Have an old Dogwood tree in my front yard. I have sprayed the rocks under the tree (not immediately under) with Round Up so I can kill weeds and stop them from coming back. I have done this at least twice this year.
The tree is now losing some leaves and it’s only June. This is my favorite tree in the whole yard, the flowers are sooo nice in May.
I would be heartbroken if I hurt my tree. Anyone with knowledge that can make me feel a little better??
I live in northern Illinois.
Thanks
Roundup is a contact herbicide that targets tender stemmed plants. It is designed not to harm woody, barked shrubs and trees or even planted seeds at least in normal concentrations. You CAN kill a smaller tree or smaller shrub with it but it generally takes a much higher than normal concentration than for weeds and it needs to be applied directly and liberally to the green parts of the tree or shrub.
It sounds like that isn’t the case here so I doubt that Roundup is the culprit. Since it is your favorite tree, it may be worth having a tree expert look at it. The cause may be something else completely that is treatable since you caught it early.
Another thing to remember is that RoundUp becomes neutralized when it comes into contact with soil, so there are no long-term effects. I would suspect a disease called anthracnose in a dogwood.
This is true but it IS possible that some chemical drifted onto the leaves while spraying and damaged/killed them. If so, those will grow back and not harm the plant in any meaningful way.
Is the leaf loss localized or is it happening all over the tree? If it’s all over, it’s likely not drift.
It’s systemic, so a large enough amount on the leaves and softwood will kill the plant.
Were these weeds potentially suckers? I’ve heard of frustrated gardeners dousing “weeds” that were actually suckers from the larger tree and killing the whole shebang on accident.
IOW: you can kill the leaves with Roundup, and if you killed all the leaves the tree could die. But it’s pretty hard, actually, to kill an established tree with an herbicide. Disease or insects, yes, but they take a long time.
Also I really doubt you could kill an established tree just by spraying the suckers. Sorry to disagree with you, Emtar, but I have some experience in this area. I have seen even young trees (under 5 years) recover from truly appalling treatment (accident, vandalism, or ill-advised pruning). Trees (well, most trees) are tough.
Anyway, I agree with Shagnasty and davey77 that the loss of leaves is probably symptomatic of something else and to seek expert help.
You’re describing a contact herbicide, which roundup is not. Vandalism and pruning is like getting in a fistfight, roundup is lethal injection.
I am interested in this thread because I have been having similar concerns. I moved from a house with a small yard to a place out in the country with a much larger yard and an acre or so of woods to maintain. I used to have a mild “philosophical” issue with herbicides in general. Now they are almost a necessity if I don’t want to devote every minute of spare time to weeding and yard maintenance. I have been using Roundup, Dura-zone and a couple products formulated for poison ivy. I have been very carefully using them around shrubs and ornamentals that I’d hate to kill. Haven’t killed anything I didn’t want to yet. Still, I’m happy to absorb the knowledge of The Dope on this subject.
I agree with Shagnasty. Watch for overspray and drift, avoid anything green parts of plants you wish to keep, including soft green stemmed plants. Brown woody stems are ok, but even then I try to be careful.
If you make a mistake:smack: it “can” be washed off, but you had best do it in the first 1 or 2 minutes. iME