The use of herbicides in cultivation of spruce and pine in the Northwest Russia

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents the results of field experiments that went on in the Leningrad region for seven years with the aim to test the effect of modern herbicides and their mixtures on unwanted vegetation during the first few years after planting European spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). We provide data on the effect of herbicides on unwanted vegetation in clear-cut areas and former agricultural lands. We report the high efficiency of some applications of herbicides. For example, a mixture of Roundup, WS (360 g/l acid glyphosate), Anchor-85, WDG (750 g/kg potassium salt of sulfometuron-methyl) and Arsenal, WC (250 g/l imazapyr) suppressed the development of herbaceous weeds during two vegetative seasons. We provide data on the growth of the planted seedlings. We propose an efficient and low-cost method of creating forest plantations, which involves preliminary treatment of the area with a mixture of herbicides and the subsequent planting of pine and spruce seedlings.