How to Kill a Red Osier Dogwood
- 1). Mow down red osier dogwood shrubs with stems that are smaller than 4 inches in diameter using a lawn tractor and brush mowing attachment in summer or fall.
- 2). Cut down red osier dogwood with stems that are larger than 4 inches in diameter with a chainsaw.
- 3). Spray the trunks of red osier that have been cut down with a systemic herbicide such as glyphosate at a rate of 7 pints per acre in August. The severed shrub stems will pull the systemic herbicide down to the roots of the plant during this time of year and kill them. Red osier dogwood have a dense matting root system that can easily send up new stems if you do not kill them using this method.
- 4). Plow the ground four times yearly with a disk plow attachment for your lawn tractor in order to prevent new red osier seedlings from sprouting.