Hinging black locusts and spraying switchgrass

[Obie]

Does anyone hinge black locust for bedding pockets ? Also, when frost seeding a picked bean field, if one were to spray 25 feet in and leave the middle unsprayed would it allow more diversity to come up in the switch? Or would the weed pressure amount to a failure of the switch?

Below is a quick drawing of a 2 acre switch planting. I flagged pockets that didn't get hit with the seed and thought if I sprayed around them they would be hidden in a few years when the switch matures. I will also be either dragging locust tops into it or making brush piles to help add structure.

 

[PatinPA]

Does anyone hinge black locust for bedding pockets ? Also, when frost seeding a picked bean field, if one were to spray 25 feet in and leave the middle unsprayed would it allow more diversity to come up in the switch? Or would the weed pressure amount to a failure of the switch?

Below is a quick drawing of a 2 acre switch planting. I flagged pockets that didn't get hit with the seed and thought if I sprayed around them they would be hidden in a few years when the switch matures. I will also be either dragging locust tops into it or making brush piles to help add structure.

I'd be worried about black locust getting too thick. I have them in my yard and I know every time I cut a root a new tree or several pops up. Never tried to hinge one before though. I don't have any on the hunting property.

 

[Bill]

Selective spraying the switch shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Never hinged a black locust so I can’t help there.

 

[Obie]

I'd be worried about black locust getting too thick. I have them in my yard and I know every time I cut a root a new tree or several pops up. Never tried to hinge one before though. I don't have any on the hunting property.

I'll take whatever thickness I can in that location, the shade has it bare ground once the weeds wilt. I was hoping someone could confirm they will atleast browse on them

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I say terminate the locusts and plant something else for cover. It is a lot easier to make cover than it is to remove a thicket of any kind of locust. You could always plant some thicket forming plants that you know for sure deer do browse on and that you know won't get out of control.

 

[PatinPA]

I'll take whatever thickness I can in that location, the shade has it bare ground once the weeds wilt. I was hoping someone could confirm they will atleast browse on them

Not saying they don't eat them at all but I've never seen any really browsed hard. Definitely not preferred but it will get you some cover fairly quickly. They pop up in my yard all summer and will go from nothing to a foot tall full of thorns in a week.

 

[PatinPA]

I say terminate the locusts and plant something else for cover. It is a lot easier to make cover than it is to remove a thicket of any kind of locust. You could always plant some thicket forming plants that you know for sure deer do browse on and that you know won't get out of control.

Good idea in theory but in my case, I'm loaded with black birch because it's the only thing that will grow at a decent pace. I have norway spruce and white pine that are 5 years old now and I can't really tell that they've grown an inch. Usually a reason that junk trees grow well because nothing else will.

 

[ruskbucks]

I'd be worried about black locust getting too thick. I have them in my yard and I know every time I cut a root a new tree or several pops up. Never tried to hinge one before though. I don't have any on the hunting property.

Same here. Have them at home,not at hunting property. I think they are the tree I hate the most. I don't mind them when they are mature thou. Great firewood. I just can deal with the thorns.The other day had thorns thru my gloves and stepped one that went thru the bottom of my boot. Like PA, every one I cut stump sprouts like crazy and shoots up others in the area. They are one of the fastest growing trees I know off. Our town cut them down along our road and even sprayed the stumps but they came back thicker than the first time they cut. I would think the would hinge awesome.

 

[Obie]

I cleared roughly half an acre of 4"-6" trees for firewood, raked the debris up and seeded some left over switchgrass seed into the dark exposed dirt. Not sure what's in the seed bank(besides locust) but ill spray it in April with the rest of the switch.

In hind sight, I should have saved a few of those for bow staves.

 

[Obie]

Update on hinging black locust, the deer are destroying the new growth and the suckers. Must be packed with minerals? Forbs are coming in great where everything was shaded last year.

 

[Lucky_P]

Black locust is considered a toxic plant to livestock, and while deer can eat some things that cattle can't - like large amounts of acorns (they have proline-rich salivary proteins that inactivate tannins) - I would not expect heavy usage of black locust as browse.

 

[Obie]

Lucky, there's no love stock. I would actually rather them not browse on the stuff. I personally want it for cover, black locust grows so fast and doesn't break down over a years time. Mature ones I've dropped have forbs and grasses growing right up through them. Last year you couldn't hide a squirrel on the ground, I think it'll be a different story this year

 

[buckdeer1]

I would spray to kill all locust trees,I do however drag a few cedars other types of tops to form structure in NWSG or CRP.My switch has always choked out everything but if you aren't planting as part of a crp program you can lightly disc a 1/3 each year to stir up seed bank.If you make structure piles you want them open,not brush piles.I like them to be open enough for grass to grow up through them. Small game and turkeys will nest in them,deer will bed up against them but predators won't live in the piles as often.I CRP they usually require you to plant forbs in the NWSG or switch which doesn't make alot of sense because even in my bad soil it will choke them out.Remember to keep you patches of switch big enough they can't be hunted by predators hunting turkey nest.USDA recommends at least 120ft wide.

 

[roymunson]

When Lucifer got kicked out of heaven, the first evil thing he did was create locusts...

I'm pretty sure its in the Bible somewhere

 

[Obie]

When Lucifer got kicked out of heaven, the first evil thing he did was create locusts...

I'm pretty sure its in the Bible somewhere

I feel like there's no getting rid of them in this area. I could retire and still not put a stop to them, so for now I'll try to use them to my benefit. Anything in that spot is better than nothing.

 

[Obie]

Atleast these aren't the honey locust that I've got on my other permission spots.