With two licensed pesticide applicators on staff, we provide both general invasive plant species control, and hardwood control to encourage regeneration of desirable species.
Southern Maine is home to a wide array of invasive shrub species, with notable examples including buckthorn, honeysuckle, bittersweet, and multiflora rose. This page from the Maine DACF provides more info on various invasives: https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/features/invasive_plants/invasives.htm
Invasives often take the form of bushes and vines which can dominate the understory of a forest stand and prevent the establishment of desirable tree regeneration, as well as other native understory vegetation. Small areas of infestation which may begin adjacent to a road or neighboring residential property can quickly spread through a woodlot, and hinder both timber production value and wildlife habitat value.
In stands suitable for regenerating white pine, it may also be a goal to control competing regeneration of native hardwood species such as beech and red maple. Even where the overstory consists primarily of white pine, these adaptable species can occupy the understory and outcompete desired pine regeneration.
We use a variety of methods of herbicide application to control these species. Scattered instances of small invasive bushes can be treated by foliar application with hand-pump backpack sprayers, which can also apply basal oil to treat the stems of especially tall bushes and vines. Denser areas of invasives or undesirable hardwoods are treated with mechanized backpack mistblowers. For the broadest-scale treatment of large areas, we have invested in a Kubota utility vehicle which carries a mounted mistblower and up to 50 gallons of herbicide. The mounted mistblower can spray out to 30-40 feet, and the UTV rides on aftermarket tracks, rather than wheels, which provide better traction and flotation on soft soils.
Check out this video of our Kubota UTV with mistblower in action.