Trees

[m7040]

Have a neighbor that has a nice manicured 5 acre lot bordering up to our farm that did not like our tree planting along one side of his lot and he took it upon himself to go spray roundup several feet into our property along the fence line. Called the county and got them involved to survey the issue and together with the Maryland Department Of The Environment they visited with him and since then we have had no more problems with that neighbor. Not sure what they did but talking to the neighbor after that he was all over himself telling me that he would never do that again.

 

[John_Mc]

What I haven't seen suggested here yet is starting with a friendly talk with the farmer neighbor. They may be willing to work with you on this. Why start out looking for a battle? Save that for if they are completely uncooperative.

 

[Username Taken]

What I haven't seen suggested here yet is starting with a friendly talk with the farmer neighbor. They may be willing to work with you on this. Why start out looking for a battle? Save that for if they are completely uncooperative.

Huh?? There was nothing in my post about anything like that. The whole point of this is to avoid conflict.

Besides, like I said, the property owner doesn't do the Farming, he leases his property out. And he seems like a nice guy.

Not a bad gig when you have a thousand acres you can lease it out for $150 a year, more or less, per acre.

Then, the lessee almost certainly contracts to someone else to do the spraying. So the property owner is 2 steps removed from the process. Not counting the the kid that operates the machine. And it's a big one.

I said from the start, I don't want the headache of getting confrontational with -- Anybody. I just wondered if anybody has any experience with what trees seem to resist Roundup wind drift. My trees will be smack-dab on the border. So that big, huge John Deere sprayer will pass right by them. I'm sure the sprayer-guy doesn't want to damage my trees and, even more important, doesn't want to waste the spray. But you know what they say..... Stuff happens.

I want a wind break between 200 and 500 feet long. That will take a lot of trees a lot of money and a lot of work. And I don't want to do it more than once.

 

[Cat385B]

Hybrid willows or poplars in areas with moisture. Scotch pines in drier areas.
All pines are a bit more resistant to overspray than a leaf tree.
Hemlock and arborvitae can be planted close to a line, the others above will have to be 20’ back.

 

[John_Mc]

What I haven't seen suggested here yet is starting with a friendly talk with the farmer neighbor. They may be willing to work with you on this. Why start out looking for a battle? Save that for if they are completely uncooperative.

Huh?? There was nothing in my post about anything like that. The whole point of this is to avoid conflict.

Besides, like I said, the property owner doesn't do the Farming, he leases his property out. And he seems like a nice guy.

I was not suggesting that you were making that jump. It's just that many of the responses jumped right to a confrontational approach. In this case, I'd start with the landowner, and ask for their suggestions on approaching the farmer.

I'm not 100% familiar with the laws regarding application, I do know they vary from state to state. However, I'd be inclined to doubt the claim made earlier in this thread that farmers are not responsible for damage they do when spraying. I'm betting that repeated violations could cause them to lose their applicators license.

Then, the lessee almost certainly contracts to someone else to do the spraying. So the property owner is 2 steps removed from the process. Not counting the the kid that operates the machine.

I grew up on a farm in Ohio, and have lived in an agricultural area here in VT for the past 20 years. The farmers I'm acquainted with all did their own spraying. Though that may have hove something to do with the size of the farm. In both of those states, the "kid that operates the machine" would need to have a commercial herbicide applicator's license to apply it legally.

 

[bigtiller]

I said from the start, I don't want the headache of getting confrontational with -- Anybody. I just wondered if anybody has any experience with what trees seem to resist Roundup wind drift. My trees will be smack-dab on the border. So that big, huge John Deere sprayer will pass right by them. I'm sure the sprayer-guy doesn't want to damage my trees and, even more important, doesn't want to waste the spray. But you know what they say..... Stuff happens.

I want a wind break between 200 and 500 feet long. That will take a lot of trees a lot of money and a lot of work. And I don't want to do it more than once.

My trees will be smack-dab on the border.

Try not to do that, it's not a good way to be neighborly. In a few years the trees will be encroaching on your neighbor. Try to plant at a minimum of 25 ft. away from the property line.

If you plant a conifer like Norway Spruce on the outside row, even at 25 ft., in 20 years they could be close enough to the property line that it could be difficult to maintain them without trespassing.

 

[MossRoad]

....
I want a wind break between 200 and 500 feet long. That will take a lot of trees a lot of money and a lot of work. And I don't want to do it more than once.

Not as many trees, not as much money, and not as much work as you may think. A 500' long row of trees planted 10' apart is only 50 trees.
Three rows staggered is only 150 trees.
We did a row of shrubs of various species, a row of fruiting trees like crab apples, and two staggered rows of pines for our outer border/windbreak.
We had a forester plant them, along with 2150 trees on 4 acres. Half pines, half mixed hardwoods. Total cost with side spraying after 75% of cost paid by govt program was $265. So about $1060 before the rebate. This was, of course, around 1989 and prices have increased I'm sure. It took them about 4 hours to plant everything.

Nothing was ever lost to overspray from the corn/bean field next to us over the next 10 years. Then that neighbor stopped leasing it out for farming and he planted trees and food plots.

 

[MossRoad]

Here's a link to a nursery in Holland, MI.
2 year old white pines in the 18"-30" range are only $304 for 100 trees, for example.

Alpha Nurseries, Inc.

www.alphanurseries.com

Here's a directory of Michigan tree nurseries for you perusal. Start looking at difference species of trees and shrubs just to get an idea of costs. All things said, trees are dirt cheap in bulk.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/DirectoryOfMichiganSeedlingNurseries-IC4175_258828_7.pdf

But as mentioned before, be sure to consult with a state forester/biologist for advice for your specific location, needs and recommendations.

 

[turnkey4099]

Hybrid willows or poplars in areas with moisture. Scotch pines in drier areas.
All pines are a bit more resistant to overspray than a leaf tree.
Hemlock and arborvitae can be planted close to a line, the others above will have to be 20’ back.

I see a couple willow groves that have been badly damaged by spray. I doubt any deciduous tree would be resistant to RU.

 

[Jstpssng]

Poplar in particular does not like herbicides. Red/soft maple on the other hand is pretty stubborn about spray, as anybody who's done R/W spraying will attest. It will die, but generally there is a different chemical to make that happen.

I would first look into the laws in your state. I once got sprayed by the guy in the blueberry field adjacent to my line. I was not happy but didn't say anything to him, as he's a hard working guy and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. (He was parked on the road at the edge of the block, sending spray 180 feet to the far side of the field.) The next crop rotation he had a different sprayer which allowed more control... he was just starting out and it took a while to get situated properly.