Note regarding surfactants: Just as with herbicides, read label directions! Some surfactants are appropriate for use with certain herbicides but not others. A surfactant and indicator dye will help with control and efficacy.Wear safety gear and mix herbicides in a safe environment. Always read the entire label before using any herbicide.Calibrate sprayer well and watch your rates.Seed treatment area heavily with grass to shade out Scotch broom seedlings.A battery powered reciprocating saw is a great tool for cutting large stems. Pulling large plants with a weed wrench creates ideal growing conditions for seed bank so consider cutting instead.Don't mow Scotch broom when seed pods are ripe.Cut stumps often don't need herbicide treatment if they are an inch in diameter or bigger.Application will kill non-target vegetation. You can also use glyphosate (Round Up) for early fall treatments, though results may be marginal on thicker stems.Treat regrowth in fall or the following spring with Garlon, Milestone VM Plus or Crossbow.Care must be taken around trees and shrubs due to Milestone's soil activity. Garlon 3A and Milestone mixed are very effective and don't require complete coverage of plant for total control.Garlon 3A or 4, glyphosate, and Crossbow are all effective.Water stress in late summer can cause reduced herbicide effectiveness.If possible, spray scotch broom before and after bloom when it is growing vigorously.Early season mowing typically results in dense, multi-stemmed regrowth great for spraying, not so great for 'lop and leave.'.

Also, keep in mind there is a good chance that seeds already on the ground will be spread by mowing. Mowing is sometimes done to knock down large Scotch broom patches, but should be avoided when seed pods are ripe.Pull smaller plants (less than 1/2 inch) by hand or with a weed wrench.Cutting large plants (stem greater than 1/2 inch) is very effective without herbicides in the mid July-Sept.Be sure to read the important notes below about herbicide use. It is more effective to cut larger plants because the larger cut ones will die when cut, and pulling them will disturb the soil stimulate more seed germination and result in more scotch broom plants.īelow I have copied some more complete information about scotch broom control from a great document called ' Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Guide for Common Weeds', which includes weed control expertise from the Pacific Northwest and was compiled by the Northwest Weed Management Partnership. Cut, don't pull the larger plants with a with a stump diameter of ½ inch or greater. This is because you only want to pull the smaller plants that have a basal stem diameter of ½ inch or less. You can use a smaller (a 24 inch or 43 inch) weed wrench to pull scotch broom.

Scotch broom plant images