Scotch Broom
Scotch Broom needs to be pulled when the ground is damp and friable, willing to give up the roots. Smaller plants can simply be pulled out by hand. For larger plants, you need a Weed Wrench. A weed wrench clamps around the base of a woody plant and then you lean on the end of the handle and pop the plant out. For large old plants, sometimes you need to snip off some lower branches to create access to the base of the stem for the wrench. Also, for the big ones, sometimes one person leaning on the wrench, and another person on the opposite side of the plant working with a shovel, helps a lot. If you have the use of a wrench, we have found no broom plant too large or old to pop out. The FAC loans out our weed wrenches to people in the Illinois Valley.
Scotch broom seeds need to be impacted by fire before they will sprout. FAC has never tried this but we have heard that it works to scatter your pulled plants over the area they were pulled from, and then burn the plants which are very oily and burn hot and easy. In theory, this will cause the seeds to sprout. You wait a few years until the seedlings are large enough to pull easily and then the area should be truly free of scotch broom. One advantage to this control method is that you are then rid of the broom you pulled. Otherwise, bear in mind how quickly and how hot this oily plant will burn, when you go to burn your pile of pulled plants.
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