buckthorn!!!!

[proudestmonkey]

I think if I were doing this, I'd leave the FEL on the front, use it to bend down the buckthorn, leave the mmm on the bottom to protect my BX, and then go over it with the Bush hog/Brush hog, to cut the stuff off. There is so much buckthorn that this would certainly make things easier, the only problem is, I don't want to destroy any of the other seedlings out there (oak, aspen, birch, cedar, elm). On the other hand, I wonder if I'd be best off cutting everything down to begin with, and then allowing only the other stuff to come back up. Right now, for every single seedling of something desirable, there are probably 20 to 50 buckthorn seedlings. I have been slowly opening up the canopy by cutting down larger buckthorn and Boxelder (to reduce the bug factor in the fall). Once light hits the ground in the forest, those buckthorn seedlings are really going to take off. So, I need to figure this out soon. Also, there's new develepmont coming across our pond in the next 5 to 8 years, so I really want things that get much taller than Buckthorn to replace it, which is why I've been clearing the way down by the pond for willow, cottonwood, oak and maple. I'd love to have a diverse spread of very tall growing trees coming up by the time delevopment comes.

Hmmm....

 

[proudestmonkey]

I think if I were doing this, I'd leave the FEL on the front, use it to bend down the buckthorn, leave the mmm on the bottom to protect my BX, and then go over it with the Bush hog/Brush hog, to cut the stuff off. There is so much buckthorn that this would certainly make things easier, the only problem is, I don't want to destroy any of the other seedlings out there (oak, aspen, birch, cedar, elm). On the other hand, I wonder if I'd be best off cutting everything down to begin with, and then allowing only the other stuff to come back up. Right now, for every single seedling of something desirable, there are probably 20 to 50 buckthorn seedlings. I have been slowly opening up the canopy by cutting down larger buckthorn and Boxelder (to reduce the bug factor in the fall). Once light hits the ground in the forest, those buckthorn seedlings are really going to take off. So, I need to figure this out soon. Also, there's new develepmont coming across our pond in the next 5 to 8 years, so I really want things that get much taller than Buckthorn to replace it, which is why I've been clearing the way down by the pond for willow, cottonwood, oak and maple. I'd love to have a diverse spread of very tall growing trees coming up by the time delevopment comes.

Hmmm....

 

[beenthere]

Nice idea you have with pushing over brush to lay it down to hog with the rotary cutter. However, I don't do that with buckthorn as 1) the belly of the tractor doesn't have good protection against the tough stems and thorns this bush has, and 2) I don't like the thorns of the buckthorn stems poking into my tires.

So, for buckthorn, I back the rotary cutter in to hog buckthorn. Then I am only driving over the hogged material, granted there is still some risk of poking thorns into the tires (helps to have R-4's however).

Post some pics when you can. Thanks.

 

[beenthere]

Nice idea you have with pushing over brush to lay it down to hog with the rotary cutter. However, I don't do that with buckthorn as 1) the belly of the tractor doesn't have good protection against the tough stems and thorns this bush has, and 2) I don't like the thorns of the buckthorn stems poking into my tires.

So, for buckthorn, I back the rotary cutter in to hog buckthorn. Then I am only driving over the hogged material, granted there is still some risk of poking thorns into the tires (helps to have R-4's however).

Post some pics when you can. Thanks.

 

[schrand]

I had a similar situation last fall. My weed tree is hawthorn, but I didn't want to clear the whole area. What I ended up doing was walking the area with a roll of plastic ribbon, and marking the trees I wanted to save. I tried to find the more desireable ones, and keep them properly spaced. That took the better part of a day. Then I brush hogged around the trees that had been tagged. Same hand trimming was required, but I was very pleased with the result.

 

[schrand]

I had a similar situation last fall. My weed tree is hawthorn, but I didn't want to clear the whole area. What I ended up doing was walking the area with a roll of plastic ribbon, and marking the trees I wanted to save. I tried to find the more desireable ones, and keep them properly spaced. That took the better part of a day. Then I brush hogged around the trees that had been tagged. Same hand trimming was required, but I was very pleased with the result.

 

[midlf]

I second BEENTHERE and SCRAND's method. Mark, plan, chop what you can with the RC and hand trim the rest. Be sure to chemical treat the stumps to prevent re-sprout. I don't know if buckthorn re-sprouts but I don't give it the chance.

The bad news: You will have to keep at this for a few years until the buckthorn seed bank is depleted. I go after the little new sprouts with a back pack sprayer with the nozzle set for narrow cone. I'm still playing with roundup, weed-b-gon and brush-b-gon to determine what is most economically effective.

 

[midlf]

I second BEENTHERE and SCRAND's method. Mark, plan, chop what you can with the RC and hand trim the rest. Be sure to chemical treat the stumps to prevent re-sprout. I don't know if buckthorn re-sprouts but I don't give it the chance.

The bad news: You will have to keep at this for a few years until the buckthorn seed bank is depleted. I go after the little new sprouts with a back pack sprayer with the nozzle set for narrow cone. I'm still playing with roundup, weed-b-gon and brush-b-gon to determine what is most economically effective.