"Dave K." wrote:



Get someone in to help you identify all the buckthorn and destroy it --
cut
it down, burn it, and paint the stumps with Garlon.

Yes, we know what buckthorn looks like and have removed all the buckthorn
trees. However, we still have to paint the stumps so the roots die and
suckers quit coming up. I've never heard of Garlon ... what's that and where
do you get it? Others have told me to use Round Up on the buchthorn stumps,
but that's pretty expensive

Paint the Roundup concentrate on a freshly cut stump. It goes a
LONG ways.

Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré

Actually it's my understanding that Roundup (glyphosphate) is useless for
painting stumps... for glyphosphtae to work I believe it has to be drawn in
through the leaves... I think 'Brushbgone' is one that does work.

Dave

"Tsu Dho Nimh" wrote in message
...
"Dave K." wrote:



Get someone in to help you identify all the buckthorn and destroy it --
cut
it down, burn it, and paint the stumps with Garlon.

Yes, we know what buckthorn looks like and have removed all the buckthorn
trees. However, we still have to paint the stumps so the roots die and
suckers quit coming up. I've never heard of Garlon ... what's that and
where
do you get it? Others have told me to use Round Up on the buchthorn
stumps,
but that's pretty expensive

Paint the Roundup concentrate on a freshly cut stump. It goes a
LONG ways.

Tsu

--
To doubt everything or to believe everything
are two equally convenient solutions; both
dispense with the necessity of reflection.
- Jules Henri Poincaré

I second the lower cost approach. What Dave K mentioned sounds wonderful
but expensive. I have five acres with about 1 acre under 60-75 year old
douglas fir trees (i.e. really big conifers). I have had to make do with
vine maple (acer circinatum), oregon grape (both low and high growing),
salal (another ground cover type plant about 2 feet tall), wild lupine (it
grows like a weed in Vancouver but is wonderful), and foxglove. And of
course, a variety of ferns. So far I have relied solely on the sword ferns
that are native to the area but when I have time, I intend to plant some
maiden hairs (hopefully by cultivating spores from my other plants).

Finally, if you have a nicer formal area you would like to create, I
strongly recommend the use of various hardy cyclamens (NOT the nursery
version you find at Lowe's and Home Depot). The hardy kind bloom in winter,
self seed after a couple of years, and love dry shade (almost perfect for
woodland gardens). Unfortunately, they can be expensive in bulb form,
although I have seen a few reputable catalogs selling them for decent prices
(about $2-3 a bulb). I don't recommend starting from seed unless you are a
glutton for punishment.

Also consider helebores if you have spots with a little more moisture.

Good luck

Jay
"Rachel" wrote in message
...

"David J. Bockman" wrote in message
...
Hi Dave, Dave here P

I spent a good 5 hours there planning several pathways through the trees
and
laurels into 3 small natually occuring 'rooms'. One was to be a hosta
room,
one was a Japanese style moss garden, and the third was a more formal
sitting area with teak benches and tables.

My advice would be to look for the 'bones' of your woods, to see those
elements that you really like and those that have to go, then build upon
that structure in a natural style

I think this approach can work, even if you have no budget to bring in an
expert like the second Dave.

We're on an 1-1/3 acres of oak/hickory woods (mature trees, 80 feet high),
with some maple and black cherry mixed in, and dogwoods and redbud at the
lower level. Otherwise the understory is a mess of poison ivy and garlic
mustard. My strategy is to destroy the latter, a little bit each year;
clear
out the suckers and other weak saplings, while protecting the interesting
ones; and make paths. While putting some attention into the yard areas
right
around the house - a few shade-grass stretches and ground-cover areas over
the septic field and in front by the gravel driveway - and building up
shrubs at the edge of the woods, and a showy flower bed by the veggie
garden
that's in a frame in the front yard - I gradually made some paths into the
forest. (Got a couple of good cases of mid-winter poison ivy doing this,
but
at least there were no copperheads around at that time.) The first path
looped around, past a future "room" in the woods, and down to where the
lot
faces south onto a dirt road, the location for planting a raspberry patch.
When the power company came around to do trimming, they offered 12 cubic
yards of wood chips to any takers. I took it, and spread it on my paths.
Immediately, the forest looked organized and neat, even though most of it
hasn't been cleaned out yetl. When "cleaning", of course we'll leave the
snags for the woodpeckers. Just as, out front, we left the stumps of old
oaks that had been cleared years ago to build the house. We put dirt in
the
center of the stumps, turning them into planters for pansies and petunias.
When the pileated woodpeckers come around to have a whack at breakfast at
the flower-filled stumps, it's quite a sight!