Seeing the sky

It was last winter when I declared war on the privet that has taken over several sections of the woods in The Carey field.  And while I made some progress, I didn't get as far as I had hoped before the warmer temperatures caused the sap to start rising.

I had planned to get back to work this fall as soon as we started getting regular frosts, but one thing and then another got in the way and I only started back to work on the project in December.

But after (I think) five working sessions of about two hours each, I feel like I'm making progress.

Looking northwest toward the gully that runs east of the hay barn.

I started in the gully that runs down the hillside east of the hay barn.  Most of the privet growing there was small, with trunks less than 2" in diameter and it didn't take very long to clear them out.  I also cut and treated several invasive Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) bushes.  The only things left are a few privet trees, rose bushes and some saw greenbrier (Smilax bona-nox) growing across the top edge of the gully.

Earlier in the fall, I had set out some little Carolina Buckthorn (Frangula caroliniana) in the gully thinking they might do well in the dappled shade.  IF the Northern Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) and Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) seeds that I collected last fall germinate, I plan to set some of them out in that area as well.  The spicebush should do well in the lower part of the gully where it's more shaded, while I think the dogwood will like the more sunny area near the top of the gully.  I'm still trying to decide where to plant the Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) seeds (if they germinate), and I'm thinking they might also like being down in the lower shaded part of the gully.

(There is a pretty good population of White Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum) growing in and around the gully, and I think it might be wise this spring to go through and pull some of the plants up to keep it from spreading too much since it is so highly poisonous.  As for what could go back in its place?  I'm not sure at this point.)

Once the gully was mostly cleared, I moved to the south, back to the area where I stopped work last spring.  I had cut the tops out of lots of the privet trees, but wasn't able to treat them with they glyphosate because they were already starting to green up.   Every single one of them had sprouted back...it was very discouraging to look down into the woods and again see nothing but privet.

All of the privet I topped last spring put up lots of vigorous new growth over the summer.

So much privet....

But the one good thing is that by topping all of those trees, they didn't make berries.  So even though I'm going to quickly run out of time this winter, I now know that just cutting the tops out will knock them back enough that I won't have 10-gazillion privet berries just waiting for the birds to drop them back onto my newly cleared woods!

So Walter, the little Green Shoots foam dispenser, the loppers and I got back to work, and the four of us were able to clear and treat the stumps in that entire section.  

The area between the two large cedar trees is clear!

Yesterday Walter and I started on the privet growing to the north of the cedar trees...the stuff that is left between the trees and the gully.

Because the forecast was calling for rain all weekend, I didn't cut the trees off at ground level and treat them.  For now, I've just cut the tops off and piled them up in the woods.

But what a difference it made!

I can see the mountains to the north!

I know there's still lots of work to do to finish up that section...all of those trunks still have to be cut and treated; I still have a big pile of limbs between the cedar trees that needs to be moved (center left in the picture above); and there are hundreds of privet seedlings that need to be pulled before they have a chance to get any bigger.  But again...what a difference it makes once the privet is gone!!!  

As with the gully, I need to put some thought into what plants can go in to replace the privet.  I've ordered a Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)  and a Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) from Food Forest Nursery and if I can get those established here in my yard, I hope to be able to start some more from cuttings and plant those down in the woods.  I've also noticed a couple of Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata) trees growing along the side of the road in Clarksville and if I can get up the nerve to stop next fall to search for some nuts, I'd love to try to grow some of those trees down there.  The Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees I set out last spring didn't make it (so far as I know), so I'm going to try again with them this year.   I'll probably also try putting out some Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) and Red Mulberry (Morus rubra) just for grins.  Maybe they'll make it.

As for "forbs" I'm still trying to decide what to plant.  I did collect seeds from Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) that was growing in the ditch across from Hardees in Clarksville, so I'll probably just toss some of those out in a couple of places.  I might also try to throw some Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) seeds on the ground next winter.  

No matter what I decide to plant down there, the biggest problem I'll have to overcome will be the cattle (and possibly rabbits and deer?).  So while I'd love to keep all of the privet limbs in nice neat piles, I may end up having to create little piles here and there to protect young plants.  I suppose that's Ok though, so long as I can keep the invasive Perilla Mint (Perilla frutescens) and Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) from taking over those piles!

So what's next?

First priority is to cut and poison the privet and multiflora rose across the top of the gully, then cut and poison the privet trunks that I've left standing down by the cedar in the woods.

After that, I'll start on the privet shown on the right side of the last picture above.  That may take up the rest of my time this winter because there's quite a bit of it left.  But I'll do what I can, and then start cutting the tops out of the bigger privet trees when I run out of winter.  That's something I can do even into the summer (preferably before the trees bloom), and anything that keeps the trees from making berries is one more step in the right direction.  While there are thousands of tiny privet seedlings in the areas I've cleared, pulling those is another thing that I can work on during the summer months.

I just wish the pictures could convey how much better it looks in the areas where the privet has been removed.  It's so different from how I described that part of the woods in my January 29, 2023 post:

I find that part of the woods to be very dark and creepy, almost eerie, because the privet is so thick down there.

What a difference it makes to be able to see the sky!