OK, I know I've read a lot of stuff here about different kinds of weed control and herbacides and glyphosates and such. But, I just want a product that I can safely use to "clip and brush" onto the stumps of the hundreds of little sweet gums that are sprouting all over my dam. I've also got a few that are not so small - about 4" diameter stumps that keep sprouting new growth.

I won't be spraying anything. I'll cut them down and then carefully paint the freshly cut stump with "something" but, these are all pretty close to my water's edge.

What can/should I use? (and please don't say to use a shovel - some of those trees would be 50' tall before I got around to digging them all up)

Thanks!
Al

Arsenal would be what I would use. Just mix it up in a 32 oz. Squirt bottle and spray the stump. Just a little bit of this stuff kills alot. Using 2-4D might work if you covered the top of the stump but I Arsenal will work better if you can find it. Your local forester should have it or be able to get it.

I'm sure Arsenal will work just fine, but you dont need to buy a specialty product for this. I have killed hundreds in shallow end of ponds by just cutting them down and paint glyphosate(Roundup or any of the many generics), 2-4-D or trichlopir(ortho brush killer) straight from the container. Just paint the top and a little of the side. They will be killed. I have used this on sweet gum and tallow with none that have remained alive. Do it when freshly cut.

Thanks for the info!

I've used the Ortho products like this very successfully around my yard but I'm really spooked about using them so close to my water. Of course, there's no need for me to let any of the chemical actually touch my water but...it's still so close that any kind of accidental spill would get into the water before I could react.

Just dig a few little holes by each stump and put a handful of rock salt and/or copper sulphate. If a little leeches into your pond, good!

Yup, cut them close to the ground as possible. I use Ortho. And very important, cut and paint. Do not wait.

Today was a perfect day for it - no rain in the forecast for several days, warm and sunny, very light breeze blowing straight off the water and back at the dam.

Also, my pardner was able to come out so, he clipped and I painted the stumps. We got about 75% of them knocked out before I ran out of glyphosate.

Thanks for all the advice!