This morning was spent using the chain saw to cut down the huge honeysuckle bushes along one of the old fence rows. The stumps were then sprayed with a 50% solution of Roundup. After the honeysuckle was removed we were able to remove some more of the old, old, fence that years ago confined the pigs that lived here. We then noticed some invasive yellow clover blooming in one of the old fields. So out came the weed whacker. The morning was spent dealing entirely with invasive species and old fencing. This can at times be overwhelming but one must remember that every invasive removed is helpful and that the job will never be finished. So, do not fret and worry, just do what you can to remove the invasives and old fencing from your property. These tools will all be out on many more mornings.
by Catherine Zimmerman
by Douglas W. Tallamy
by Andy Wasowski and Sally Wasowski
by William Cullina 
by Michael R. Jeffords, Susan L. Post and Kenneth R. Robertson
by William Cullina
by Keith Gerard Nowakowski
by Guy Sternberg with Jim Wilson
by William Cullina
by Sara Stein
ed. by Cornelia F. Mutel and Stephen Packard; Society for Ecological Restoration
by Willard Clay and Robert Hutchinson
Working with the weed whacker this morning, cutting the yellow clover in fairly dense grass, I applied the technique learned this spring from the CC Forest Preserve naturalists. When cutting down flowering invasives, make two or three passes, cutting the upper flowering parts off first, and then cutting the lower parts of the stem with an additional pass. The theory here is that the flowers, after being cut, will have access to less stored water and food in the stems and thus be less able to complete seed maturation before dying.
ReplyDeleteA second advantage of this technique is that it improves your visibility down to the ground for those lower cuts, increasing your ability to avoid cutting things you'd rather not, such as the "encounter" I had with an unfortunate turtle last summer.
Ooooh. Yuck. Well, at least you've learned a new technique. And it does make sense...
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