Huisache: Acacia farnesiana

Huisache

Huisache (wee-satch) is an invasive brush species with thorns that is common in South and West Texas. In my lifetime, it has been on the march spreading into Central and Southeast Texas. About three years ago, I traveled along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and found it thriving 50 miles east of Sabine Pass. It will not be long before our Cajun neighbors start complaining.

Wildlife and livestock do not readily browse on the leaves of huisache, but just about everything relishes the bean it produces. The bean pods begin to drop in late summer when most of the warm season grasses and weeds have matured and dried out. The old grass and weeds in late July through early September have about as much appeal to animals as broom straw. Cattle, horses, goats, deer, feral swine, raccoons, and just about every seed eating bird in the world relish the beans that huisache produce. This is Mother Nature to the rescue giving animals a tasty food source right when other options are gone. Once the bean passes through the respective digestive tracts, wherever the end If you are all in for wildlife, then I guess huisache should be left alone. If you are in the cattle business or, like our family, try to balance livestock and wildlife, then huisache has to be controlled or it will overwhelm you. The neighboring place to the west of our family’s ranch has all of the openings basically swallowed up with huisache (see header photo). That is the festering breeding grounds for the spread of this plant in my neighborhood. All of my life, our family has had to constantly spray brush each summer as the new plants appear. That is the only way to keep your land clear of this invasive plant.

There is one odd thing about huisache that I have observed but not found much to read on the subject. You never see new plants sprouting under the canopy of existing mature stands of huisache. It appears new seedlings are sensitive to shade and will not emerge there. Give the little devils sun light and watch.

There are several remedies for killing huisache. Many of the options require using herbicides that require application permit. I have tried them all, but will just pass on the method I feel gives the highest percentage kill rate and does not require a special permit. Mix one part Remedy or Relegate with three parts diesel. Spray completely around the trunk of the plant from the soil up to about 18”. You have to completely encircle the trunk. Do not leave an untreated portion of the bark. Do this in late May through June. This is a slow reacting kill but very effective. It will take about a week to notice the leaves turning yellow. After two weeks or so, the leaves turn brown and after about a month, the leaves will begin to fall off. That plant is finished. The following year, all that remains is the gray brittle branches and trunk. After two years, this falls over. Remedy and Relegate are brand names from two different manufactures.

 

Dead Huisache

There may be other products on the market and the above names may change every few years. What you need to do is read the active ingredients. Following is the technical name.

Triclopyr BEE: (3,5,6 Trichloro-2- Pyridinyl) oxyacetic acid, butoxyethylester 61.6%

All you need is a simple 2 gallon hand held pressure pump. If you have a lot of brush to work on, a back pack type pump up sprayer works really well.

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