 лип 2024
- Japanese Stiltgrass is a highly invasive, non-native plant that has a significant negative impact on our native woodlands. We discuss its identification (including some look-alikes) and control. Emphasis is on our current methodology which includes a combination of mechanical control (cutting and weeding) and chemical control (using glyphosate and Acclaim Extra).We update our discussion from our previous video on Stiltgrass from 2020 and show areas before and after treatment. We feel good about the progress we are making in our battle with Stiltgrass. We feel like we have the tools to keep this raging menace under control. Like any battle with invasive species, it is easier to win when you start early and know your enemy.
Oak Haven is a 60-acre private woodland in Southwestern Ohio near Cincinnati. Jim and Julie Varick both have degrees in Botany and over thirty years of experience in managing natural areas. They enjoy sharing their enthusiasm for the natural world and would like to build relationships with like-minded people to share knowledge and resources.
Thank you for posting this video about stilt grass! We have 12 acres that is absolutely carpeted with this stuff and it has completely choked out almost all natives and has decimated browsing habitat for deer and other native wildlife. We haven’t found anything, not even goats, that will eat this stuff! Our property is surrounded by other properties with stilt grass and it will be a challenge for us each year to keep it from encroaching onto our property BUT hopefully with each year we keep what grows on our property from going to seed it won’t be such a time consuming summer long job to keep it controlled in the future...we hope not! In addition to stilt grass we also are battling non-native lespedeza (which is also a prolific seeder like the stilt grass but is a perennial 😱), non-native honeysuckle, and invasive Tree of Heaven. Its good to see others are as concerned as we are about this invasive grass and the devastating effects it has on native habitats. It’s awesome you’re taking steps to control it early because this has been an expensive and monumental job for my husband and I this summer on our small 12 acre property. We have been using a weak concentration of glyphosate (in addition to the surfactant and blue dye) and it has worked well and hasn’t killed many natives at all (in the few places that we still have natives left). One thing we have found is that it has helped us to mow it (or weed whip it in areas the mower can’t go) as high as the mower deck will go in the areas where it has gotten over 3 ft. tall, wait one week, then go back and spray it. The reason is because when we sprayed the taller stilt grass, it kind of laid over the grass behind it and then the grass it covered didn’t get killed off as well so we had to go back and respray that area. It has worked extremely well in those high areas to mow then spray. Like you mentioned in this video, the weakened glyphosate solution hasn’t affected any of our mosses or ferns (which are about the only natives that the stilt grass hasn’t killed). We’re really hoping that next summer there aren’t as many seeds but we know there will be some and know it’ll be back. But onward into battle we must go! 💪🏼. Do you have Tree of Heaven up in your area? If so, a video on how to eliminate them would be great and informative for others that may not know that the worst thing they could do is to cut one down and even if they treat the stump afterwards it won’t kill the root system (we learned that the HARD WAY) but now know better after a million little TOH saplings sprouted from the roots of what we cut down. I figured I needed to do some reading and was mortified at what I learned lol! Now we’ve been successful in killing them and have left the dead ones standing to serve as future homes for woodpeckers and other birds to make holes in and nest. But the stilt grass by far the “scariest” of the invasives we have on this property (lespedeza a close 2nd). Thanks again for posting this to help raise awareness of stilt grass and educate on how to get rid of it. I’m a new subscriber and my husband and I really have enjoyed your informative and educational videos!
Marie, thanks for letting us know what you are doing and how it is working. Keep us posted as you continue your battle. We do have a video on Tree of Heaven that you might like (ua-cam.com/video/hHsSCn6L450/v-deo.html). We hope to update that soon also.
Just finished watching it; great video! Thank you!
I've said it before but I'll say it again-- thank you for your reasoned and well explained method for dealing with invasives! This is on our list for the early fall here in Tennessee!
Your videos are super informative and helpful. I wonder why you haven't posted any more.
Excellent video, so informative. Thank you so much!
Thank you for another informative video. We've been using a low % of GLY with a pre-emergent. Good results, but a never ending battle.
Thanks so much for these videos! I am a new landowner of a beautiful 9 acres in Walpole NH with a mix of wooded and cleared areas. But I’m from California so I’m voraciously educating myself about gardening and promoting natives/battling invasives in the northeast. The major invasives on our property seem to be oriental bittersweet, Japanese barberry, multiflora rose, and glossy buckthorn. We also have some vinca minor, common buckthorn, purple loosestrife, and I’m sure others that I just haven’t discovered yet. Would love to see future videos about any of these if they are things you’re battling at Oak Haven too! Thanks again! -Lauren
Lauren, I feel your pain! We have most of the same issues with invasives that you do, although we are lucky not to have either of the Buckthorns in our area. We treat them all pretty much the same way we treat honeysuckle. We cut their stems to within six inches of the ground and treat with 20% glyphosate. (See our videos on "Clearing Honeysuckle & Other Trees & Shrubs; Our Step-by-Step Process" and "Making an Herbicide Applicator for cut-stems (for ~$10) that will help you work safer and better") Good luck with your battle!
thank you SOOOooo much for this! I've islands of stilt grass in the woods I steward. They seem to have been introduced via machinery that the last owners had brought in to harvest a bunch of the tress (don't get me started on that...). In area where it's taken over NOTHING seems to grow through the thick mats of tall dead stilt grass. No natives, no tree seedings, just a sea of dead grass. So this year I aim to tackle this, so thank you for this. GREAT info.
I hope it works for you!
Great video. Excellent information conveyed in a clear way. I own about 160 acres and manage about another 400 in Virginia along the Shenandoah River. I'm currently battling a new tidal wave of wavyleaf basket grass, which is a lot like stiltgass but unfortunately spreads by seeds and roots, so very scary. We also have lots of autumn olive, patches of tree of heaven, some chinese wisteria, tons of garlic mustard, and of course acres of stiltgrass, among others. I was away from the area for 17 years and things got in a bad condition, but I've been back in the fight for about a year now. I'm determined to get at least our worst invasives back to a condition where a much lower level (though constant) of maintenance can keep things somewhat in check, before I kick the bucket. I'm hoping to conduct some initial experiments on our stiltgrass areas this summer, so very glad to stumble onto your videos. Keep up the great work, it will make a difference as more folks are getting interested in the fight.
Your videos are great. Keep up the excellent work.
Super useful, especially the showing of the landscape over time
I hope you can put it to use!
I enjoy your informative content and have learned a lot from you as we develop our own invasive species management plan on our property in Virginia. Do you have a recommendation for the timing of herbicide application for the stiltgrass? I’m assuming sometime after spring and before the stiltgrass goes to seed. Is there any time when you find applying the acclaim is most effective or least effective? Thanks in advance for your help.
The stilt grass has invaded among my raspberry patch. I am hesitant to spray there. I can pull them out (I guess). What is the best time to weed. I was thinking of hitting the baby plants early this spring, but maybe not? I will spray the patches around in the woods where I assume it is spreading from. Thank you for this great info. This has happened just in the last two years here in the Hudson Valley NY.
Because Stilt Grass is an annual, you just need to keep it from seeding. Weeding or spraying the baby plants should work, but I have not tried it yet. You would have to watch and see if any more germinated later in the season.
How well does clethodim (grass out max), work on stilt grass??? Thanks
Will this process have to be done yearly? If so, how can i treat it so it never comes back? I’ve got several acres in a field from a previous logging from about 15yrs ago from previous owner.
I wish I could offer you a silver bullet that would clear up your problem instantly. We have been treating Stilt Grass for about three years. We have made great strides, but I never get every plant on the first treatment, and there is more in the seedbank to potentially germinate next year. I hope that each year will be less until it is completely gone. I think the same thing about Garlic Mustard and we have been fighting that for over twenty years.
Hey there pal! Wanted to see if I could get your opinion.
Just did my Acclaim spray through of my entire wooded lot. Mine was semi cleared (neighbors is fully wooded) and the only area the stiltgrass comes back year to year.
Do you find you have to repeat this same year? Since I sprayed at end of May, I wasnt sure if there was a chance that additional seeds could germinate later in the summer and I'd need to repeat same year.
Thank you!
Great question! I have wondered the same thing. We are going to start spraying Acclaim Extra soon, which is earlier than we have in the past. I plan on monitoring it to look for late germination (and areas we missed). Please let us know what you notice on your property.
@@TheWoodlandSteward I surely will thank you! I sprayed my 1.5 acres and sadly the weather took a shift and we had the largest downpour we've had in years... I decided to spray the property again a week later. Will check back in a week or so and see, and then report back end of summer to see if a second germination happens... Thanks pal
Great question, Alec. I wonder the same thing. I'm on year 2 of a stiltgrass crusade on our 500+ acres of wooded land in South Central Virginia. My poison of choice is 41% glypho @1/2% dilution applied with a 4 gallon battery powered back pack sprayer; about 18 gallons a day.
In 2021, I started spraying mid-June and did not observe any re-cropping throughout the year.
This year (2022), I started on April 26th and was surprised to see some re-cropping. The second round of plants are small, perhaps an inch tall, and are not growing vigorously like their predecessors. I hold out hope that this next generation will not mature enough to go to seed this fall. That would be huge if that rings true. We shall see.
Would it survive a burn?
Please try vinegar or vinegar with salt
Red Tool House on youtube did a video today and found his pigs eat it and root it up.
Interesting!
Poisoning the soil forever
The areas that we have treated with Acclaim Extra (for Japanese Stiltgrass) in years past are full of native life. I'm not sure what your measure is of "Poisoning the soil forever". I do know that there are several areas that we have yet to treat where the stiltgrass has choked out all other life. I will choose the path that leads to more life and more diversity.
@@TheWoodlandSteward your not familiar with the long tern effects of those chemicals in the soil and groundwater.. the long term effects are horrific , not just what you see on top. Those chemicals are poisoning our groundwater nation wide. Chemicals still in use in the U S are being banned in many countries. Unfortunately big chemical plants run this country and are killing the earth. Please find a non chemical solution, such as throwing off , digging roots etc. As those chemicals are wrecking the environment permanently just for instant gratification.
Clean yourself and your machinery between jobs to reduce the spread of this species. I can see everywhere machinery has been on my property in Jackson County NC. I'm fighting back as best I can.
I agree!
Wow you're against non native plants but you'll use chemicals on the ground.
I'm against non-native INVASIVE plants. Their is a place for non-native plants for food production and in landscaping (although would rather see native plants used for both.) We use chemicals selectively when we have determined that the impact of the chemical is less concerning that the impact of the invasive species. We know that Japanese Stiltgrass will take over an area to the detriment of the native plant community, and then seed off into adjacent areas to increase its impact exponentially. The chemicals we use do not persist in the soil and do not transport off site.