I've cleared a lot of buckthorn from my lot and adjacent land (working
on a new section each year). When I got each area cleared, what
remained (whatever wasn't buckthorn) varied quite a bit, but the
buckthorn had done a lot of damage by shading out everything below a
certain height-- killing smaller trees, forcing others to extend long
unwieldy limbs to seek light (that's what the crabapples did). But
another response was for taller trees to abandon lower limbs and do all
their growing at the top. These trees now look spindly and misshapen.
If I were the kind of person who talks to trees, I'd say "Hey-- you
have space now. Try growing branches from the middle of the trunk." Is
there another way to get this message through? Maybe there's a way to
poke something into the bark that provokes a branch to start.
Suggestions appreciated.