Phragmites Treatments
While there are many ways to successfully treat invasive Phragmites, large-scale populations require large-scale solutions.
- Herbicide: ISN and our contractors treat with ~1.5% glyphosate (in an aquatic-approved formulation, such as AquaNeat) with 0.6% of an aquatic-approved, non-ionic surfactant (such as CygnetPlus).
- Timing: Treatments take place in late August through late October; herbicides must be applied after the “tufts” of Phragmites’ flowers have appeared, but before the first hard frost.
- Methods: Most Phragmites treatments take place at ground-level, either from a backpack sprayer (on foot), from a boat, or from an amphibious tracked vehicle. However, some populations are so large as to require aerial application; in these situations, a helicopter applicator is hired.
- Other: Sometimes other methods such as cutting or burning the dead “thatch” of plants occurs during other times of the year; this is on a case-by-case basis. Treatments often take at least two years, and all populations must be monitored into the future to prevent re-invasion from root fragments or seeds.
