Cutting Trail in Aspen

[bowhunternw]

Hi I am new here and had a question on making a trail through aspen trees. I know that if you cut the aspen trees it stimulates new growth. Is there a time of year when they don't reproduce? Or if you mow the saplings enough times does it eventually kill them. Maybe I am overthinking it. Thanks

 

[j-bird]

You can treat the stumps after you cut them if you don't want them to regrow. Some folks use gly or a mix of gly and diesel fuel while others use a product called tordon. I am not familiar with aspen in particular, but I use tordon on stumps to kill trees and shrubs that I don't want to grow back.

P.S. - welcome to the forum. You may want to make a post and introduce yourself.

 

[bat man]

Hi I am new here and had a question on making a trail through aspen trees. I know that if you cut the aspen trees it stimulates new growth. Is there a time of year when they don't reproduce? Or if you mow the saplings enough times does it eventually kill them. Maybe I am overthinking it. Thanks

Deer trail? access trail? equipment trail? Oregon Trail?

 

[wiscwhip]

Aspen stands have an interconnected root system and if you treat the trees you cut, just be aware that it can also kill the trees many feet away from your "trail".

 

[NWWI]

The trails that I have cut just require maintenance a couple times a year. The older stands have trees falling over them and the younger stands sprout up. My trails are stand access trails that the deer end up using.

 

[bowhunternw]

Yes I just want to connect a trail to a 2 acre opening, it would be roughly 150' long and wide enough for a pickup. I do realize that aspen root systems are interconnected and when you cut them it stimulates suckers to shoot up through the roots.

 

[bowhunternw]

The trails that I have cut just require maintenance a couple times a year. The older stands have trees falling over them and the younger stands sprout up. My trails are stand access trails that the deer end up using.

How long have you been mowing them, does it seem like they are thinning over the years. I have trails in the woods now that are not suckering so there must be a way to stop them.

 

[wiscwhip]

If you want it wide enough for a pickup, you should be fine. You may get some residual damage from treating the stumps, but I don't see it as being a deal breaker in that situation. If you were wanting a 3' - 4' wide "sneak trail", that would be a different story. You could try treating with gly and fuel oil first and if that doesn't do the trick, something with a more residual effect like Tordon RTU or Garlon4 might be in order.

 

[bowhunternw]

Seems like chemical is the way to go.

 

[ruskbucks]

I have them in growing in my spruce/pine screen. I kept cutting them down, because they were choking out the pines. They would grow back thick every year because of the mature aspen trees nearby. I was told that if you cut down a aspen it will send up shoots in a diameter from the stump to as tall as the tree was.

 

[wiscwhip]

Yup, and if you use the proper chemical treatment on that stump, it will kill the roots and prevent suckers within that same approximate area.

 

[NWWI]

The trails that I have cut just require maintenance a couple times a year. The older stands have trees falling over them and the younger stands sprout up. My trails are stand access trails that the deer end up using.

I have been maintaining them for 10 years. Most are 3'-4' wide sneak trails, but one I can get an ATV through. They are in bedding areas I try to avoid as much as I can. I only use them for a quiet access for hunting. It seems like once they get middle aged there is always a bunch that tip over and get in the way.

 

[Satchmo]

I've mowed several trails through my 6 or 7 year old aspen with a brush hog on a bobcat. After 3 years of mowing once a year, the aspens along the trail now shade them enough that I have very little regrowth on most.

 

[Da U.P. 'eh]

I think Satchmo has it right. I have cut numerous trails through 12 year old aspen stands. They have stayed open with no mowing for 4 or 5 years now. I believe that it is due to the surrounding trees blocking the sunlight. I never treated anything, just cut them off and threw them out of the way. Other will fall over and will need to be cleared from time to time but suckering should not be a problem.

 

[bowhunternw]

I think you guys are right I did read that aspen are very shade intolerant, and the surrounding trees are mature. I just didn't want to end up with a never ending battle. Thanks for the advice

 

[ruskbucks]

I think Satchmo has it right. I have cut numerous trails through 12 year old aspen stands. They have stayed open with no mowing for 4 or 5 years now. I believe that it is due to the surrounding trees blocking the sunlight. I never treated anything, just cut them off and threw them out of the way. Other will fall over and will need to be cleared from time to time but suckering should not be a problem.

You are right. My friends property was nearly clear cut a couple of years before he bought it. It was full of deer and you could hardly walk thru the aspen were so thick. Move forward 12 years and the aspen are getting choked out, and it is converting to a hard wood stand you can see thru a lot further. The deer are in there like they used to be.