I decided to drag the material from my invasive cutting over
to this brush pile. When first
constructed, the pile of cedars would have reached nearly to the top of the
picture frame. That was seven years
ago. Those cedars have since decomposed
and the mass of the pile has diminished considerably. It receives a few branches each year, but not
enough to make up for the rate of decomposition.
Some Multiflora Rose bushes growing near the pile were cut
earlier in the year. Since I was going
to be working in the area, I thought I might as well gather up the cut roses
and add them to the pile.
I’ve got some thick leather gloves that I wear when working
with roses. It’s sometimes possible to
move the entire bush by gathering the thorny canes by the base and dragging the
mess to its new location.
This specimen proved to be one of the more difficult to
move. As sometimes happens with fence
row roses, this bush had canes in excess of 25 feet long that had gotten
tangled up in the tree. I managed to get
some of the bush on the brush pile, but the canes still trailed back to a mass
left hanging from the tree.
I was fortunate to shed only a little blood while wrestling
the bush down out of the tree.
Multiflora Rose canes tend to grow in a curve. A long cane will be stretched straight out
while it’s being pulled, but once free from the tree, the inherent curve causes
it to whip around and encircle the person doing the pulling. It’s no fun to be suddenly hugged by a thorny
rose cane.
I finally got the bush sort of rounded up and on top of the
brush pile. Tips of canes are still
waving around, so it remains a challenge to keep from being scratched. The next task is to consolidate the coils of
canes into a controlled collection.
I used the cut brush to collect the canes and force them in
and down on top of the pile. Each branch
contained a few more canes until the rose bush was confined to the boundaries
of the pile.
The final step was to add heavier material on top to further
compress the rose. Rose canes decompose
quickly, so they’ll disappear by next fall.
I would normally climb on top of the pile at this point and push
everything down further. I skipped that
step because most of the brush on top was Autumn Olive and crabapple, both of
which were covered with short spear-like branches. I had no desire to end my day with puncture
wounds in my ankles and legs.
They do add a nice spot of color. Glad to know you decided to spare your ankles and legs from a thorny attack:)
ReplyDeleteHi Mona. I do my best to avoid losing too much blood with my projects. I get enough accidental stabs and scratches without stepping in where I know it's not safe.
ReplyDelete