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LEAFY SPURGE COST SHARE
The status of this weed as #1 on our "All Time Weed
Hit List" is well deserved. Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula)
is an extremely persistent, aggressive, potentially toxic, perennial
noxious weed. It is very difficult to control, especially by mechanical or
cultural means alone. The roots of Leafy spurge are extensive and, when
broken by pulling or tilling, can send up several new plants where only
one existed before. Cutting the plants, as with mowing or using a weed
eater, will also stimulate new and vigorous growth and may send the milky
latex found in the plant stems and leaves flying onto the equipment
operator or to bystanders and can cause burning and blistering in
sensitive people. Often times landowners are lulled into a false sense of
security when they see the tops of the plants die back or, if they’ve
been working on control for a few years, they may not see any plants in
the spring of one year. However, the roots go so deep and wide that they
can and will wait patiently for a year or two, even without any above
ground plants, and then send up new plants when no one is looking. The
nature of this weed demands consistent and persistent control efforts.
Appropriate herbicides used at the appropriate time,
especially in conjunction with repeated digging and competitive vegetation
planting, may be the best control method for the relatively small patches
of spurge found in our county.
We have offered cost share on known infestations of
Leafy spurge for more than a decade. Some of the sites are new each year,
but some have been in the program since it’s inception.
Persistence is
the key to keeping this weed under control. Again in 2011, the Weed Board
will cost share with a landowner 100% of the total cost of herbicide for
control of leafy spurge with the landowner paying for the cost of
application (labor) under the following conditions:
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Key Elements of Leafy Spurge Cost Share
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- This cost share program is offered by the weed board as an
incentive to begin or maintain a long-term program by each
individual.
The Board feels very strongly that Leafy spurge not
be allowed to move beyond its present boundaries and that the
goal should be eventual eradication.
- Weed Board personnel must be given access to the property for
both pre- and post-treatment survey and flagging and have the
option of being on-site during application.
Each landowner
should participate in the surveying and flagging element of this
control program.
- Cost share treatment is herbicide only. Herbicides-Tordon (picloram)
& 2,4-D
used in the summer at true bloom stage and possibly
in the fall on a follow-up treatment;
Plateau (imazapic) used
only in fall and split spring treatments.
This is a newer herbicide and we will
use it in all instances that are appropriate.
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- Generally, cost share is offered when a commercial herbicide
applicator is used but if a landowner has a current WA State
pesticide license, we may be able to provide appropriate
chemical.
- Some treatment methods are
experimental
and because of site specifics (water, grazing, soil type, trees,
yards, etc), the most effective chemical may not be available to
use.
In these cases, we may have to settle for controlling seed
production and preventing further spread until a better control
method is offered. As a general rule, cost share will be for a
one-time application per growing season, but some allowances may
be made.
Goal-maintain consistency with respect to treatment-it is easy
to walk away from a patch thinking it’s been controlled or
even eradicated just because top growth is gone for one or two
years
Leafy spurge is required to be controlled everywhere it is
found in Stevens County
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