Thorny Locust tree

[grnspot110]

My folks bought a 190 acre farm in NW MO in 1964, still fighting Honey Locust! The trees that are too thorny to cut & not in the way get girdled with the chain saw & I squirt Tordon in the saw curf. Agree on the good firewood, better green than dry!

As for fence posts, I'll stick to hedge (Osage Orange)! ~~ grnspot110

 

[SPYDERLK]

Hahaha! Just noticed that! We have so many of these pests that eradication is an ongoing concern and it began long before the blog was started. Some interesting comments though. I have never used the wood for household firewood or fence posts but that seems to me to be worth giving a go. In Australia we have very stringent fire restrictions and it is not easy to get a licence to burn off piles of wood or farm refuse. I thought about putting it through a wood chipper for garden mulch, but the thorns would still be a concern for kids, pets and the lawnmower.

I do also have one other plant pest that I need to tackle, and I do not know if any of you good people are familiar with it and I do not recall ever encountering it on any farms or ranches in the US. It is called African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum). It is not a tree, more of a shrub with smaller needles, quite resistent to Roundup and if you want to cut it, you WILL loose a bit of blood. I have found in the past that if I throw a chain around it and rip it out, it can re-emerge from I guess to be remaining root tissue. I can tell you that I have put this on the fire before and it is a great burner, but forget it for fence posts as the branches are quite gnarley.

Any ideas?

Bushog it frequently scalping all foliage.
larry

 

[Tim D]

In northeast MO we call the long thorned trees the honey locust and the short thorn trees the black locust. The black locust will make a better post than the honey locust. Both woods burn very good. Be careful with the black locust as it is full of oil and burns hot. I have heard stories of people turning there stoves cherry red burning it. The honey locust is a very good fire wood but who would want to cut, split, and handle it with the killer thorns. Several years ago when we bought the place we live on now, I hunted up all of them I could find, including the ones on neighbors property and girdled with saw and put TORDON BLUE on them. Cut them several years later for wood as the bark and thorns had slipped off. I also did this at my dad's place along a creek in a pasture. Bad mistake. As the bark and thorns loosened, the wind carried them at least 100' from the tree itself and deposited them in pasture. Honey locust spread like wildfire due to the # of seeds produced and the sweet seed it produces. Hence the name honey locust. Deer, cattle, and I think turkeys eat them. The seed is originally hard, as it is passed through an animal it softens the seed coat, is dropped in the manure and has the perfect enviroment to get started. Best way to truly kill them is with the Tordon. Over the top sprays only tick them off and mowing does nothing. Dozers will get rid of the tree but I have seen them regrow from the roots that are left. All I can say is stay on top of them and pray your neighbors do the same.

 

[NWMO 901 SOS]

My folks bought a 190 acre farm in NW MO in 1964, still fighting Honey Locust! The trees that are too thorny to cut & not in the way get girdled with the chain saw & I squirt Tordon in the saw curf. Agree on the good firewood, better green than dry!

As for fence posts, I'll stick to hedge (Osage Orange)! ~~ grnspot110

Hello all,

I was waiting for someone to bring up osage orange (hedge). I was just doing a search on these trees as the names don't make a lot of sense. The honey locust is by far the thorniest tree I've ever worked with and the thorns can approach a foot long. The Black locust doesn't have much of anything for thorns, but can be great for honey production when it blooms. They may make good post, but I can't imagine them keeping up with the old hedge post.

The honey locust are a bear to work, dad use to get them down with the saw and then my brother and I would go after them with a shovel, skinning the thorns off, so we could cut it up. If you let a big one lay for a good bit and then split it up for firewood, you'll be wanting to be called Paul Bunyon before the day is up, great splitting/buring wood.

I'm having to get the tubes for my front tires patched now, hopefully the back tires survived. I mowed an acre or two covered in spots with these darn things. Can't steer around them all, so the tire repair was no suprise.

grnspot110, not only did your response mirror what I was thinking, but we're neighbors to boot. I grew up and have moved back to a little farm just southeast of Maryville, MO. My parents moved here in 1970 and my stories about cutting "russian" thistles may be better than the honey locust.

Chris

 

[jinman]

I was waiting for someone to bring up osage orange (hedge). I was just doing a search on these trees as the names don't make a lot of sense. . . .

Chris, we never called them Osage Orange or hedge and I've only heard those names online even though it seems to be the proper name. In Texas, we always called them Bois D'Arc (pronounced, "bow-dark"). Bois D'Arc and cedar posts are common in old fencelines.

 

[NWMO 901 SOS]

Chris, we never called them Osage Orange or hedge and I've only heard those names online even though it seems to be the proper name. In Texas, we always called them Bois D'Arc (pronounced, "bow-dark"). Bois D'Arc and cedar posts are common in old fencelines.

Hello Jinman,

I'm pretty certain osage orange is the proper name and their fruit is called an apple. I've read that Osage orange planted closely together and allowed to grow will create a "hedge" that was used as fence before wire was common. I know we cleared the south line on our place, but before we did, it was so thick you couldn't get through it in most places.

Chris

 

[archerm3]

If anybody has some Osage Oranges that they want to get rid of and they are large let me know. They are highly valuable wood for making bows out of.

 

[grnspot110]

Hello all,

grnspot110, not only did your response mirror what I was thinking, but we're neighbors to boot. I grew up and have moved back to a little farm just southeast of Maryville, MO. My parents moved here in 1970 and my stories about cutting "russian" thistles may be better than the honey locust.

Chris

I live in Trenton, farm is south of Bethany! ~~ grnspot110

 

[NWMO 901 SOS]

I live in Trenton, farm is south of Bethany! ~~ grnspot110

grnspot110,

My inlaws just came through there and had dinner at the Toot Toot. We installed a "drip" system (sewage disposal) for the AG church just across from Camaro's a few years ago. When I was growing up we would drive over for the races at the 1/8 mile track.

Chris

 

[AussieBill]

Thanks for the tip on using Tordon Blue. I will give it a go next time. Having just returned from a quick trip back to Australia I can report that I was able to take out quite a few of these trees. I would estimate that with the use of a 5 tonne escavator, a chainsaw and sharp axe, I was able to dispatch about 200 or so seedling to 15' high trees. The trunks when they are green are particularly soft and cut easily when you can find a patch of trunk free from thorns so that you can get your chain or blade in. I also found that ringbarking some of the larger trees was quite easy even with a light axe. As was mentioned earlier by someone else, the bark peels off easily I found, much like peeling a banana believe it or not. I have cutthese to post and fireplace length and will see how this coming summer seasons the wood and how easily it splits. One thing that I am concerned with regarding these trees is the bulbous root that remains in the ground when snapping off the tree from its root system as opposed to extracting the whole thing. My fear is that the all the tree needs in order to regenerate for round two is that piece of root material. Time will tell and I will try that chemical you mentioned also. Next task is to get a dozer in for the 20 - 30 footers. These will put up quite a bit of resistance I imagine. Would you reccomend hitting those big ones with this chemical first?

Regards!