I'm not sure if this is the right place for this question or not, but there isn't a specific place for invasive species so feel free to move this to a more appropriate location.
My question is what are the best ways to remove Asian Honey Suckle?
I've used a brush cutter with triclopyr, and that works well. I've also pulled small stuff up by hand. Recently, I learned that if you cut it and bust up the stump, it will also die. I saw this in application with heavy equipment (excavator), but I'm wondering if there's a way to do something like that on a smaller scale to avoid having to apply the herbicide. I'm thinking a large, straight shaft trimmer with 3 or 4 forester blades mounted on the end that have 1/4" spacers in between. Something that can be used to cut it off, and then turned on end like an edger to bust up the stump. Personally, I'm dealing with about 10 acres of creek bottom where it's started taking hold in spots. In some places, it's spotty, in a few places its thick, but those places are quickly expanding. I want to hit it next spring before it's too late. There's a reasonable chance that I'll be tackling it by myself which is the main reason I'm looking for a way that doesn't involve the herbicide. Too easy to cut a bunch and then miss an area with the herbicide, which just ends up making the stuff angry...
If any of you have noticed this stuff growing on your property, kill it immediately. Over the past 10 years, I've seen it totally over take thousands of acres of forest to the point that nothing else is growing. Not even multiflora rose. We cleared about 2 acres (drop in the bucket) last spring, and went so far as to drag it out in the field so it could be disposed of. I was shocked to see that the forest floor was absolutely barren afterwards. This stuff has little to no nutritional value, its foliage is bad for the water system, and once you get enough of it, it alters the soil, and of course it spreads like wild fire. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad stuff. I don't care if your wife thinks its a pretty bush in the yard. Kill it now.
My question is what are the best ways to remove Asian Honey Suckle?
I've used a brush cutter with triclopyr, and that works well. I've also pulled small stuff up by hand. Recently, I learned that if you cut it and bust up the stump, it will also die. I saw this in application with heavy equipment (excavator), but I'm wondering if there's a way to do something like that on a smaller scale to avoid having to apply the herbicide. I'm thinking a large, straight shaft trimmer with 3 or 4 forester blades mounted on the end that have 1/4" spacers in between. Something that can be used to cut it off, and then turned on end like an edger to bust up the stump. Personally, I'm dealing with about 10 acres of creek bottom where it's started taking hold in spots. In some places, it's spotty, in a few places its thick, but those places are quickly expanding. I want to hit it next spring before it's too late. There's a reasonable chance that I'll be tackling it by myself which is the main reason I'm looking for a way that doesn't involve the herbicide. Too easy to cut a bunch and then miss an area with the herbicide, which just ends up making the stuff angry...
If any of you have noticed this stuff growing on your property, kill it immediately. Over the past 10 years, I've seen it totally over take thousands of acres of forest to the point that nothing else is growing. Not even multiflora rose. We cleared about 2 acres (drop in the bucket) last spring, and went so far as to drag it out in the field so it could be disposed of. I was shocked to see that the forest floor was absolutely barren afterwards. This stuff has little to no nutritional value, its foliage is bad for the water system, and once you get enough of it, it alters the soil, and of course it spreads like wild fire. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad stuff. I don't care if your wife thinks its a pretty bush in the yard. Kill it now.