New Pasture Saplings

[goeduck]

The big leaf maples we have out here do that, they just sprout multiple shoots for every one you cut off. It goes on forever if you just cut them. On a small scale if I grind out the stumps down to 6 to 8 inches or more below grade it takes care of the problem. How deep did your forestry mulcher go? Or are your stumps too big for a mulcher to be effective?

On a large scale an excavator digging out the stumps would seem to me to do the trick but you mention that is out of the question. I did use crossbow a few times, drilled a series of holes around/near the bark and applied it there. The trees took a few years to die off, but they did. More recently I went to the grinder.

 

[Hay Dude]

If the OP is just looking for grazing land, not lawn or hay fields, he should be fine flush cutting the stumps and letting a rotary mower or cows take care of the rest.

 

[ovrszd]

If the OP is just looking for grazing land, not lawn or hay fields, he should be fine flush cutting the stumps and letting a rotary mower or cows take care of the rest.

Yep. We need, or I should say I need, more clarity on intent. And pics would be nice.

My Brother sheared 2 acres 10 years ago. What a mess. Dangerous to drive a tractor on. Would have been fine for grazing. But not for maintenance. I ended up digging all the stumps with the hoe. Then hauling them off and repairing the mess as described by Eddie.

 

[Hay Dude]

Fluid filled tires would be a disaster on little stumps

 

[ovrszd]

Fluid filled tires would be a disaster on little stumps

Yep. Or non filled tires.

 

[BnRidge]

One neighbor here has a tree shear. I notice that he likes to promote using it for fencerows, on others farms and rented land but not his own. Another neighbor has a tree puller. He pulls, piles and burns on his own land, and pulls and leaves it lay on others and rented land. Doing it half way just makes a mess that can last decades.

 

[EddieWalker]

What little I know, and it's not much, is that the best time to kill weeds and trees with chemicals is when they are actively growing, and pulling nutrients from the ground. This is when they will pull the chemicals into their system, and spread it down to their roots, and totally die. This only happens in the Spring and the Fall. The success of the chemicals is based on timing application to when this is happening. For Mesquite, ground temperature is important, but the biggest giveaway is when the leaves turn dark green. This is when I plan on spraying them.

When cutting weeds, I believe the best time is when they are almost fully gown, but before they flower and create their seeds. Cutting too late and you just spread the seeds. Cutting too soon and they will just start growing again.

Cutting trees can be very effective for some trees, or you're creating a worse problem with other trees. For me, cutting the Mesquite tree just leads to more saplings sprouting up from the root system. Cutting them is the worse way to get rid of them. Fortunately for me, on the land I live on, pines are the dominant tree species and they die very quickly when cut. Unfortunately, they will keep trying to sprout for many years from all of the seeds that end up in the ground.

Disking is known to expose the seeds and kill them if done at the right time of the year. If done at the wrong time of the year, you will actually increase their production and have more weeds and trees sprouting in the Spring.

It's all about timing!!!!

 

[jyoutz]

What little I know, and it's not much, is that the best time to kill weeds and trees with chemicals is when they are actively growing, and pulling nutrients from the ground. This is when they will pull the chemicals into their system, and spread it down to their roots, and totally die. This only happens in the Spring and the Fall. The success of the chemicals is based on timing application to when this is happening. For Mesquite, ground temperature is important, but the biggest giveaway is when the leaves turn dark green. This is when I plan on spraying them.

When cutting weeds, I believe the best time is when they are almost fully gown, but before they flower and create their seeds. Cutting too late and you just spread the seeds. Cutting too soon and they will just start growing again.

Cutting trees can be very effective for some trees, or you're creating a worse problem with other trees. For me, cutting the Mesquite tree just leads to more saplings sprouting up from the root system. Cutting them is the worse way to get rid of them. Fortunately for me, on the land I live on, pines are the dominant tree species and they die very quickly when cut. Unfortunately, they will keep trying to sprout for many years from all of the seeds that end up in the ground.

Disking is known to expose the seeds and kill them if done at the right time of the year. If done at the wrong time of the year, you will actually increase their production and have more weeds and trees sprouting in the Spring.

It's all about timing!!!!

Actually herbicides work anytime the plant is actively growing, from spring to fall, but not when they are dormant.

 

[EddieWalker]

I fully admit to not being an expert, but after talking to the experts in my are at the Ag Extension, I'm going to disagree on a technical point. While they may work any time of the year, there are times of the year that they work a lot better then other times of the year here in East Texas. That would be Spring and Fall. And in those to periods, you have about two weeks in each season that's considered the best time to apply so you get the best results without wasting your money.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Thanks for the help. I think the main problem is that when the where mulched up the stumps where taken down to ground level and wherever there was a stump I get stands of sapling trees. I could try pulling them but would have to pull the stumps which is out of the question. I might try spot treating with some brush killer after I have cut them off and see if that decreases them. I'm just looking to make it usable pasture land. The land for many years will never be good for hay production. Just wanting to use it as another place to put cows to give my other pastures a rest.

It's been my experience that if you cut a tree down in a cow pasture, the cows will forget the grass and skin the leaves off that tree. Donkeys love brush. My neighbor bought 25 goats for that. His own dog killed every one of them the next morning. Not so with donkeys. A donkey can kill a pack of dogs. A jack can be too rough alone with your cows. A jenny will be fine. I had a full Jack. You could put little kids on him and lead him around. But he'd kill anything else. Horses, cows, they gave him space. But, we had a Shetland pony meaner than that.