As noted earlier, the three most important things in plantation establishment are "Weeds, weeds and weeds!". We earlier described the extensive weed control that was required to control the blackberries and other weeds that were on the property when we bought it. The second phase of weed control was a couple of months prior to planting after the ripping and mounding had been done.
The purpose of this weed control was to kill the weeds in the immediate vicinity of the mounds, to reduce competition with the seedlings in the early months of their lives. Grass and weeds in between the rows was not sprayed, in order to keep ground cover there to act as a mulch and hence retain ground moisture. The spraying was done by hand and by quad-bike, as shown at the Field Day at John Woodley's Taggerty property.
