Broadcasting cuttings

[fuldraw]

What were the cuttings ??

 

[sandbur]

This thread has me thinking about reed canary stands. From what I have seen, sandbar willow can compete with RC and make some decent cover. Some disked areas have reverted to sandbar willow in RC stands.

Any suggestions for this method in RC or speculations?

John-do you see any kind of willow that competes best in RC?

 

[John-W-WI]

fuldraw - the cuttings were a mix of left overs. Hybrid willow & poplar, shrubs, and specialty willows. Probably about 30 or 40 different kinds mixed in there. If nothing else we'll know which ones do best!

sandbur - RC and I are old enemy's. I have hybrid willows that are in their 4th growing season planted in the middle of a nasty RC stand. They are finally about 12' tall. They should be more like 30' tall. And the RC killed more than 1/2 of them. I can't recommend planting in RC, but I'll continue to experiment (think Oust XP).

Thanks,

-John

 

[Dave63]

I took a 5 gallon bucket cut it in half length ways and added a 3ft handle to it. All my cuttings are in mesh tubes. I went out in may with round up and sprayed a 4-5ft diameter around the tube using the bucket as a shield while i sprayed..Worked great. Was out a week or so ago still no grass growing around them. My 2nd year doing this. Is it a pain to do yes but well worth it in my book.

 

[Tree Spud]

fuldraw - the cuttings were a mix of left overs. Hybrid willow & poplar, shrubs, and specialty willows. Probably about 30 or 40 different kinds mixed in there. If nothing else we'll know which ones do best!

sandbur - RC and I are old enemy's. I have hybrid willows that are in their 4th growing season planted in the middle of a nasty RC stand. They are finally about 12' tall. They should be more like 30' tall. And the RC killed more than 1/2 of them. I can't recommend planting in RC, but I'll continue to experiment (think Oust XP).

Thanks,

-John

I have tried to communicate others the dominating monoculture the RC creates and the mat of fiber the grass and roots take up.

I have been successful with Gly killing it.

Some kids just gotta touch the burner ...

 

[sandbur]

The matt of fiber and root mass does hold the soil well during period of flooding. I will never beat it and it isn't all bad.

I would never plant it, but it is all over with an unlimited supply of seed with every spring flood/spring melt down in my area.

 

[SD51555]

The matt of fiber and root mass does hold the soil well during period of flooding. I will never beat it and it isn't all bad.

I would never plant it, but it is all over with an unlimited supply of seed with every spring flood/spring melt down in my area.

I've been battling that stuff since day one on my southern MN mini project area. Planting into that heavy sod mass is what gave me the idea of just buying topsoil in a bag to bring with to back fill the hole for bareroot seedlings. It sped up my planting time immensly, and only raised the cost of planting by about 75 cents/tree. I'd dig out that sod ball and a chunk of clay and toss it aside and refill the hole with that topsoil. Much easier than sitting there and trying to shake your dirt back outta that sod.

 

[Tree Spud]

The matt of fiber and root mass does hold the soil well during period of flooding. I will never beat it and it isn't all bad.

I would never plant it, but it is all over with an unlimited supply of seed with every spring flood/spring melt down in my area.

Absolutely, that is why RC is good for flood plains as the NRCS evens recommends it for erosion control. As the deer walk through it they will spread the seeds from their fur.

It will become the dominant plant. The worst thing is that it all lays over with snow, providing very little winter cover, and shields the ground from thawing in the spring.

 

[wiscwhip]

What does the RC do if you burn it? Can it be controlled with timely fire or does that just encourage it?

 

[West Branch]

What does the RC do if you burn it? Can it be controlled with timely fire or does that just encourage it?

They say consecutive annual burns are supposed to work.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/terrestrialplants/grasses/reedcanarygrass.html

We have 12+ acres of fairly solid reed canary with brush along the edges. It hasn't been burned for quite a while but this will be the third year in a row that most of it was hayed. But it is not able to be hayed until late July or early August which doesn't help with stopping it from seeding out. This year I felt like there was more willow brush spreading in a couple spots naturally.

The haying makes the large area useless for deer hunting though. No deer want to travel though it until after dark once it is all open.

I was thinking about starting a thread with what we have tried for controlling reed canary. It seemed like mowing, plowing, discing and heavily planting winter rye may work. That was in a smaller <1 acre area. It still spread into one edge where the ground wasn't plowed as much. We need to figure out a long term plan though.

In my food plot thread I show a small 1/4 opening that I disced and then heavily seeded. It will be interesting to see how that turns out. Hopefully some pictures of growth in about 2 weeks when I get back up there.