Richard Gardner rtgardner3@yahoo.com 410.726.3045 Dec. 10, 2014 Drill and Fill, a volunteer safe method of killing Ailanthus altissima Drill and fill is a simple volunteer safe way of killing Ailanthus altissima during non-dormancy. It is designed to replace “Hack and Squirt”, basal bark spraying and cut/treat for stumps. The materials are concentrated (purple cap) Roundup® (50.2% active), nitrile gloves, cordless drill with a 3/8” bit, a spray bottle, marker and a tape measure. Wrap a tape measure at comfortable working height around the circumference of tree to be killed. Mark every two inches. Drill 1-1/2 inch deep holes at every mark. Spray concentrated Roundup® into each hole. In a few days the leaves will start to turn yellow. Within a week or so the leaves will have turned yellow and started to drop. This will continue until no leaves remain. After a few months test the tree by scraping between the holes to make sure there is no living (green) under the bark. If there is green, drill a hole in the green area and spray in more concentrated Roundup®. The method can be done whenever the tree is not dormant. This means from early spring when the tree is coming out of dormancy to before leaf drop in the fall. This method is designed for mature trees. However, it can be adjusted to trees tree down to about 1” diameter by using proportionally smaller drill bits. I have killed trees with diameters of 1” to over 60” in one treatment. During dormancy there are still a couple quirks. It appears that placing holes around the base of the tree, taking care to drill into all obvious roots is more effective than at comfortable working height. Make sure to observe these trees for a couple years to check for clones. If necessary, treat the clones. If the treated tree is near buildings or similar places where it could be a hazard when it falls, it should be cut down six months to one year from treatment. Otherwise it may snap off at the drill holes during a storm.