ROW Vegetation Management

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R.O.W. Vegetation Management

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ROW Vegetation Management
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Dealing With Weeds and Grasses By using a combination of chemical and mechanical controls, we are winning the war on noxious weeds while promoting a healthier stand of grass in our R.O.W.'s. Our retriever creates a temporary weed zone where it is used on the shoulder. We counter this with an intensive weed control program targeting the shoulder area. Sporatic weed problems exist over the rest of the ROW due to previous years having standing water in low areas that killed out the established grasses. A healthy stand of native grass is the BEST defense against future weed infestations. Any bare ground will soon sprout kochia or noxious thistle, and these areas must be watched and dealt with more intensely. Grasses play a huge part in the function of the rest of the road. With early spring retriever dressing of the top of shoulders grass growth is disrupted while recovering binders and material back to the surface. While it is not desireable on the top of the road, shoulder grass traps and contains the precious binder clays that rinse off the road surface during heavy rains. Healthy slope grass also prevents erosion and saturation from ditch water getting into the road base.
	Step One Before grasses reach 12-16 inches in height we mow the shoulder one pass with our Tiger rotary mower. This allows some of the weeds that are behind in growth to establish more leaf area and controls the early weeds so that the first spray pass will be more effective.
	Step Two After approximately a week to ten days we follow the mowing with a 6' spray band of 2,4D LV-4 and Tordon 12-1 ratio of chemical to kill broadleaf weeds and noxious thistle that are on the shoulder area. Then a followup pass is made that covers a 16' spray in areas where weeds are beyond the 6' pass made earlier. While Grazon would be a cheaper chemical to use, it is not labeled for ROW use, although it is allowed if you mix Tordon with 2,4D. After about two weeks we go back around and respray any areas where poor control was noted with 2,4D LV-6 to further control weeds that were late in coming or weather conditions interfered with the first application done earlier.
	Step Three Once the foliage reaches the 12-16" height on the shoulder a second pass of mowing with the Tiger rotary mower is done. This time around we cut two passes to help control the brohme grass which dominates our ROW's here in Buffalo County. This also sets the stage for the next phase of spraying to further control weeds and grasses.
	Step Four After 5-7 days following the second mowing pass the spray truck is again put into action. This time we spray RoundUp UltraMax at a rate of 16oz/acre to a narrow 24" band and spray only the edge of the shoulder. This kills all vegetation that encroaches onto the roadway and 6" over the shoulder, as well as evening up the edge for the final pass of mowing. A grader can also be used to recover gravel that has been contained by the foliage back to the surface without the headache of excess vegetation in the material.
	Step Five For the fall mowing we cut a three pass cut on problem areas with winter snow accumulation and two passes in all other areas. On the earliest mowed areas we follow up the mowed areas soon after with a light application of RoundUp UltraMax at 6oz/acre to chemically "freeze" the grass growth. Once grass growth stops for the season this step is no longer neccessary.
	Step Six After the first frost of the season we spot spray all of the areas of noxious weeds logged during the year with Tordon. This fall application further weakens the established Canadian Thistle areas for elimination next season. If pigeon grass is a problem at this time it is also banded with 24D LV-6 to wipe it out on the shoulder.
	The End Result A cleanly mowed shoulder without weeds, no grass up on the shoulder and no windrow of gravel due to grasses and weeds in the gravel. Roads are ready for anything that winter's wrath throws our way. With proper snow management most of the roadways will remain clear of snow throughout the winter season, saving us thousands in snow removal that would be needed due to grassy shoulders catching snow on the roadways. All of the efforts done in vegetation management also improve the healthy establishment of desireable grasses taking over and elimination of undesireable grasses on our slopes. Over several seasons of this type of control, areas of brohme and cheatgrass will yield to green needle, buffalo grass and other native graases that get restablished as a result of proper chemical application and timely mechanical mowing working hand in hand to achieve an end result.