The Devil in the woods

[Tom7227]

I just spent another two hours cutting buckthorn, total is about 5 hours for this project. Two chains for the chainsaw, got the saw stuck big time once, and had the chain come off the bar about 15 times total. Some of the stuff was 20+ feet tall and 6+ inches in diameter. I didn't have the energy to do anything more than drop it. The stumps should be treated and the area sprayed in the spring but I'm not sure that's going to happen.

It's a great time to take this on since the stuff still has green leafs on it mostly, at least down here in the Twin Cities.

[spivak]

You're right there--that stuff is nasty. I think it knows me personally and finds new ways to grab and stab me. Have 5 acres of almost pure buckthorn on a new piece of property I've been working on--just a few spindly aspen and birch amongst it all. Really hard on the chainsaw. Lots of binding and hard, hard wood. You can go ahead and treat the stumps right now--in fact you should treat within minutes/hour of cut. You can always recut the stump and apply the chemical. We're using a mixture of 20% glyphosate (Roundup--off brands are much cheaper). Fall is a great time to cut and treat. Just like you said--easy to pick out now. Best time to cut and apply chemical too as the plant will draw in the chemical--won't do that in the Spring. Good luck to us all!

[Down Deep]

Check out this link to the MNDNR

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/woody/buckthorn/control.html

[Powerstroke]

It will work if you wait till spring because the plant is not dead, you've only killed the top. If you don't spray the buckthorn, it will come back thicker than ever.

[Dave S]

I have my work cut out for me. I hunt a private 40 acre piece that is about 40% buckthorn and getting worse. The bad thing is I won't have time to kill it until spring.

[Tom7227]

Might be worth the time to at least mark what you want to cut down now while the stuff is easy to spot with the leaves on it. Spray it with some orange paint or tie some ribbon on them.

[Dave S]

It's thick enough in there, there's no guessing what we want to cut. Good thing is, the property owner also wants it cleared out so the expense isn't all mine

[Grainbelt]

From what I saw bowhunting SE MN this fall I don't see how this stuff is going to stop spreading. Robins by the hundreds were flying back and forth from the bean fields into the woods to eat buckthorn berries. Those berries really go thru those birds. There were little purple bombs falling from these birds like rain as they passed thru. My poor bow took a hit.

[Powerstroke]

The berries are a natural laxative to the birds which explains the prolific spread of the plant. Once you get a good look at buckthorn its very easy to identify. There are a few desirable things that tend to look like buckthorn such as wild plum, apple cherry and a couple others. If you're not sure its best to wait until spring or mark them now if they've still got leaves on them . They should be the only thing in the woods with green leaves left on it.

[Steve Foss]

Another issue with the berries, which is only really an issue where vast stands of buckthorn have killed off native food plants, is that berry-eating birds that eat nothing but buckthorn can die from that diet. As Powerstroke alluded to, they lose moisture from the laxative effect faster than they can replace it with the berries.

It's not an issue where the buckthorn berries only make up part of their diets.

We had a lot of buckthorn on our property in Ely when we bought it. That's all gone now, and we're starting to tackle it on the neighboring brush/woodlands, which are platted as city lots but are actually undeveloped brush and woods. It helps that the local community college (VCC) has a search-and-eradicate-buckthorn program.

Education is the way we'll eventually take care of this evildoer.

BTW, on the stuff too big to jerk out by the roots, once it's cut and the new shoots come up, I've had great luck hitting them with Roundup. I've done this on a dozen stumps, and if the shoots are up a couple feet with a good load of leaves and actively growing, one application has done it for me.

[Jameson]

I thought I read somewhere that their was a government program that paid you to take care of the buckthorn. So much $$$ per acre. It might be worthwhile for some to contact a local forester or whoever that deals with those programs.

I wish the landowner of the land I hunt would get involved in some of those programs, CRP etc, but they want nothing to do with them. Maybe for good reason, but I have read others being very happy with the programs.

I did a quick search and couldn't come up with the links I was hoping for. It looks like several counties have cost share programs available to help landowners remove buckthorn.

[pureinsanity]

Someone with a lot of land and a mass production of buck thrown rent a backhoe or a skid loader and a u blade and pop them all out. A one day rental and some guys who know what they are doing should be able to clear a lot of it in a day.

[Steve Foss]

Someone with a lot of land and a mass production of buck thrown rent a backhoe or a skid loader and a u blade and pop them all out. A one day rental and some guys who know what they are doing should be able to clear a lot of it in a day.

Definitely!

Then, next June, get in there and pull up any shoots you see. If they can't be easily pulled up, shoot them with chemical. If pulling breaks things off, roots left in the ground will resprout. Eradicating buckthorn takes constant vigilance.

[Powerstroke]

It all depends on the layout and density of your desired species. I would be hesitant to run heavy equipment all over my property unless it was so bad you had no choice. Personally I believe in making as little impact as possible, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

[walleyefisher0990]

Ive pulled it by hand, cut it with a saw, sprayed it, they are all alot of work, buckthorn is nasty...

[pureinsanity]

It all depends on the layout and density of your desired species. I would be hesitant to run heavy equipment all over my property unless it was so bad you had no choice. Personally I believe in making as little impact as possible, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Id rather run heavy equipment than break shovels, and use pick axe's and other tools. I removed a lot of it by hand, a lot of it by chain and a lot of it by U-Blade. u blade works the best

[Powerstroke]

Understandable, but I've never used a shovel or pickaxe for buckthorn. For pulling I've used a weedwrench (search it) or by hand or I use the chainsaw and herbicide method. Seems like heavy equipment would tear things up too much, but if there isn't anything worse saving in there than I suppose there is no harm done.

[pureinsanity]

Understandable, but I've never used a shovel or pickaxe for buckthorn. For pulling I've used a weedwrench (search it) or by hand or I use the chainsaw and herbicide method. Seems like heavy equipment would tear things up too much, but if there isn't anything worse saving in there than I suppose there is no harm done.

Ive pulled some out that took a skidloader + a chain pulling up + saw to get out!

[Steve Foss]

Each situation calls for its own set of appropriate tools.

[pureinsanity]

Very good point Steve!

If you have access to a track machine you can bet it wont rip much up! Specially if it is an ASV Track system (found on ASV and Cats) As long as you are not driving on the same spot multiple times and doing 360's it shouldn't tear up much.

and if you are really worried you can get a turf track for these machines! they are amazing!!!!!!

[pureinsanity]

And that is an actual working golf course.

Braemar in Edina

[Powerstroke]

Very nice!

[pureinsanity]

I love talking about cats/asv to bobcat guys. man o man do they get defensive until I whip out the smart phone and show them some videos.

[goblueM]

the problem with buckthorn is that it thrives in disturbed areas. can't get much more disturbance than running a bobcat thru the woods to gouge out trees

buckthorn seeds stay active in the seed bank for a long time, so even if you did that you'd still have issues for a few years.

[Itsa Pole Bender]

I will be takling buckthorn at my house this spring. I started on it in the fall and ended up pulling out roots that were over 12" in diameter with the truck. I really only have a small space left to remove. Problem is, my rearyard neighbor has them all along our property line. I explained to her what they are and asked if I could remove it....... she said no!