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Post by kl9 on Jan 26, 2018 8:44:04 GMT -6
I have a 1-2 acre area on my property that has quite a few young oaks growing amongst both more mature oaks as well as other trees that are less desirable to me (primarily birch). This is an area of the property that is pretty close to my north line so I don’t want to encourage a whole lot of bedding there (although my N neighbor is good in that he doesn’t shoot young bucks so I’m not overly concerned with deer walking his way). As a side note, I will probably purchase this acreage from my neighbor in the next 5-8 years and at that time bedding in this area would be ideal. My thought is to go in there and thin out some of the less desirable trees as well as maybe some oak that are leaning poorly or are old and not very big in diameter.
First, does this sound like a decent plan?
Second, I don’t want the birch to start sprouting from the stumps and I would like to kill the tree. Isn’t there a chemical I can “paint” on the top of the stump I create to kill the tree? Anyone have experience with this?
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Post by MoBuckChaser on Jan 26, 2018 9:13:52 GMT -6
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Post by Bwoods11 on Jan 26, 2018 9:27:41 GMT -6
I think it is a good plan, improving the quality by taking out junk is a good idea in almost all cases.
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Post by kl9 on Jan 26, 2018 9:39:06 GMT -6
I saw in the reviews for this some guy mentioned he wasn't going to use in winter and instead would wait until spring. Can this product be used during winter months or do I have to wait for everything to thaw out? |
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Post by jbird on Jan 26, 2018 10:21:39 GMT -6
A selective thinning like you are talking about is great. Remove the low value and damaged stuff, free up the young oaks and promote them while retaining the healthy oaks you have. Depending on how much sunlight hits the ground can create pocket of cover and food for you. As much as I tried to protect every oak on my place I did have a few taken that where damaged or in significant decline to where either we took them down or mother nature would.
My only concern is that depending on how young these trees are you are trying to release you could make them more exposed and become targets of the deer for browsing and rubbing and the like. Also consider planting more favorable shrubs and the like in this area other wise what is going to grow is going to be more of the same of what you removed. What you are removing grows well there for a reason, so if you want something different, you are going to have to help that process along buy planting. When I cut my place I was told that if we cut maples, more than likely maples would be what would return....and they where right.
Could even be perfect for a little experiment with an enclosure to see how the deer browse impacts your regen as well.....just a thought.
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Post by kl9 on Jan 26, 2018 10:31:34 GMT -6
A selective thinning like you are talking about is great. Remove the low value and damaged stuff, free up the young oaks and promote them while retaining the healthy oaks you have. Depending on how much sunlight hits the ground can create pocket of cover and food for you. As much as I tried to protect every oak on my place I did have a few taken that where damaged or in significant decline to where either we took them down or mother nature would. My only concern is that depending on how young these trees are you are trying to release you could make them more exposed and become targets of the deer for browsing and rubbing and the like. Also consider planting more favorable shrubs and the like in this area other wise what is going to grow is going to be more of the same of what you removed. What you are removing grows well there for a reason, so if you want something different, you are going to have to help that process along buy planting. When I cut my place I was told that if we cut maples, more than likely maples would be what would return....and they where right. Could even be perfect for a little experiment with an enclosure to see how the deer browse impacts your regen as well.....just a thought. Good advice. I'm hoping to at least hinder some of the grow back of birch by spraying the chemical Mo listed above to kill them. I'm optimistic that the canopy that remains will be sufficient to make it hard for newer birch to spring up. The young oaks that I'm referring to are probably 15-20 ft in height and anywhere from 3-5 inches in diameter at about chest height. Hopefully this as well as the more mature trees I leave will create such a canopy. I'm I being too optimistic? |
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Post by snowracerh on Jan 26, 2018 10:33:36 GMT -6
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Post by kl9 on Jan 26, 2018 10:39:27 GMT -6
I will try and get a few pictures of the area in which I'm referencing to post up tomorrow sometime. If what you're saying is the case that would sure make my life easier. |
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Post by snowracerh on Jan 26, 2018 10:43:38 GMT -6
I will try and get a few pictures of the area in which I'm referencing to post up tomorrow sometime. If what you're saying is the case that would sure make my life easier. Great! It all depends on spacing and if the remaining oaks will shade out the birch stumps/sprouts |
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Post by wildfire123 on Jan 26, 2018 11:02:26 GMT -6
Generic Herbicides, 60% triclophyr, $150 for 2.5 gallons, delivered to you door. Might not work, I have used over 30 gallons!!!! REMEMBER to read the label.
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Post by MoBuckChaser on Jan 26, 2018 11:21:56 GMT -6
I saw in the reviews for this some guy mentioned he wasn't going to use in winter and instead would wait until spring. Can this product be used during winter months or do I have to wait for everything to thaw out? Use it! |
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Post by jbird on Jan 26, 2018 12:08:09 GMT -6
I am not familiar with birch and if it is of cover or browse value to deer. The oaks sound big enough to simply let the birch stump sprout and provide ground level browse or cover for a few years and then set it back again. My concern would be that killing the birch is more than likely still only going to allow more birch to grow in this area (just an opinion). Often times a species grows well in a location for a reason and unless you plant something else in that area you tend to only get more of the same even if you kill the stumps. If you are going to plant other things in this area, then certainly kill what you can, but I would bet that if the birch is growing decently now, that it's going to take more time for the oaks to canopy enough to suppress the growth of the birch. Keep in mind those young oaks may grow skyward and not fill out depending on how much light they get so it could be a while a good while before you have a dense oak canopy. My concern would be in creating a place where you have no ground level cover but acorns.....this means night feeding in my area and very frustrating hunting conditions.
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 28, 2018 16:20:49 GMT -6
About ten years ago we removed birch and popple from an area and left the oaks. Birch were probably the predominant species. I had lots of sprouts from he birch stumps that were heavily browsed. Very few birch have survived that browsing. This is NOT the property where I live but in northern Minnesota.
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 29, 2018 5:59:53 GMT -6
I cut 15 or so large white birch last year when I was clearing my orchard. There was stump growth but, the deer kept them nipped back. We don't have nearly as many deer as you do so I wouldn't worry too much about regrowth being an issue. They hit that fresh growth every few days. It's candy for them.
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 29, 2018 7:26:49 GMT -6
During deep snow years of the 1960’s , the Minnesota DNR allowed us to cut birch trees on state land near wintering areas as a source of browse.
My thoughts, don’t kill them but give it a few years and see how they do.
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