Thursday, March 18, 2010

Cutting Big Autumn Olive

Yesterday evening I went out and cut some of the Autumn Olive that were too large for DR Brush to handle. I said I cleared this area last year, so some of you may be wondering how I could miss a ten foot, multi-stemmed shrub. It must have been easy, seeing as how I there were six more just like this one. This area was a thick mess last year and I lost a lot of blood clearing as much as I did. Despite all the Autumn Olive I’m finding this year, I’m happy with the way it turned out.

The best tool for this job is a sharp bow saw. A bow saw is light weight, easy to use and quiet enough to let you hear the wildlife around you while you’re working. I hate to use a chain saw, so when I cut bigger trees, I just use bigger bow saws.

Some of you probably think I’m going to say that this stump looks like a face. Popular opinion suggests that I see a face in everything, but I never once thought this stump looked like a frog or maybe a pig, depending on how you look at it. I was going to point out that this shrub was probably about seven or eight years old. Once they get started, Autumn Olive can put on a lot of growth in a hurry. That’s why you can miss seeing them one year and have them stand out like a monster the next.

Things look much more open with the Autumn Olive gone. I’ll work on those rose bushes next. I normally leave fallen trees to decompose naturally. When they are laying in the middle of an area infested with invasives, I’ll move them out of the way so I have clear access to do maintenance.

Here’s the trophy shot. Look what I got everybody. I bagged this one in the fence row using my 21 inch crown-tooth bow saw with adjustable tension. I’ll drag this mess off and add it to the brush pile.

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