Phragmites-who's dealt with them?

John D

Member
I've got a ditch area/roadway that I'm going to be planting oats and ladino clover this fall. Behind one part of this area is a swamp and the phragmites have overtaken a small area maybe 75' by 75'. The area is kind of wet and I need to do some drainage work to dry it out before I plant this fall. I was told the phragmites are going to keep wanting to come to this area even if I kill them off as they're in the swamp.

First of all, what's the best way to kill them off right now? Secondly, when I do plant my food plot of Ladino clover, is there anyway to kill them if they start to grow in the clover without killing the clover.

They are pretty tall right now. Those things seem to grow a foot in a week. I'm going to mow them down before I kill them off. No way Im going to spray them as tall as they are.
 
I've got a ditch area/roadway that I'm going to be planting oats and ladino clover this fall. Behind one part of this area is a swamp and the phragmites have overtaken a small area maybe 75' by 75'. The area is kind of wet and I need to do some drainage work to dry it out before I plant this fall. I was told the phragmites are going to keep wanting to come to this area even if I kill them off as they're in the swamp.

First of all, what's the best way to kill them off right now? Secondly, when I do plant my food plot of Ladino clover, is there anyway to kill them if they start to grow in the clover without killing the clover.

They are pretty tall right now. Those things seem to grow a foot in a week. I'm going to mow them down before I kill them off. No way Im going to spray them as tall as they are.
If Phragmites is growing in a dry or upland area, the popular herbicide Roundup can be used on it. This needs to be the agricultural formulation of the product that contains 41% glyphosate. ... If Phragmites is growing in a wetland area, the aquatic formulations that contain 53.8% glyphosate must be used.
 
Ladino clover is very difficult to start in the heat of the summer, although planting in a wet area helps. The most popular way to start ladino is to do a fall planting, maybe late August in your area, of oats and brassica, with the ladino mixed in, then by spring it should be a nice clover plot.
 
I do a lot of this for work. Spot on with the first post about the Gly. The best advice i I can give is to use a good surfactant , and wait till about late September to spray when the plant is storing up energy in its roots to overwinter/go dormant. This gets a much better kill. A once or 2 of Tryclopyr doesnt hurt added to the mix as well . Good luck and keep after them !
 
Anyway to kill these while they are growing with the Ladino clover? I have an area that has oats and clover already growing that the phragmites are growing in a few patches. Looks like these are going to give me a problem.

The new area I'm going to kill them all of before I plant clover/oats this fall glyphosate. I just want a plan b to kill the ones that survive while the food plot starts coming in.
 
Anyway to kill these while they are growing with the Ladino clover? I have an area that has oats and clover already growing that the phragmites are growing in a few patches. Looks like these are going to give me a problem.

The new area I'm going to kill them all of before I plant clover/oats this fall glyphosate. I just want a plan b to kill the ones that survive while the food plot starts coming in.
COMMON REED, (Phragmites australis) Chemical control: chlorsulfuron 2,4- D, glyphosate, imazamox, imazapyr, imazethapyr, or metsulfuron methyl.

Imazethapyr is Thunder herbicide, labeled for clover, and will kill the reeds. I've written extensively about Thunder on this site.
 
COMMON REED, (Phragmites australis) Chemical control: chlorsulfuron 2,4- D, glyphosate, imazamox, imazapyr, imazethapyr, or metsulfuron methyl.

Imazethapyr is Thunder herbicide, labeled for clover, and will kill the reeds. I've written extensively about Thunder on this site.
Will this kill oats that I plant as a cover crop?
 
Will this kill oats that I plant as a cover crop?
Yes, unfortunately. And Thunder will have carryover, and will stunt small grains several months later. One of the few herbicides that works on an oat and clover combo is 24db, otherwise known as Butyrac200. I don't know if it will kill flags, but Butyrac200 is cheap and handy to have around, I'd advise getting some and doing a test spray on those phragmites.
 
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