I own roughly 5 acres in SE MI and despite it being a small lot, I have a lot of deer traffic passing through the back side. Most of this area (~3 acres) is inundated with invasive buckthorn and I have finally gotten to the point to start working on eliminating and backfilling with native plantings and improving the area in general. I will be stopping soon, but I have been going around and spraying herbicide to kill some of the bigger trees; the stuff stinks so I don't want to be spooking deer with it. I'll resume spraying once hunting season is over. If you haven't dealt with buckthorn, you have to kill it or dig it up, otherwise it comes back 10x worse.
My question for anyone who has dealt with large amounts of brush - what did you end up doing with it? I've been considering my options:
1. Stack it into brush piles - This will work for some of it but there is a lot of buckthorn, some of the trees are big (6-8" in diameter and 20+ ft. tall), and space will quickly run out if I do nothing but brush piles. This will form some habitat for rabbits and other critters and I could place them strategically to funnel game toward me. It is also the most ecologically friendly approach, but the space issue is a big one.
2. Burn it - I would have to be careful and burn during low risk days but this would guarantee I would get rid of whatever I needed. I don't love this approach due to the carbon impact of burning.
3. Chipper - I could rent or buy a large, towable wood chipper. This would reduce everything down to almost nothing but it is also the most expensive option and a great deal of the buckthorn I need to get rid of is on the opposite side of a stream from the closest point I could get the chipper.
My guess is that I will probably do a combo of the 3 depending on location on the property but wanted to hear feedback and ideas from others.
Thanks!
My question for anyone who has dealt with large amounts of brush - what did you end up doing with it? I've been considering my options:
1. Stack it into brush piles - This will work for some of it but there is a lot of buckthorn, some of the trees are big (6-8" in diameter and 20+ ft. tall), and space will quickly run out if I do nothing but brush piles. This will form some habitat for rabbits and other critters and I could place them strategically to funnel game toward me. It is also the most ecologically friendly approach, but the space issue is a big one.
2. Burn it - I would have to be careful and burn during low risk days but this would guarantee I would get rid of whatever I needed. I don't love this approach due to the carbon impact of burning.
3. Chipper - I could rent or buy a large, towable wood chipper. This would reduce everything down to almost nothing but it is also the most expensive option and a great deal of the buckthorn I need to get rid of is on the opposite side of a stream from the closest point I could get the chipper.
My guess is that I will probably do a combo of the 3 depending on location on the property but wanted to hear feedback and ideas from others.
Thanks!