|
Post by smallchunk on Nov 5, 2018 13:28:10 GMT -6
I just want to get your guys' opinion on this crap. Its everywhere at the three places that I hunt. I really want to get it under control at my grandmas, but really am wondering if it is a good idea. This time of the year, it provides the woods with a lot of cover due to the fact that it holds it leaves so late. Is it a good idea to wipe the woods of it, if it provides some security cover? There are absolutely no spruce trees in the woods there, and I think it might be too wet for them anyways, so once all the leaves drop, its fairly desolate in there. Thoughts?
If you have done a major eradication of Buckthorn, what was your best method? I know back in college I volunteered at the Wild River State park and pulled it out with a tool. I have done a bit of hack and squirt this fall with the trees nearby the house to see if that works. Anybody taken a bunch out? Prickly ash seems to be an issue around there too.....
|
|
|
Post by wiscwhip on Nov 5, 2018 13:39:51 GMT -6
If it is wet, use black spruce...
|
|
|
Buckthorn
Nov 5, 2018 13:55:49 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by honker on Nov 5, 2018 13:55:49 GMT -6
SC I’m struggling with a similar debate on my place as it has started to take over a few sections on my land. My place was pretty clean when I bought it but the bird shit has spread it around. There have been a few discussions on this forum about it and general consensus is you can do things to eliminate in an area or minimize the impact but it is a constant battle that eventually you will lose...summary of my takeaways anyway. If it is in your county it will eventually be back at your place.
My plan is going to treat it like everything else. If it is somewhere you don’t want it, remove it, but let it do it’s thing in other spots. The smaller ones pull easy and the hack and squirt works. I just know if I try to eliminate it on the 50 acres of woods I wouldn’t get anything else done. It is thickening up a few sanctuaries that I wouldn’t want much food to be in anyway so I’m letting it go.
I have started planting black spruce in wet areas for the long run as well. Just my two cents.
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Nov 5, 2018 14:55:52 GMT -6
eliminating buckthorn is just about impossible, but I've been trying to target the large female trees that drop the fruit first. In theory that's a good place to start by minimizing the seed being produced.
I'm starting by removing it in areas that also have better shrubs or trees in the area so hopefully the good stuff will take off in the absence of buckthorn and fill in the gap.
I've been cutting the buckthorn down and spraying round up on the stumps in winter. That works, but it's a lot of work. This winter I'm going to try a mix of Garlon 4 and diesel fuel sprayed on the trunks of buckthorn. I've heard that works well and you don't have to mess around with the chain saw part of things. I'll again start in areas with better shrubs or trees growing to fill in the gap.
I've clear cut buckthorn in areas with no other trees or shrubs and the only thing that comes back is little buckthorns, so that might be a multi-year type of deal that eventually will include planting something better. One think I feel obligated to note though is that buckthorn clearcut that came back with thick nasty baby buckthorns is now a great bedding area on my property, so it's not all bad if bedding area is a limiting factor in your area.
|
|
|
Post by smallchunk on Nov 5, 2018 15:03:03 GMT -6
So you can just spray the garlon 4/diesel mix on the base of the tree during the winter and it will kill it? I was thinking about targeting the HUGE mother trees first too, and going from there. I understand I won't get them all, but if I can put a dent in them, that will make me feel better!
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Nov 5, 2018 15:09:19 GMT -6
A guy I work with claims the garlon 4/ diesel mix works great by simply spraying it on the base of the tree in winter. I've found similar recommendations online, but I haven't tried it myself yet but plan to do so this winter.
That plan sounds like it will be much more efficient than cutting and spraying.
|
|
|
Post by smallchunk on Nov 5, 2018 15:20:11 GMT -6
yep, or hack and squirt. Some of the thickets are a bastard to get near the base of the truck or there are like 8 different trunks coming from the ground.
|
|
|
Post by mnaaron on Nov 5, 2018 15:23:29 GMT -6
USDA has some good results and money for raising goats in your woods which’s shows they will it eat the buckthorn. I always wanted to hire a helicopter and spray roundup over entire woods once everything went dormant for the year and the only thing alive was the buckthorn.
|
|
|
Post by mnaaron on Nov 5, 2018 15:24:37 GMT -6
We don’t have much up here where I am at however we will it like cancer when we do. Where I hunted near St. Cloud it took over entire wood lots and became a monoculture
|
|
|
Post by benmnwi on Nov 5, 2018 15:28:37 GMT -6
my coworker claims that after spraying and killing the trees they just rot from the roots and fall over in a year or two. Could make a giant tangled mess when they all fall over, but it can't be much worse than a thick live buckthorn thicket I guess.
Long term in my big buckthorn thicket I would like to kill off some random pockets here and spray the new seedling growth for a year or two until no new buckthorns pop up. Then plant some conifers in these pockets to create some good bedding and a little diversity in the woods. That has been my tentative plan for the past few years, but it's always pretty low on my list and I never actually get to it. But maybe this will be the year.
|
|
|
Buckthorn
Nov 5, 2018 15:44:39 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by biglakebass on Nov 5, 2018 15:44:39 GMT -6
USDA has some good results and money for raising goats in your woods which’s shows they will it eat the buckthorn. I always wanted to hire a helicopter and spray roundup over entire woods once everything went dormant for the year and the only thing alive was the buckthorn. Hire a helicopter? Gulp!!! You have deeper pockets than me!!!! Lollll
|
|
|
Post by batman on Nov 5, 2018 18:32:35 GMT -6
I love buckthorn. I have 9 foot of regrowth from stumps where I cut lanes. Deer rarely rub it dead and they bed in the canopy of older trees. Good deer tree in my eyes.
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Nov 5, 2018 18:49:13 GMT -6
I had two fawns come through tonight and it looked like they were nibbling in buckthorn.
I have done nothing for control. I won’t live long enough to make a dent in it.
|
|
|
Post by MoBuckChaser on Nov 6, 2018 9:08:37 GMT -6
It would be a full time job to get rid of buckthorn on my 2 MN farms. No way to control it when the neighbors don't
|
|
|
Post by Sandbur on Nov 6, 2018 9:11:50 GMT -6
Wildfire worked on it for years.
I want to spend my years after retirement starts doing other things.
I wish I had a penny fo every seed on my place.
|
|