Pines and construction damage

stheis004

stheis004

Participating member
Location
WI
Hey, I'm working on a bid for clearing buckthorn on a site for a guy who is building soon. He is very concerned about any kind of root damage to the nice white pines on the property. The site has the thickest buckthorn I've ever seen, the majority of it is all about 1" diameter. I want to rent a fecon but he is concerned about compaction. What is everyone's experience with this? I was thinking keep a drip line buffer to do by hand, is that enough to not have any concerns for compaction? Is there any publications you can link me to to read up on? Thanks!
 
Ansi and bmp for trees during construction come to mind offhand. I think Penn State has a good pdf on the subject too.

From personal experience, white pine resents soil compaction and root loss immensely. Poor drainage due to compaction around them is a no-no too
 
We have done work like you are describing with a tracked skid loader and heavy duty brush hog. Would be lighter than what pops into my head when you say Fecon. How large of an area are we talking here, how wet, and what is the soil like?
 
It's about 1.5 acres...not too wet but I'm thinking with how concerned he is, maybe just revise my bid to do this by hand. Won't be fun but I'd hate to damage these trees
 
We do buckthorn hourly because of varied expectations. Have you considered the impact of herbicide or stump grinding in the root zone as well?
 
Yes, whether I use equipment or not, the plan for the drip line of the trees is all hand work. The herbicide will be applied by hand sprayer, going after each stem individually...
 
We've used walk behinds with good success but if it's that thick the mower won't knock it down. I wish they made a deck mower for a mini.
 
stheis004 said:
Yes, whether I use equipment or not, the plan for the drip line of the trees is all hand work. The herbicide will be applied by hand sprayer, going after each stem individually...
Click to expand...

It sounds like doing it by hand may be the way to go from what you are saying.

Would probably be faster and less frustrating to do basal bark spray on the buckthorns till you achieve a good kill rate, then come through and mow them down by hand. Cant get as much product in through those tiny stumps IME, and it sounds like follow up foliar applications to finish them off would not be a great option with the pines right there.


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