Safe stump treatment

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

We're cutting down a bunch of trees in our pasture and this will leave probably forty or so stumps, not too big, but I don't want them to regrow. From past experiences, I know that if we don't allow them to grow they will rot very quickly - within a year. Not sure what they are but it's a very soft, basically useless wood.

 

Anyway, in the past we just cut suckers but on the number of trees that's an impossibility. What can we use on these that will a) be safe for the sheep, considering it will potentially runoff down to the spring at the bottom and not harm my free-ranging ducks who will be digging at the stump as it disintegrates and c) effectively keep the sucker growth from occuring?

 

We really don't want to have to do all this work again and these trees grow extremely fast!

[Howdyjabo]

Goats

[Howdyjabo]

Or spray with round-up a couple times a year

[Bill Fosher]

Sheep will control stump-sprout regrowth. Buy a couple hundred ewes from a liquidating vegetation management company.

 

You can also treat the stumps directly with herbicides, but I don't know which ones are effective and safe for grazing animals. I'll bet your extension service could help you there.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Yes, a couple hundred ewes would do it. I've got about $20 - will that cover it? By the way, I sent someone your way yesterday but I'm not that hopeful. Transportation costs are such an issue for us little guys.

 

What we found was that these darn things regrow so fast that we'd have to have the sheep on them every two weeks and we don't cycle them all through the pastures that fast.

[jimahall]

Thanks for the laugh Bill. I really needed it. A "vegetation management company". Really great. Will have to remember that.

[Pipedream Farm]

Originally posted by jimahall:

Thanks for the laugh Bill. I really needed it. A "vegetation management company". Really great. Will have to remember that.

Huh?????? Have you not heard of companies like Bellweather Solutions?

 

KUDZU killers

 

Small ruminants are natural lawn mowers.

 

Near pastures and timber at the University of Georgia's Griffin campus, portable electric fence netting confines a flock of sheep in a patch of kudzu. Or at least it was kudzu. In just one and a half days, these animals have completely destroyed it.

 

Here and at other universities, researchers continue to see great potential for the use of sheep and goats to control unwanted vegetation such as kudzu, privet and brambles. They are a good alternative to herbicides and mowing.

 

At North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus, for instance, goats are being used in a multiyear project to control kudzu.

 

Will Getz, an animal scientist at Fort Valley State University in Georgia, points to Dick Henry of Concord, N.H., as one of the leaders in the use of small ruminants for weed control. Henry's firm, Bellwether Solutions, provides the sheep that have successfully cleared vegetation for utility companies in New Hampshire and Tallahassee, Fla.

 

Henry charges by the acre for vegetation control, and the price generally goes down as the amount of land to be cleared increases, explains Getz.

 

Officials with Public Service of New Hampshire say Henry's sheep are natural lawn mowers and were effective on leaves of young maple, oak, cherry and birch, which grow on the utility's rights-of-way.

 

Getz believes sheep and goats put to such use also will need access to permanent pastures as a safety valve should the targeted vegetation become short.

 

Sheep are good for clearing vegetation such as broadleaf weeds, legumes and grasses. But Getz says goats would be the choice if the invasive brush includes multiflora roses, briars and brambles.

 

To suppress or eradicate vegetation, Getz says the stocking rate needs to be high-as many as 200 to 300 sheep or goats per acre. he notes that the animals may be hungry for a day or two as they completely defoliate the vegetation before being moved to a new patch of weeds. Portable electric fencing and solar-powered fence chargers make this type of vegetation control possible in remote locations.

 

-John Leidner

Mark

[Bill Fosher]

Or Sheepscapes?

[Pipedream Farm]

"vegetation management company" no joke.....

 

Using Sheep for Vegetation Management in Boreal

White Spruce Plantations

 

Forest Foraging Sheep Spare The Evergreens

 

Ranchers harnessing hoofed weed whackers

 

Goats provide sure-footed cleanup for Sunnyvale's landfills

 

 

Mark

[Howdyjabo]

Becca-- the goats will eat them back even if they shoot up high- unlike the sheep. They will climb on them and bend them over to get at the leaves.

[Bill Fosher]

Karen,

 

My sheep do that. I have defoliated 8 foot maple saplings with sheep. And they don't stink like goats.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I think Karen and I are going to work out a lamb-for-goat trade, which is a lot cheaper than buying out Sheepscapes, even though that would be wonderful (and I sure could use the sheep at the end of the month, urgh). Sorry Bill! You know I'd love to but the timing sucks ATM.

[Howdyjabo]

I stand corrected---change to

 

"unlike my sheep"

 

Mine must not have gotten hungry enough-- they never bothered to go after anything that wasn't nose level or lower- with all four feet on the ground.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Yeah mine are the same. The problem is, they prefer to dig up grass ROOTS and eat them before they start on these trees. They must be REALLY yucky.

 

If I can keep them from shooting out this spring, the stumps will die and rot and they will be gone by this time next year. Literally gone. That's the only good thing I've found about these.

 

We've cleared one pasture, one more to go - bwwnnn, bwwwnnn - can't wait to see the grass again!

[karrie]

I remember Grandma used buttermilk... so I googled and found this for ya. Hope it helps.

 

As per Howard Garrett, aka Dirt Doctor:

 

"Stump Removal

 

There really isn't any magic formula. Any kind of sugar or nitrogen product will do the trick. First, start by drilling holes in the stump. Make the holes as large and deep and closely spaced as possible. Fill the holes with sugar, molasses, syrup, old jellies, jams, candies, buttermilk, or fertilizer of any kind. This is a good place to dispose of any synthetic fertilizers you might still have around the place, although organics would certainly be better. Next, wet the stump and additions and cover with a thick layer of shredded mulch. How long the rotting takes depends on the type of tree. Bois d arc will take the longest to rot using this or any other technique. A more practical approach for some is to hire a tree care company to grind the stump out mechanically. It's quick, always successful and doesn't cost much.

 

Don't pour any toxic herbicides into the holes as is commonly recommended. The toxins will eventually seep out and contaminate the soil and the roots of nearby desirable plants. Plus, the toxic products are not needed. The food products work just as well or better.

 

 

Large Stumps - Best technique is to hire an arborist to use a stump grinder. Second best choice - cut stump flush with the ground, drill holes - larger, deeper, and more the better. Fill holes with sugar, fertilizer or buttermilk. Moisten thoroughly and cover with a thick blanket of mulch such as shredded tree trimmings.

 

For small stumps, jam a tin can over the stump and into the ground."

 

 

Anybody got some sheep/goats I can borrow to clear up my hill ~ briars,poison ivy , wild rose bushes, grape vines etc ( only have .66 of an acre).

[DeltaBluez Tess]

Sam,

 

We had a grinder come out and grind down our stumps and it worked really well...but we didn't have 40 stumps either, about 10. It was about 6 yrs ago and it was pretty cheap.

 

On my parent's farm we used to pull them out or bulldoze them out and some we cleared with horses...I had a little Welsh pony that was very strong and took his stump pulling job very seriously.

 

Diane and Tess and all the black and white monsters!!

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I think when the trial is over I'm going to suggest to Patrick to rent a bobcat and push the majority of them over. These trees are extremely light and fragile (I can drag a forty-foot felled tree by myself) and that should do that trick.

 

And Patrick will enjoy toodling around in a piece of heavy equipment, squashing trees. [insert Tim Taylor grunt here]

 

Goats are still a good idea, though, as we won't be able to push all the stumps. Dog broke goats.